Drawing by P. Chameron, student of Gerome

I recently found this cast drawing of a young flute player from the mid-1880's by Paul Chameron (1865-1918). This drawing was likely done while Chameron was a student in Gerome's private atelier. However, it is possible this drawing was executed while Chameron studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Gerome's tutelage. It is in charcoal on off-white paper, 18x24 inches, with only the white of the paper used to represent the most intense illumination.

Chameron's approach is typical of late-19th century French academic drawing. He finished the face and most of the figure to a very high degree; the tonal gradations are very sensitive, giving the drawing a strong optical effect. At the same time, the shadows are relatively uniform in tone, and the deep background gives a brilliant quality to the light effect.

In contrast to the degree of finish in the face, the feet and lower legs are less developed. Here we see Chameron's preliminary approach, with masses of tones in the light and loose shapes to indicate the structure of the ankle, the arch of the foot, etc.

Chameron tried for the Prix de Rome in 1886. After his study in Paris, he returned to his hometown of St. Maur and began teaching drawing and painting there. His daughter Andree also became a painter.

I was inspired to make the drawing below following Chameron's example:

I used Fabriano Roma paper with vine and compressed charcoal. I utilized the tone of the paper to represent the highest lights in the figure, and carefully applied the tone to represent a range of half-tones in the light, while keeping the shadows more uniform in tone, following Chameron's, and hence Gerome's method. It took me approximately 9 hours to finish the drawing to this degree.

The sculpture is an ecorche figure by Eugene Caudron (1818-1865), called l'Ecorche combattant, from 1845. Caudron conceived of this figure as an instructive model for sculptors and it became very influential as an example of a dynamic composition within the figure. It has been reproduced in many academic drawings, paintings, and instructional lithographs of the 19th century.

Female Écorché Head

written by Allana Benham

Here is a new écorché sculpture I am currently working on. This is a female head with a neutral expression. I have chosen to develop the bone structure of the skull, cervical spine, and first two ribs to emphasize the forms and proportions of the skull, the facial features, and the neck. This sculpture is 12 inches tall, modeled in plasteline on a metal armature.

The sculpture progresses in finish; the photos above are from an early stage of development of the skeletal structure. Upon this bone structure, I added the deep layers of facial musculature, followed by superficial facial muscles on the right side only.

Finally, I developed the superficial musculature on the left side of the neck, leaving the intermediate layer exposed on the right.

Écorché: A figure in the deluge

written by Allana Benham
An écorché is a sculpture or drawing which depicts the flayed human figure for the purposes of anatomical study.

I am just a couple short weeks away from completing my most recent écorché sculpture of a floating male figure. The legs and torso are essentially complete; I am now adding the musculature of the arm, and I will work more on the skull. More images will follow as I finish this piece.

I began this sculpture while teaching my Ecorché sculpture class. First, we constructed our armatures and sculpted a skeleton in proportion. Then we added each muscle individually, arranged in groups, to represent the gesture of a pose. When complete, this écorché will contain more than 200 individual muscles. I will post images of our completed sculptures in the coming weeks.


For advanced students of anatomy, making an écorché sculpture offers the best way of appreciating the structure, volumes, and mechanisms of the body. By completing this work, the student is better prepared to continue learning from various sources, texts, and 2-dimensional images. This augments one's perception when drawing, painting, or sculpting the human body from life, and gives the artist the means to draw the human body accurately from imagination.

Below is a work-in-progress photo of one of my student's sculptures. She has achieved a very precise resolution of the muscular forms of her figure. We plan to make a larger-scale écorché of the head once this figure is complete.

Cast Painting Demonstrations

Eric Mannella and Allana Benham present their approach to Cast Painting using casts from Michelangelo's sculpture of David. This method is covered in detail in our Grisaille Painting course, the first course in oil painting at the Atelier. For the Atelier de Bresoles course description, click here.

Allana Benham's work-in-progress example of David's Eye:



Eric Mannella's work-in-progress example of David's Nose:


Both of these paintings were mid-way to completion after the third stage, seen above. To finish them, both artists refined edges, temperature shifts, transitions, and contrast to increase the illusion of depth of form.

An additional finished example is posted below: David's ear, painted by Eric Mannella.

Mid-19th Century Lithographs

Like the Julien lithographs in a previous post, the following lithographs were created by accomplished artists for the purposes of teaching. These portrait heads, hand and foot studies served as models of excellent draughtsmanship, to be copied accurately by students.

The following portraits are by Anton Maurin (1793-1860), made in 1839. Note the delicate use of hatching in light tones to model the forms of the face, and the variety of marks which indicate texture in the hair and clothing. Maurin's use of the full range of values, from the white of the paper to a rich dark black, challenges the student to achieve a powerful graphic statement with their chosen drawing media. After copying the expert use of tone in these examples, the student's eye would be more sensitive to the subtle variations in tone when working from the live model.


The following hand and foot studies were made by A. Fay, a German lithographer from the 19th century. These feature bold hatching and give a very different impression from the softness of Maurin and Julien.


These studies of noses are by Barbier, a French lithographer. These prints are from the collection of Craig Chivers.


Finally, here are a selection of landscape lithographs by Swiss artist Alexandre Calame (1810-1864). Here, Calame presents two lessons on trees and foliage, and one finished study. In addition to his lithographic works, Calame was also well established as a landscape painter. These are from the collection of Craig Chivers.

Bernard-Romain Julien, 1802-1871

written by Eric Mannella

Above lithographs collection of Atelier de Bresoles

Julien was a prominent French lithographer and painter from Bayonne. He illustrated a Cours de dessin which was used extensively to teach principles of drawing in mid-19th century France. His Cours preceeded that of Gérôme and Bargue (1868-70), and represents the height of achievement in sculptural rendering in lithography, just before the advent of photography led artists towards camera-conditioned rendering. His hatch marks echo the tool marks of Michelangelo, translating planar surfaces into sensitive passages of tone. These plates were intended to be copied by students, proceeding from the mise-en-traits, to a linear contour, to tonal rendering.

Julien was a student of A.J. Gros, who had studied with David. Through this lineage, Julien is connected back to Louis Boullogne the elder (1609-1674), one of the original founding members of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture in Paris in 1648. He was the teacher of Léon Bonnat (1833-1922), and helped Bonnat to secure a scholarship for study in Coginet's Paris atelier. Bonnat became a very influential instructor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and finally became the Director of the Ecole in 1905. Julien's lithographs were printed in France and England by multiple printers, and enjoyed a wide circulation.

These images are in the collection of the New York Public Library



The following lithographs are in the collection of Atelier de Bresoles

Note this fine example on toned paper with white and black:

Artistic Lineage: Deane G. Keller

In an effort to understand the lineage of our own artistic experiences, and those we pass along to our students, we have been researching relationships from our teachers to their teachers over many generations. Here is a tree which traces our lineage through one of our teachers, Deane G. Keller, to the founding of the French Academy in 1648.

Eric Mannella (b. 1974)
and Allana Benham (b. 1975) studied with

Deane G. Keller (1940-2005)

• Deane G. Keller studied with Deane Keller Sr. (1901-1992)

... Deane G. Keller also studied with Nera Simi (1890-1987), and anatomy with David Rubins at the John Herron Art Institute from 1966 to 1968.

Deane Keller Sr. and Robert Beverly Hale (1901-1985) studied with George Bridgman (1864-1943)

Bridgman was a student of Gérôme (1824-1904) and Boulanger (1824-1888) in Paris


Gérôme was a student of Delaroche (1797-1856)

Delaroche and Bernard-Romain Julien (1802-1871) were students of Gros (1771-1835)


Gros was a pupil of David (1748-1825)

David studied with Vien (1716-1809)


Vien studied with François Boucher (1703-1770)


Boucher was a student of François LeMoyne (1688-1737)


LeMoyne was a pupil of Louis Galloche (1670-1761)


Galloche studied with Louis Boullogne II (1657-1733)


Louis Boullogne II studied with his father, Louis Boullogne the Elder (also known as Bon Boulloge, 1606 or 1609-1674). He participated in the decoration of the Louvre and Versailles, and was one of 14 founders of the French Academy in 1648. All of his 4 childern; 2 girls and 2 boys, were acclaimed painters.