AN ARTIST'S JOURNAL
Edited and prepared for the Internet by Ronald Davis
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with further selections from
Stanley Roseman - An Artist's Journal
"Line is the essence of a drawing."*
*"Line is the essence of a drawing,'' is quoted from Roseman's text entitled "On Drawing and the Dance'' in the fine art book Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra (Paris, 1996). In his absorbing text, Roseman relates his working methods, his thoughts on art, and his passion for drawing.
Photograph of the hand of the artist at work, Paris Opéra, 1994.
Nicolas Le Riche, 1995
Paris Opéra Ballet
Le Jeune Homme et la Mort
Pencil on paper, 38 x 28 cm
British Museum, London
© Photo Ronald Davis
Drawing - the Foundation of the Visual Arts
     Roseman has devoted much of his professional life to drawing, considered the foundation of the visual arts. The celebrated sixteenth-century Florentine architect, painter, and author Giorgio Vasari states in the preface to his famous series of biographies Lives of the Artists that drawing is ''the parent of our three arts, Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting, having its origin in the intellect''[4]
    ''That drawing is considered the foundation of the visual arts nurtured my early convictions as to the importance of drawing and the time spent in my work as a draughtsman. For Vasari, drawing was the animating principle of the creative process. Leonardo da Vinci said that drawing is 'indispensable' to the painter, sculptor, and architect, as well as the potter, weaver, embroiderer, and goldsmith. It was drawing, Leonardo affirmed, that gave the writer his alphabet, the mathematician his figures, and taught geometers, astronomers, machine builders, and engineers. However, the translation of the Italian word disegno as 'drawing' limits the meaning of the word, for the Florentine Renaissance concept of disegno encompassed more than just a method for recording. Disegno embraced a way of seeing and thinking.''[5]
    "The subjects that occupied me as a young artist and my own thoughts and feelings about my work led me to abandon the belief, especially strong in the mid-twentieth century, that held the traditional artist's studio in reverence as a creative milieu. More and more I sought the environments of my models in which to paint and draw. While unfamiliar environments meant adjusting to new working spaces and conditions of light and often much activity around me, I ultimately found such circumstances conducive to my own creative process.''
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     The prestigious invitation to Roseman in 1989 from the Paris Opéra Administration was greatly meaningful as the Dance holds a preeminent place in the cultural tradition of France and is an important subject in French art.
     At the Paris Opéra, Roseman became " 'an honorary member' of the ballet troupe,'' notes the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in a biographical essay on the artist.[2] Roseman's drawings created at rehearsals in the dance studios and from the wings of the stage at performances earned him great esteem from the dancers, as writes Paris Opéra star dancer Nicolas Le Riche, who is seen taking a thrilling, spinning leap into the air in the superb drawing in the British Museum, London, featured at the top of the page:
     "Stanley Roseman's works perpetuate and sublimate the dancers' movements, and, more than that, even their forms, recreating with the stroke of a pencil the physical feeling. His hand makes the pencil line dance on the paper, which, from arabesques to entrechats, becomes the dancer.''[3]
- Nicolas Le Riche
  Star Dancer of the Paris Opéra
     Although drawings have traditionally served as studies or drafts in preparation for compositions to be realized in other mediums, drawings can also be independent works complete in themselves. Roseman's drawings, depicting a diversity of subjects in a variety of drawing materials, are autonomous works, complementary to his paintings, sculptures, and engravings. Recognized as a master draughtsman, Roseman was honored in 1983 as the first American artist to have a one-man exhibition at the Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna's renowned museum containing one of the world's greatest collections of master drawings. The Albertina acquired a selection of Roseman's drawings which includes the subject of the dance, presented below, (fig. 3).
     Drawings account for a great part of Roseman's oeuvre, as evident in the artist's concentration on certain themes and subject matter: the dance and the performing arts in general; portraits and nudes; a series on cats, which began with pen and ink drawings of his feline friend from his youth; landscapes drawn en plein air in the four seasons; and a work on the monastic life comprising the four monastic orders of the Western Church.
     Dr. Walter Koschatzky, Director of the Albertina, made his first acquisition in 1978 of Roseman's drawings for the museum. In a cordial letter the eminent Director writes to Roseman's colleague Ronald Davis:
". . . I thank you and want to express my conviction that the artist is
an outstanding draughtsman and painter to whom much recognition and success are due."

- Dr. Walter Koschatzky, Director
  Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna
© Stanley Roseman and Ronald Davis, 2014 - All Rights Reserved
Visual imagery and site content may not be reproduced in any form whatsoever.
     In Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra, Roseman pays tribute to Vasari and Leonardo da Vinci in their beliefs in the importance of drawing:
    "My interest in the dance is neither to illustrate the story of a ballet nor to depict dancers in repose or readying for a performance. For me the subject of the dance is the dancer dancing. Stimulated by the athleticism and sensuality of the dance, I am interested in the dancer's emotive use of movement as a means of personal expression."[6]
4. Stanley Roseman drawing the dance
    from the wings of the stage of the Paris Opéra.
- Stanley Roseman
Stanley Roseman drawing from the wings of the stage of the Paris Opéra. Photo © Ronald Davis
Drawing with a Graphite Pencil
     A primary concern for Roseman in expressing a subject or theme in his drawings is his choice of materials. Graphite pencil is Roseman's preferred medium for his drawings on the dance. The artist concludes his discourse on the use of the graphite pencil:
    ''Pencil is a drawing instrument by which I could explore an extensive range to the quality of the line not only to express the human form in changing patterns of dance movements but also to carry and transmit in a graphic medium the kinetic energy of the dancer.''[7]
     The Bibliothèque Nationale de France conserves the work presented here, (fig. 5), of Kader Belarbi as Duke Albrecht in a contemporary retelling of Giselle by the Swedish choreographer Mats Ek to the original ballet score by Adolphe Adam. The superb drawing of the Paris Opéra star dancer was featured in the exhibition Stanley Roseman - Dessins sur la Danse à l'Opéra de Paris presented by the Bibliothèque National de France in 1996.
3. Mikhail Baryshnikov, 1975
America Ballet Theatre
Giselle
Pencil on paper, 35 x 27.5 cm
Albertina, Vienna
    ''Stanley Roseman's draughtsmanship is a mastery of swiftly executed work with a spontaneity such as dance requires. With discipline and assurance, the sweep of his hand brings forth an economy of line, a stroke of automatism, the vitality of his draughtsmanship. His drawings are movement.''[8]
- Kader Belarbi
  Star Dancer of the Paris Opéra
Book cover of "Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opera." Photo © Ronald Davis
Drawing by Stanley Roseman of Paris Opera star dancer Nicolas Le Riche, "Le Jeune Homme et la Mort," 1995, British Museum, London. © Stanley Roseman
Drawing by Stanley Roseman of Kader Belarbi, 1993, Paris Opéra Ballet, "Giselle," 1993, pencil on paper, Collection Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris. © Stanley Roseman
On Drawing and the Dance
     In his text "On Drawing and the Dance," Roseman writes:
5. Kader Belarbi, 1993, Paris Opéra Ballet, Giselle
Pencil on paper, 38 x 28 cm
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris
Drawing by Stanley Roseman of Mikhail Baryshnikov, 1975, America Ballet Theatre, Giselle, pencil on paper, Collection Albertina, Vienna. © Stanley Roseman
Drawing from Life
     The drawing of Baryshnikov is atypical of the frontal position in which dancers are usually depicted in art. Baryshnikov is seen moving upstage in a curvilinear composition focusing on the turn of the dancer's head and outstretched arms beneath voluminous sleeves. With a minimum of line, Roseman creates a splendid abstraction of the male dancer in flight.
     The Albertina, Vienna, conserves the impressive drawing Mikhail Baryshnikov, 1975, (fig. 3). With the silvery tones of a graphite pencil, Roseman drew Baryshnikov as Duke Albrecht in the American Ballet Theatre's production of the great Romantic ballet Giselle.
     Roseman recounts: "My love for the dance and for the performing arts in general goes back to the days of my youth." Growing up in the suburbs of New York City, Roseman attended performances of ballet and modern dance, and during the summers with his family in the Berkshires, in Western Massachusetts, he attended performances at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Roseman made the dance a subject for his drawings in his early career in New York City in the 1970's, and he returned to the dance for an extensive series of drawings at the Paris Opéra through the 1990's.
Drawing from the Wings of the Stage of the Paris Opéra
     During performances Roseman drew from the wings of the stage of the Paris Opéra: "It was exciting to create my work in proximity to the dancers on stage. . . .'' Speaking about his working methods, the artist explains that during the run of a ballet there were the usual changes of cast that gave several members of the Company the opportunity to dance various roles.
    "A dancer I had drawn in previous performances might be partnered with a dancer whom I was drawing in that ballet for the first time, or a dancer I had drawn in one role might take a different role in subsequent performances of the same ballet. That enabled me to draw different dancers executing balletic and modern dance movements I had come to know and feel in my pencil line.''[9]
Drawing by Stanley Roseman of star dancer Elisabeth Platel, 1996, Paris Opéra Ballet, "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux," Pencil on paper, Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg. © Stanley Roseman
     The Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg, acquired the splendid drawing of Paris Opéra star dancer Elisabeth Platel, (fig. 6). Roseman's swiftly flowing, pencil lines capture on paper the virtuosa ballerina in a breathtaking leap in her variation from Balanchine's jubilant Tchaikovsky - Pas de Deux.
6. Elisabeth Platel, 1996, Paris Opéra Ballet
Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux
Pencil on paper, 38 x 28 cm
Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg
     The Curator of Patrimony and Director of the Museums of Strasbourg, Rodolphe Rapetti, today Chief Curator of Patrimony and Deputy Director of the Museums of France; and the Curator of the Cabinet of Prints and Drawings of Strasbourg, Anny-Claire Haus, write in a cordial letter to Davis in acknowledging the museum's acquisition of Roseman's drawings, including the present work:
    ''You have presented the Cabinet of Prints and Drawings of the Museums of Strasbourg with an ensemble of five drawings of great quality by Stanley Roseman. . . . These remarkable portrayals of dancers of the Paris Opéra Ballet and of an actress drawn at the Ranelagh Theatre integrate quite naturally in the suite of our prestigious series of works by Bakst and Rodin and enrich in a wonderful way the collection of the Cabinet of Prints and Drawings."
- Rodolphe Rapetti
  Curator of Patrimony
  Director
  Museums of Strasbourg
- Anny-Claire Haus
  Curator
  Cabinet of Prints and Drawings
  Museums of Strasbourg
     The Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille, houses a celebrated collection of master drawings, notably from the Italian Renaissance, as well as from the French, Flemish, German, and Dutch schools.
Drawing by Stanley Roseman of star dancer Wilfrid Romoli, 1993, Paris Opéra Ballet,
7. Wilfried Romoli, 1993
Paris Opéra Ballet
In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated
Pencil on paper, 38 x 28 cm
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille
     Roseman delineates the dancer's head, uplifted arms, broad chest, and tapering abdomen ''with a few masterful strokes of a pencil'' (Associated Press, Paris). A single, continuous, undulating line defines the dancer's lower torso and muscular legs: the right leg, a pillar of support; the left leg thrust high into the air. In this dynamic composition Roseman creates an electrifying image of the male dancer.
     Barbara Brejon de Lavergnée, distinguished Curator of the Cabinet of Prints and Drawings of the Lille Museum, writes warmly in letter of appreciation to Davis, who introduced his colleague's work to the museum:
     The Lille Museum acquired in 1996 a suite of Roseman drawings on the dance at the Paris Opéra. The superb drawing reproduced here, (fig. 7), depicts Paris Opéra star dancer Wilfried Romoli in the exciting, modern dance piece In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, choreographed by William Forsythe for the Paris Opéra Ballet to Tom Willems' pulsating score for synthesizer.
    ''The drawings that you so thoughtfully brought to us are superb. I love immensely the drawings of the dancers, which have an astonishing spontaneity of action and of refinement. . . .
    ''Please convey my congratulations to Monsieur Stanley Roseman for the great quality of his drawings. We are proud to incorporate the work in our collection."
- Barbara Brejon de Lavergnée            
  Curator of the Cabinet of Prints and Drawings
  Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille
Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra
     Further to Roseman's text on drawing the dance at the Paris Opéra, the artist writes: "Being able to compose my work from various perspectives in the wings, I could concentrate on the action that was taking place on one part of the stage or on another. . . . The music, the light, the momentum of the dance, and essentially the virtuosity and emotional intensity of the dancers were the vital elements to the conception, composition, and realization of my work."[10]
     Two of the drawings reproduced in the fine art book are in the renowned collection of master drawings in the Teyler Museum in the Netherlands.[10] Receiving a gift copy of Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra, Carel van Tuyll, Keeper of Prints and Drawings, writes in a cordial letter to the artist:
    "The book is a joy and so beautifully produced. I read your preface with great interest and admiration.''
- Carel van Tuyll
  Keeper of Prints and Drawings
  Teylers Museum, Haarlem
8. Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra   
    published by Ronald Davis, Paris, 1996,
    hardcover, 34 x 25 cm., 253 pages.
     Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra is in the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the Library of Congress as well as some forty public and university libraries throughout the United States.
     The publisher expresses deep appreciation for the thoughtful letters from Library Directors and Librarians of Collections of Fine Arts, Arts and Humanities, Art and Music, and Research and Special Collections.
"Stanley Roseman's drawings show the many facets of his great talents as a draughtsman."
- Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Book cover of "Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opera." Photo by Ronald Davis.
You are cordially invited to visit www.stanleyrosemandance.com
     A selection of Roseman's drawings on the dance at the Paris Opéra and commentary are presented on the Journal page "My First Days of Drawing the Dance at the Paris Opéra."
"Line is the essence of a drawing."
     In eloquent statements on art and his beliefs as an artist, Roseman writes in his text:
    "Line is the essence of a drawing. Whereas the sculptor works with the element of form in its real and tangible sense and the painter works with the element of color from pigments that suggest the spectrum of colors in nature, the draughtsman works with the most abstract visual element, the line.
    "However, within divergent schools and ideologies the intent, the use, and the meaning of line in drawing range from the rudimentary to the complex. . . .''
     Roseman goes on to state that for him "line must serve a greater purpose than to remain simply as non-objective imagery.''  The artist speaks of the "Dynamic interaction between the material substance of the medium and the subject it represents . . . .'' and concludes his enlightening discourse with an explanation of  "what gives line its most profound meaning.''[11]
  * Stanley Roseman, Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra
     (Paris: Ronald Davis, 1996), p. 15.
2.  Stanley Roseman - Dessins sur la Danse à l'Opéra de Paris (text in French and English),
     (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1996), p. 11.
3.  Ibid., p. 14. The exhibition publication includes "Quelques Mots des Danseurs / A Few Words from the Dancers" 
     with the quote from Nicolas Le Riche.
4.  Giorgio Vasari, Vasari on Technique, (New York: Dover, 1960), p. 205.
5.  Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra, p. 19.
6.  Ibid., p. 12.
7.  Ibid., p. 14.
8.  Stanley Roseman - Dessins sur la Danse à l'Opéra de Paris, p. 13. The exhibition publication includes
     "Quelques Mots des Danseurs / A Few Words from the Dancers" with the quote from Kader Belarbi.
9.  Stanley Roseman and the Dance - Drawings from the Paris Opéra, p. 15.
10. Ibid., p. 15.
11. Ibid., pp. 15, 16.
 © Stanley Roseman
 © Stanley Roseman
 © Stanley Roseman
 © S. Roseman
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AN ARTIST'S JOURNAL
"Line is the essence of a drawing.''
An Audience with Pope John Paul II
An Invitation to Draw at the Metropolitan Opera
On Portraiture