Martin Gayford

Why everyone should go to life-drawing classes: Claudette Johnson interviewed

The artist talks to Martin Gayford about the challenges – and rewards – of working from life

‘Young Man on Yellow’, 2021, by Claudette Johnson. Credit: Private collection c. Claudette Johnson. Image courtesy of the artist and Hollybush Gardens, LondonPhoto Andy Keate 
issue 07 October 2023

While looking at Claudette Johnson’s splendid exhibition Presence at the Courtauld Gallery, I kept trying to pin down an elusive connection. Her works are large drawings (sometimes very large – one reclining figure is more than two-and-a-half metres wide), and each one zooms in on a single figure seen in close-up, often larger than life-size.

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