Charles Steffen: 1995, A Lesson in Life Drawing

About

In 1995, Charles Steffen enrolled in a life drawing class at Truman College. His last formal art lessons had been over four decades prior at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he first encountered abstract expressionism and the perils of bohemian society. Steffen’s return to formal education came at an unprecedented moment. His mother, a treasured presence, had died the year before, after which the artist moved to an apartment elsewhere in the city. Steffen was entering the final year of his life. He was also on the cusp of a creative breakthrough.

Steffen’s work was historically delicate, reminiscent of botanical illustrations, while his final drawings are weighted––they move and breathe, anchored in the immediacy of their production. These works evidence the artist’s stylistic refinement, balancing luxurious marks with frugal compositions. Where the majority of the artist’s work had been based on family and acquaintances, his life drawing class offered a chance to make portraits of strangers and focus on technical elements, a skill that would echo throughout all of his subjects.

Parallel to these formal sessions, Steffen continued to draw figures from art history, the past, and his day-to-day life. Rebecca, a certain bank teller, received particular focus, appearing dozens of times in the artist’s drawings. Steffen documents Rebecca in professional attire, sitting at her desk at the bank where they would have met; in other scenes, she’s imagined elsewhere, sometimes fully dressed, often drawn in the nude. Annotations regarding these artistic liberties take a shameful tone as Steffen admits to his vices (“it’s truly a wrong thing to do”), at war with an innate curiosity.

While the effects of his drawing class were undeniably potent, Steffen’s life drawings are inextricable from his drawings of life. The anonymity and formality of a classroom only enriched the most personal of Steffen’s subjects: his family, his beloved, and himself. From the portraits of Rebecca to iterations of The Potato Eaters, Steffen’s process consists of careful studies on each subject. He hones in on certain moments, exploring details while testing his abilities and imagination. Greater precision and analysis appear in these works, tempered by playful inquisitiveness. Self-portraits offer a grounding point, methodical and honest, while the red and white squares nod to Steffen’s roots in abstract expressionism and the experiences of his youth. The art historical studies tap into larger narratives of subverted history, and coupled with Rebecca, the bodies of work blend reality with imagined lives.