The Elements of Drawing, John Ruskin’s teaching collection at Oxford

The Elements of Drawing, John Ruskin’s teaching collection at Oxford

Ruskin's Rudimentary series, 5th ed. (1873)

Items marked 'M' are drawings "by my own Hand" (by Ruskin), P are photographs, E engravings and A by Ruskin's Assistant, Arthur Burgess.

Rudimentary 5 Cover

Ruskin's Catalogues: 1 object

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Ruskin assembled a diverse collection of artworks for his drawing school in Oxford, including watercolours by J.M.W. Turner and drawings by Ruskin himself.  He taught students to draw as a way of educating them in how to look at art and the world around them.  

Ruskin divided his Teaching Collection into four main series: Standard, Reference, Educational and Rudimentary. Each item was placed in a numbered frame, arranged in a set of cabinets, so that they all had a specific position in the Collection (although Ruskin often moved items about as his ideas changed). 

When incorporated into the Ashmolean’s collection in the last century, the works were removed from the frames and the sequence was lost.  Here, Ruskin's original catalogues, notes and instructions - in his chosen order and in his own words - are united with images of the works and links to modern curatorial descriptions.

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Photograph of Carpaccio's "Arrival of the English Ambassadors" from the "Legend of Saint Ursula" Anonymous Italian

  • Ruskin text

    R|106} First scene in Carpaccio’s life of St. Ursula. Revival painting of highest type, at the pure time. P.
  • Curator’s description:

    Description

    The photograph was noted as missing by Cook and Wedderburn, and is here represented by a surrogate photograph of the same subject from the collection of the Guild of Saint George (R.1353; box C.7/B.23), taken by the Venetian firm of Carlo Naya (active c.1857-1918).

  • Details

    Artist/maker
    Anonymous Italian (Anonymous, Italian) (photographer)
    after Vittore Carpaccio (1460/06 - 1525/06)
    Object type
    photograph
    Material and technique
    surrogate: albumen print
    Dimensions
    surrogate: 104 x 223 cm (sight size)
    Inscription
    surrogate: recto, all printed from the negative:
    in the image, bottom right corner, white: Co. Naya 539
    as a label along the bottom of the image, grey (in this example, detached and placed on the back of the mount):
    left: N. 539 - CARPACCIO V. 1506
    centre: Gli ambasciatori inglesi presso il re Mauro - Academia, Venezia
    right: C. Naya, fot. Venezia
    Provenance

    Presented by John Ruskin to the Ruskin Drawing School (University of Oxford), 1875; listed as missing in 1891.

    No. of items
    1
    Accession no.
    RUD.106
  • Subject terms allocated by curators:

    Subjects

  • References in which this object is cited include:

    References

    Ruskin, John, The Ruskin Art Collection at Oxford: Catalogue of the Rudimentary Series, in the Arrangement of 1873, ed. Robert Hewison (London: Lion and Unicorn Press, 1984), cat. Rudimentary no. 106, RUD.106

    Ruskin, John, Instructions in Practice of Elementary Drawing, Arranged with Reference to the First Series of Examples in the Drawings Schools of the University of Oxford (n.p., [1872]), cat. Rudimentary no. 106

    Ruskin, John, Instructions in the Preliminary Exercises Arranged for the Lower Drawing-School (London: Smith, Elder, 1872), cat. Rudimentary no. 106

    Ruskin, John, Instructions in the Preliminary Exercise Arranged For the Lower Drawing-School (London: Spottiswoode, 1873), cat. Rudimentary no. 106

    Ruskin, John, ‘Rudimentary Series 1878’, 1878, Oxford, Oxford University Archives, cat. Rudimentary no. 106

    Ruskin, John, ‘The Ruskin Art Collection at Oxford: Catalogues, Notes and Instructions’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 21, cat. Rudimentary no. 106

Location

    • not found

Position in Ruskin’s Collection

Ruskin's Catalogues

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