Christopher H. Browne Drawing Tours

The Christopher H. Browne Drawing Tours expand practical and theoretical knowledge of the classical tradition as manifest in the architecture, urbanism, and landscapes of Paris and Rome through the means of observational and analytical drawing.

Each day is spent in the field examining great works of composition, proportion, materiality, and architectural language as benchmarks of scholarship and invention. A variety of media and drawing techniques are introduced and deployed to study design at all scales, from the city as a comprehensive work of art, to individual buildings and localized urban ensembles, to specific building details.

Paris

The Christopher H. Browne Paris Drawing Tour focuses on French architecture, interiors, landscapes, and the artisan traditions still in practice today through centuries-old guilds for the crafts of building. The program includes visits to the Louvre, Place des Vosges, Hôtel de Sully, the Petit Trianon, the Panthéon, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, and the Fondation de Coubertin.

Participants of the Christopher H. Browne Paris Drawing Tour are eligible to receive 45 AIA LUs and 45 credits towards the ICAA Certificate in Classical Architecture.

Sketch of Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève by Leslie-jon Vickory

Instructor Kahlil Hamady with a Christopher H. Browne Paris Drawing Tour participant at Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève

Interior of the Bibliothèque Mazarine

Christopher H. Browne Paris Drawing Tour participants at the Bibliothèque Mazarine

Participants in the Louvre’s French sculpture court

Bibliothèque nationale de France

Student Connor Moran's watercolor rendering of the Petit Trianon

A watercolor study of the Institut de France by participant Elaine Rose

Elevations of Petit Trianon by participant Cindy Black

Rome

The Christopher H. Browne Rome Drawing Tour provides participants with practical knowledge of the classical tradition as manifest in the architecture, urbanism and landscapes of the Eternal City. Participants follow in the great tradition of architects and artists who have learned from Rome and propagated its lessons across Europe and America.

The program focuses study on the enduring vitality and continuity of the classical tradition through the means of observational and analytical drawing. Each day is spent drawing, in situ, at sites that underscore the relationship between buildings, the human figure, and their built and natural environment.

A variety of media and drawing techniques are introduced to examine the city and its environs as a work of civic art at all scales –from urban ensemble to individual buildings and architectural detail.

A student sketches in the Piazza del Campidoglio

Students drawing in the Pantheon

The interior of the Pantheon

Sanguine drawing of Villa d’Este by Christopher H. Browne Rome Drawing Tour student Martin Burns

A Christopher H. Browne Rome Drawing Tour participant Tour participant sketches on location at Circus Maximus, overlooking Palatine Hill

Scholarships

The Christopher H. Browne Drawing Tours honor the generosity, leadership, and legacy of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art’s late Trustee, Mr. Christopher H. Browne. The ICAA is pleased to award four scholarships to drawing tour students annually in the name of Mr. Browne, a long-time supporter and champion of classicism. Scholarship recipients will receive the moniker “Christopher H. Browne Scholars.”

To find out more about the Christopher H. Browne Drawing Tours, email [email protected] or call 212-730-9646 ext. 111.

Upcoming Tours