NEW Disegno: Workshop Tradition, Concept, and Living Practice – A Study Tour to Pisa
Study Tours
Linda Karshan, Dr Giulia-Martina Weston, Emanuel von Baeyer
Tuesday 6 – Thursday 8 October 2026
£495
Tour Description
The Courtauld is delighted to collaborate with renowned contemporary artist and collector Linda Karshan and the Fondazione Comel for this in-depth, multi-faceted exploration of the art of drawing.
Participants will study in the Fondazione’s beautiful villa, the Domus Comeliana in the heart of the Tuscan city of Pisa, and with a view of the Leaning Tower.
On the first day, the class-room session on drawing in the medieval and Renaissance workshop practice will be complemented by an afternoon visit to the nearby Piazza dei Miracoli (site of the Leaning Tower, Cathedral, Baptistery and Camposanto), where the Museo delle Sinopie offers unmatched insight into the art of the preparatory drawing for frescoes.
On the following day, a morning exploration of the significance of the practice of drawing and of the concept of disegno in early modern art will be followed by an afternoon tour of Pisan buildings, where we will see the principles of disegno in narrative action.
Bringing us up to the present moment, Linda Karshan will explore drawing as a living practice, centred around the close observation and discussion of her performance-based drawings, of which the Fondazione has a rich collection. In the afternoon, we will end by considering the place of drawing in the art market, both historically and at the present moment, with Linda Karshan and gallerist and drawings specialist Emanuel von Baeyer.
Lecturers' Biographies
Dr Giulia Martina Weston is Director of the Athenaeum Comelianum de Litteris et Artibus in Pisa. She holds a PhD from the Courtauld, where she has been Associate Lecturer since 2016, and is Consultant Lecturer at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Giulia’s publications include the monograph Niccolò Tornioli (1606-1651). Art and Patronage in Baroque Rome (2016) and the co-edited volumes I Pittori del Dissenso (2014) and ‘A tale of two cities’: Rome and Siena in the Early Modern Period (2020). She is presently working on a book on Salvator Rosa’s afterlife in Britain. She curated the exhibitions The Universe on Paper (2022), and Legacies and Visions. From Comel to Karshan (2024), both at Fondazione Comel in Pisa.
In 1994, Linda Karshan developed a performance-based method to bring her drawings into existence. Guided by what she calls her “inner choreography,” she makes spare, monochromatic, abstract prints and drawings that serve as direct reflections of the process of their making. Karshan trained at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, and has an MA in Psychology. Her work has featured in international solo and group exhibitions, and her drawings, prints and artist’s books are held in major public and private collections. These include, in Italy, the Abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice; La Biblioteca in L’Aquila, and La Fondazione Comel in Pisa. In the UK, her work is held by The British Library; The British Museum;The Courtauld Gallery; Sir John Soane’s Museum;Tate Modern; The Arts Council Collection; The Ashmolean Museum; Kettle’s Yard, and Middlesbrough Museum of Modern Art (MIMA). In the USA, Linda’s work is held by Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; The Morgan Library, New York, NY, and a suite of thirteen prints have recently been acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Linda Karshan lives and works in New York and London.
Emanuel von Baeyer has been a leading old master dealer in London since 1998. His firm specialises in fine European drawings, prints and paintings from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries, and also handles select post WWII and contemporary art. Emanuel von Baeyer is widely recognised as an innovative dealer within his field and his activities are regularly featured in the international press; his clientele includes private collectors of note, and art historians and museum curators from around the world. He regularly participates in the London Original Print Fair, Frieze Masters London, Master Drawings Week in London and New York, IFPDA Print Fair New York, Antiquarian Booksellers Associations (ABA), TEFAF, Maastricht and Stuttgarter Antiquariatsmesse. He is also a member of the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), The Society of London Art Dealers (SLAD) and the Chambre Syndicale de l’Estampe, du Dessin et du Tableau (CSEDT). He has held exhibitions in the United Kingdom, Europe and America.