In his “An Hymn In Honour of Beauty” Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) famously echoed the motive of the figurative artist: “For of the soul the body form doth take: For soul is form, and doth the body make”. Artistic depictions of the human body become “figurative” when they are made to convey meanings beyond the anatomical delineation. In this way the classical figuration of James Langley utilizes the body as a cipher for abstract messages and emotions. For a more complete discussion of Langley figure drawing methodology refer to the post on this website linking to Bob Bahr’s article in American Artist Drawing Magazine Fall 2009 issue. > http://www.langleyart.com/jameslangley/2009/11/published-american-artist-drawing-magazine.html <
