NEWS
The Courtauld Comes to Pisa: A Study Tour on Disegno
6–8 October 2026
Linda joined The Courtauld and the Fondazione Comel for a three-day study tour on drawing. It was held at the Domus Comeliana, the Fondazione's villa in the centre of Pisa, within sight of the Leaning Tower.
The first two days traced drawing from the medieval and Renaissance workshop to the idea of disegno. Participants visited the Piazza dei Miracoli, the Museo delle Sinopie and the city's buildings. On the third day Linda spoke about drawing as a living practice, centred on the walked and performed drawings held by the Fondazione. That afternoon she was in conversation with the gallerist and drawings specialist Emanuel von Baeyer on drawing in the art market, past and present.
Measure, Mind and Mathematics: The Closing Symposium of De Humana Mensura
16 January 2026
A few days before De Humana Mensura closed, three speakers met in the Sala Vasari to look at Linda's work from three directions.
Marco Salvi, Bishop of Civita Castellana, set the perspective of Piero della Francesca beside Luca Pacioli's De Divina Proportione, two accounts of proportion as the structure of the world. Alexis Nanavaty of The Courtauld linked Linda's counted, rhythmic marks to Leonardo's search for a universal measure of proportion. The psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Luca Caldironi read the Fibonacci sequence in her grids and spirals in psychodynamic terms.
The symposium offered no summing-up. It closed the exhibition, held in the Jubilee Year of Hope, by leaving those three lines of thought open.
De Humana Mensura
17 December 2025 – 19 January 2026
Linda's first exhibition in Rome brought together works on paper from Italian and international collections. Curated by Laura Villani, it hung in the Palazzo della Cancelleria, one of the city's great surviving Renaissance buildings, with a courtyard attributed to Bramante and frescoes by Vasari. The exhibition set Linda's work in dialogue with Leonardo, Michelangelo, Alberti and Plato on the theme of harmony and proportion.
On the opening night, 17 December, Linda performed a site-specific walked drawing in the Sala Vasari, with her footsteps as line and her breath as rhythm. Bishop Marco Salvi of Civita Castellana, Laura Villani and Giulia Martina Weston, curator of The Universe on Paper (Pisa, 2022), spoke at the opening. Laura Villani then talked with Linda about her method.
Linda framed the exhibition with a line from Italo Calvino's Norton Lectures: that a single life can hold the breadth of an encyclopaedia.
Celebrating the Karshan Gift to The Courtauld
14 October 2025
The Society for the History of Collecting hosted an evening at The Courtauld on the legacy of the collector Howard Karshan. It was told by Linda in conversation with Courtauld staff, and through archival footage made by their two sons.
The evening began in the Drawings Gallery with a suite of prints by Wayne Thiebaud. It then moved to the Study Room, where Linda described how the Karshan Gift came about over drawings from the Gift itself. In the Learning Centre, a short documentary followed Howard's collecting of drawings by modern and post-war masters. A drinks reception closed the evening.
It coincided with the Griffin Catalyst exhibition Wayne Thiebaud: American Still Life (10 October 2025 – 18 January 2026), which includes a drawing given by the Karshans. It was the first time a Karshan drawing had prompted a major exhibition.
Equilibrio
June 2025
An Ishmael Annobil documentary capturing the magnificence of artist Linda Karshan's historical exhibition, "Equilibrio - Linda Karshan: Art, Architecture & Sacred Geometry in Conversation", at Abazzia Di San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, in 2018. Curated by Reverend Richard Davey and Carmelo Grasso, the abazzia's director, this film explores the interfacing of art and metaphysics; the artist's uncanny atavism, stemming from medieval archetypes and before; and her unique aptitude for embodiment. The full film is available HERE.
Linda Karshan : Choreographing the Page
April 2025
This incredible film by Ishmael Annobil, charting Linda’s journey from her first drawing lessons at the Art Institute of Minneapolis to her numerical/choreographic eureka, has been in development for ten years and is now at last available to view. Full details are available HERE.
Henri Michaux: The Mescaline Drawings
March 2025
The April edition of Trois Crayons contains a feature on Henri Michaux, the Mescaline Drawings; the Courtauld and the Karshan Gift, de-mystify Michaux's mescaline drawings, with Linda shedding new light on the Michaux from her collection, and its place in her life.
Interview and Review
“Every drawing of mine comes through transitional space. Otherwise it would be manufactured.”
January 2025
Linda was interviewed by WowwArt’s Noah Davis on the influence of psychology on her art, her rhythmic approach to creation, and how her unique methods invite viewers to engage with the essence of creativity.
The full interview can be found HERE.
The magazine also published a review of Linda’s Untitled (Self-portrait), a key work in the British Museum collection’s of Linda’s works.
The review can be found HERE.
Film Screening: Walking The Western Range II
28 January 2025
The Remarque Institute at NYU screened Walking The Western Range II, choreographed and performed by Linda Karshan and filmed by Ishmael Annobil in the Western Range galleries of the British Museum on 24 July 2023. In the film Linda walks from the Egyptian galleries past the Rosetta Stone, through the Parthenon and Hellenistic galleries, and on to Assyria.
Stefanos Geroulanos, Director of the Remarque Institute and Professor of European Intellectual History at NYU, was in conversation with Linda. The evening also saw the reading of Karthika Nair's ekphrastic poem wRiting Time II: Wandering the Western Range through Linda Karshan, which is to be published in ACLA's journal De Litteris et Artibus.
The screening was part of a series on the Legacies of Classical Ideas and their Recasting in the 20th Century, supported by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and presented with ACLA.
Fibonacci Days 2024
23-24 November
Various locations in the city of Pisa
Linda’s The Spiral has been chosen as the emblem to represent this year’s Fibonacci Days celebration.
On the occasion of the conventional day of the birth of Leonardo Pisano, known as Fibonacci (November 23), a series of celebratory events will take place in Pisa on Saturday 23 November and Sunday 24 November.
Full details are available HERE.
Linda Swim II, Summer 2024
11 August 2024
Villa Empain, Brussels, Belgium
Linda recently completed her first public performance drawing in water.
Full details are available HERE.
Group Exhibition
‘Josef and Anni Albers, Iconic couple of modernism’
10 April – 8 September 2024
At the Boghossian Foundation, Villa Empain, Brussels, Belgium
A suite of five performance drawings by Linda Karshan are currently displayed
alongside eight artists in the lineage of Josef and Anni Albers in the show in homage to their legacy
Karshan’s performance drawings, on paper or in space, happen in a state of exceptional presence.
They are guided by her ‘inner choreography’ and aspire to conditions of near-zero gravity.
When she discovered the gridded pattern of the swimming pool at Villa Empain,
she instinctively felt ‘it had to be swum’, with the same urge as the Chapter Room of the Abbey, with its
perfect proportions, needed ‘to be walked’ during her exhibition at San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, in 2018.
Five drawings selected by Linda
In co-operation with Stefanos Geroulanos, Director of the Remarque Institute, NYU
On long term loan, in appreciation of his work
Group Exhibition
Josef and Anni Albers, Iconic couple of modernism
Linda’s works will be displayed alongside other artists drawing inspiration directly or indirectly from the Alberses.
10 April – 8 September 2024
The Boghossian Foundation, Villa Empain, Brussels
Film Screening and Award at Montecatini Terme International Short Film Exhibition 2023
HOMAGE TO ITALO CALVINO
October 19, 2023
Palazzo Loredan, Venice
Film Premiere
LINDA KARSHAN : TWO FEET WALKING
November 21, 2022
Courtauld Institute of Art
The Universe on Paper
The Art of Linda Karshan
Pisa, Domus Comeliana and Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
13-16 October 2022
Conference and Exhibition
Inaugural conference and launch of the exhibition, in partnership with the
Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance.
Organized by curator Dr. Giulia Martina Weston
The Universe on Paper. The Art of Linda Karshan
Pisa, Domus Comeliana
13-16 October 2022
These events will take place at the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (Conference Registration at 10.00) and the Domus Comeliana (Exhibition Launch at 15.30) on Thursday 13th October.
LINDA KARSHAN AT BAD+ BORDEAUX
Across the weekend of the 9th and 10th July 2022 a selection of work by artist Linda Karshan was presented at BAD+ Bordeaux. The works spanned from the early 1990s through to the present day. In addition to the drawings, a collection of etchings and two beautiful loose folio artist’s books were available to view along with a selection of publications about the artist and her work.
You can find out more by clicking here
LINDA KARSHAN RECEIVES HONORARY FELLOWSHIP AT THE COURTAULD
On the 6th July 2022 Linda Karshan was awarded an honorary fellowship at The Courtauld. In 2021 Linda Karshan and family gifted 24 important modern and post-war drawings to The Courtauld in memory of Linda’s late husband, Howard.
Linda gave a speech to the graduates in which she talked about her own life in relation to humanism, art and culture. She also addressed the orientation in her family legacy and culture to philanthropy, and to her values and passion for education and research in the arts, including the legacy of The Courtauld specifically. Her speech ended with the following remarks:
“My family and I value The Courtauld for being a teaching institution as well as a museum. Howard was not only a collector of art but of art books, and he loved learning about art as, of course, do I. I go on to say--and this is my charge to you, graduates-- we know that art comes alive when it is studied. My family and I want these drawings to be fully alive, to be studied, and to be made available for future generations.”
You can find out more by clicking here
FILM AWARDS
LINDA KARSHAN COVID-19 CONVERSATION Receives Accolades from 7 International 2021 Film Festivals
FICOCC
Selected by the Five Continents International Festival, Venezuela
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NAWADA
Selected for Best Covid-19 Film by Nawada International Festival, India
Selected for Best Documentary Film by Nawada International Festival, India
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ARFF
Shortlisted for the Best Short Documentary Awards by ARFF Berlin International Award
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SWEDEN FILM AWARDS
Finalist for the Best Short Documentary Awards by Sweden Film Awards
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HOLLYWOOD BLVD FILM FESTIVAL
Selected for the Best Short Documentary Award by Hollywood BLVD Film Festival
FLORENCE FILM AWARDS
Selected for the Best Short Documentary Award by Florence Film Awards
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LULEA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Won the Best Covid-19 Special Film March Season Award at Lulea International Film Festival
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CINALFAMA INTERNATIONAL FILM AWARDS
Nominated for Best Medium or Feature Length Film by Cinalfama International Film Awards, Lisbon
FILM
Covid-19 Conversation with Linda Karshan
Ishmael Annobil, Stonedog Productions
August 2020
While under Covid-19 lockdown, Linda Karshan recalled her father’s polio affliction in the 1952 epidemic, and his gallant battle against it. This inspired her to produce her most prolific body of work to date: “…because I can stand up, and he could not.”
This film throws light on the pioneering artist’s Inner and outer impulses, and the influential role played by her agent and muse, Jill Silverman Van Coenegrachts, during her "channelling of the works.”
Director/Editor: ISHMAEL ANNOBIL
Cinematography/Sound: MAX MALLEN
Associate Producer: JILL SILVERMAN VAN COENEGRACHTS
Audio Post-Production: NICK KULUKUNDIS
Still Photography: ROGER KARSHAN, NANA YAA ANNOBIL, ALLISON WUCHER, ISHMAEL ANNOBIL
Production House: STONEDOG PRODUCTIONS
©Stonedog Productions 2020
Film website: CovidConversation.info
To learn more about Karshan’s father and the philanthropy he inspired, please visit The Roger E. Joseph Prize website.
Realised by The Courtauld Institute of Art’s 2020 MA Curating the Art Museum programme, this first fully digital exhibition has emerged in the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and its disruption to education and arts institutions globally.
DRAW ART FAIR LONDON
MAY 17 - 19, 2019
SAATCHI GALLERY
FILM STILL FROM BLACKBIRD SONG / A COLLABORATION BETWEEN FILMMAKER ISHMAEL ANNOBIL AND LINDA KARSHAN
The Redfern Gallery presents Blackbird Song, a ‘walked drawing’ performance on the Saatchi Gallery stairs performed daily during DRAW ART FAIR 2019. Film Still © Ishmael Annobil
FIVE PROJECTS
RETROSPECTIVE DRAWING EXHIBITION 1992-2019 / REDFERN GALLERY
DAILY PERFORMANCES OF BLACKBIRD SONG / A COLLABORATION BETWEEN FILMMAKER ISHMAEL ANNOBIL AND LINDA KARSHAN
FILM VIEWING OF BLACKBIRD SONG & FOUND OBJECT : EN MARCHE / A COLLABORATION BETWEEN FILMMAKER ISHMAEL ANNOBIL AND LINDA KARSHAN
DRAW FORUM PANEL DISCUSSION /EQUILIBRIO - WITH LINDA KARSHAN AND RICHARD DAVEY
CATALOGUE LAUNCH /EQUILIBRIO (2018) & THE LIBRARY FOR L’AQUILA (2019)
DAILY PERFORMANCES OF BLACKBIRD SONG / A COLLABORATION BETWEEN FILMMAKER ISHMAEL ANNOBIL AND LINDA KARSHAN
The Redfern Gallery presents Blackbird Song, a ‘walked drawing’ performance on the Saatchi Gallery stairs performed daily during DRAW ART FAIR 2019. © Ishmael Annobil
Permanent Installation
THE LIBRARY FOR L’AQUILA BY LINDA KARSHAN
NINE ARTISTS FOR RECONSTRUCTION | NOVE ARTISTI PER LA RICOSTRUZIONE
Installed on FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 13:30
For Further News, follow Linda Karshan on Instagram: @lindakarshanart
