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Atelier

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For other uses, see Atelier (disambiguation).
French Atelier of Painters: titled "School of Fine Arts - Painter Workshop" (Ecole des Beaux-Arts - Atelier de Peintre)
Robert-Fleury's Atelier at Académie Julian for female art students - painting by student Marie Bashkirtseff (1881)
Bouguereau's Atelier at Académie Julian in Paris by Jefferson David Chalfant (1891)
File:Academy of Classical Design ~ Cast Hall.jpg
Interior of the cast studio - Academy of Classical Design, Southern Pines, North Carolina, USA.

An atelier (French: [atəlje]) is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing pieces of fine art or visual art released under the master's name or supervision.

This was the standard vocational practice for European artists from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, and common elsewhere in the world. In medieval Europe such a way of working and form of visual or fine art education was often enforced by local guild regulations, of the painters' Guild of Saint Luke, and those of other guilds for other crafts. Apprentices usually began young, working on simple tasks, and after some years became journeymen, before becoming masters themselves. The system was gradually replaced as the once powerful guilds declined, and the academy became a favored method of training, although many professional artists continued to use students and assistants, some paid by the artist, some paying fees to learn.[1]

In art, the atelier consists of a master artist, usually a professional painter, sculptor, or from the mid-19th century a fine art photographer, working with a small number of students to train them in visual or fine arts. This very word has also taken on other similar meanings, indicating a place of work and study of the haute couture fashion designer, hair stylist and artists in general. Atelier schools can be found around the world, particularly in North America and Western Europe.[2]

Although the methods vary, most painting ateliers train students in the skills and techniques associated with creating some form of representational art, the making of two-dimensional images that appear real to the viewer. They traditionally include sessions for drawing or painting nude art.

Methods

Sight-Size

Apollo Belvedere, (350-325 BC) Vatican Museums
Titian, Assumption of the Virgin (1516–1518)

Sight-Size is a method of drawing and painting an object exactly as it appears to the artist, on a one-to-one scale.[3] The artist first sets a vantage point where the subject and the drawing surface appear to be the same size. Then, using a variety of measuring tools—which can include levels, mirrors, plumb bobs, strings, and sticks—the artist draws the subject so that, when viewed from the set vantage point, the drawing and the subject have exactly the same dimensions. When properly done, sight-size drawing can result in extremely accurate and realistic drawings. It can also be used to draw the exact dimensions for a model in preparation for a painting.[citation needed]

Ateliers following the sight-size method generally agree that the practice of careful drawing is the basis of painting, teaching a form of realism based upon careful observations of nature with attention to detail. Using this method, students progress through a series of tasks such as cast drawing, cast painting, drawing and painting from the live model, and still life. Students must complete each task to the instructor's satisfaction before progressing to the next. This system is referred to as "systematic progression" or "systematic teaching and learning".[citation needed]

Atelier students often begin this progression by drawing plaster casts. These casts are usually faces, hands, or other parts of the human anatomy. Plaster casts provide some of the benefits of live, human models, such as the presence of natural shadows. They also have their own distinct advantages: they remain perfectly still and their white color allows the student to focus on the pure, grayscale tones of shadows.[citation needed]

Constuctive (Analytical method)

What is Constructive (analytical approach):

The constructive method is conceptualizing the form, honing the anatomy knowledge, and thinking primarily in 3D. The goal of this type of study is to use the model as an inspiration to create an artwork, not only to copy it. [4]https://www.artac.org/post/sight-size-vs-constructive-method

What are the core components of this method?

--Main focus goes to analysis of the form and 3D construction

--Model serves as an inspiration but is not meant to be copied exactly

--Composition and vantage point are not confined to a specific position

Main focus goes to analysis of the form and 3D construction

Understanding the construction of each element and grasping fully the three-dimensional nature of objects are the core of the method. Comprehension of anatomy, principles of perspective and proportions are essential to this approach.


The model serves as an inspiration but is not meant to be copied exactly

The content of the form itself has a higher value then observation. Once the foundation principles are synced in the comprehension and enough of practice has taken place, the artist can draw or paint from imagination without depending on the model.

Composition and vantage point are not confined to a specific position

The artist can choose any distance or placement in relation to the model. If the conditions slightly change (the light or the position of the model) it does not affect the work dramatically.

What are the pros of this method:

1. It teaches you to interpret the image based on the knowledge and universal principles

2. It enables you to do draw and paint from imagination

3. It provides a vast range of information in various disciplines that are interconnected. As a result, the artists’ development is more complete.


What are the cons of this method:

It takes a lot of time to learnIt takes a lot of discipline and brain work there are fewer number of art schools in the world


1. It takes a lot of time

In order to master this method, you need a lot of time. A lot. Meanwhile, sight-size can be conquered in a year or two, a constructive method would require a minimum of 5 years of training and dedication to get good. It is certainly not a “learn how to draw in 30 days” project.


2. It takes a lot of discipline and brain work

This method is based on analysis, so the end goal is not the creation of a flawless imitation of what we see in front of us. But instead, it is a constant process of exploration, examination, and interpretation. In other words, it’s a lot of brainwork!


3. The art schools which promote this method are fewer in the world

Since complex and time-consuming studies are not any more popular with our “immediate click” generation, the schools that provide this type of education are fewer in the world and harder to find. The art school that best represents this method is Florence Classical Arts Academy [5]

Comparative measurement

The comparative measurement method requires proportional accuracy, but allows the artist to vary the size of the image created. This technique broadly encompasses any method of drawing that involves making accurate measurements primarily using the naked eye. In the early training period students may be aided by a pencil, brush or plumb line to make comparisons, but there is no transfer of 1:1 measurements from subject directly to paper. Schools that teach this method include The Water Street Atelier and The Swedish Academy of Realist Art.[citation needed]

In his essay, "The Sight-size Method and its Disadvantages", the painter and instructor Hans-Peter Szameit, of the Swedish Academy of Realist Art, discusses the disadvantages of sight-size, describing it as essentially the making of a mechanically produced image limited to one size, the "sight size".[6]

Illusion

Sketch for Madame Moitessier, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

Another traditional atelier method incorporates the use of illusions that fool the viewer into believing an image is accurate. This method is most often taught in conjunction with advanced compositional theory. Since it is not necessary to copy the subject accurately to achieve a successful illusion, this method allows the artist to experiment with many options while retaining what appears to be a realistic image.

In one example, the Study of a male figure, for Mercury descending (c. 1613–1614 (drawn), in The Education of Marie de' Medici[7]), Rubens has obscured the point where the legs attach to the torso. This is one factor that contributes to the ease in which he is able to successfully experiment with a variety of dramatically different leg placements. At least three sets of feet are visible. The viewer is not disturbed by an illogical attachment if the attachment is not visible and the resulting two-dimensional image is pleasing to the eye. This allows the artist to choose from a great number of very different alternatives, making his selection based on personal preference or aesthetics rather than accuracy. In the referenced exercise it is possible to experiment with numerous manipulations regarding the size and placement of each part of the body while at the same time using a collection of two-dimensional foreshortening illusions to retain the appearance of realism.[8]

In addition to body parts, artists may rely on the manipulation of many other elements to achieve a successful illusion. These can include: the manipulation of color, value, edge characteristics, overlapping shapes, and a number of different types of paint applications such as glazing and scumbling. Work developed this way would not begin with a drawing, but rather the placement of all relevant elements necessary for the success of the illusions as well as the composition as a whole.[9][10]

Many of the illusions designed to mimic reality also speed the painting process, allowing artists more time to design and complete complex large-scale works.[citation needed]

Individual students of this method study a diverse selection of old masters, although many begin their studies with the High Renaissance (1490s–1527), Mannerist (1520–1580), Baroque (1600–1725), and Impressionist (1870s–1880s) painters, including Leonardo da Vinci, Degas, Michelangelo, Raphael, Rubens, and Titian. However, because the emphasis is on creativity, it is often the design of the composition and the application and use of materials that is studied with less focus on reproducing a particular style or subject.[citation needed]

Students of these ateliers will therefore exhibit a wide range of personal styles and increasing amounts of creative experimentation. The result is a group whose art is highly individualized, with each student pursuing their own individual interests. There was great diversity at the atelier of Léon Bonnat (1846–1855). Julius Kaplan characterised Bonnat as "a liberal teacher who stressed simplicity in art above high academic finish, as well as overall effect rather than detail."[11][12]

Some of Bonnat's more notable students include: Fred Barnard, Georges Braque, Gustave Caillebotte, Suzor-Coté, Raoul Dufy, Thomas Eakins, Aloysius O'Kelly, John Singer Sargent, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Marius Vasselon[12] [13][14]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Diana Davies (editor), Harrap's Illustrated Dictionary of Art and Artists, Harrap Books Limited, (1990) ISBN 0-245-54692-8
  2. ^ Janson, H. W.; Janson, Anthony F. History of Art (5th ed.). London: Thames & Hudson. p. 629. ISBN 0500237018.
  3. ^ Margua Simon, Trinka (2013). "The Modern Sight Size Method". Google Docs. Retrieved 2019-02-18.
  4. ^ Artac blog
  5. ^ artac.org
  6. ^ Szameit, Hans-Peter. "The Sight-size Method and its Disadvantages". Archived from the original on 2012-04-22. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  7. ^ "Prints, Drawings and Paintings Collection: Study of a male figure, for Mercury descending in "The Education of Marie de Medici"". V&A Images. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
  8. ^ Simon, Trinka Margua (2008). "The Art of Composition".
  9. ^ Varnish
  10. ^ Gurney, James. "James Gurney Interview". Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  11. ^ Kaplan, Julius (1996). "Leon Bonnat". The Dictionary of Art. Vol. IV. New York: Grove. p. 329. ISBN 9781884446009.
  12. ^ a b Weisberg, Gabriel. "Gabriel P. Weisberg reviews The Scandinavian Pupils of the Atelier Bonnat, 1867–1894 by Siulolovao Challons-Lipton". Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide. Retrieved 2016-12-11. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  13. ^ Leon Bonnat (1833 - 1922), World Wide Arts Resources. Retrieved October, 2014. [dead link‍]
  14. ^ Bonnat, Encyclopædia Britannica
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