Painting Workshops in France

Renaissance Painting Workshop - Atelier Neo Medici:
Atelier Neo Medici offers two-month intensive painting workshops in the Aquitaine region of south-west France for art students and professional painters. These workshops are available in Spring (March-April), and Fall (October-November). Students are taught a Renaissance painting technique for contemporary artists known as the "technique mixte". The courses are taught in French and English.

We offer two-month intensive painting workshops teaching a renaissance painting technique for contemporary artists known as the "technique mixte".

This course is geared to both beginning and advanced students. The only prerequisite is an intermediate to accomplished level of drawing and a serious attitude towards the craft of painting. Class size is kept to a minimum in order to facilitate one-to-one contact as often as possible; never more than eight and very often under five. Accommodations are available for international students.

Students are encouraged to work between classes, and have permanent access to the atelier,every day from 8:00am to 8:00pm. Students receive 20 hours per week of studio instruction for a total of 160 hours for the two month course.

All materials are provided. However, students wanting to advance more rapidly should come with at least one finished drawing in pencil of compressed charcoal (Cretacolor), on a gessoed canvas or panel, though additional paintings will be begun during the course of the three months. Brushes will be provided, but students can bring their own as well. The airport authorities will confiscate any volatile liquid materials, so do not attempt to bring oil paints or mediums.

The name Medici is synonymous with Renaissance.The French word "atelier" means studio or workshop. Originating during the Renaissance and continuing through the 19th century, ateliers served as a place for master artists to create their own work and to teach a cadre of followers the "craft" of painting. This has all but disappeared with the advent of Modern Art where technique has been eschewed in favor of aesthetic theory.

The "ATELIER NEO MEDICI" believes that in order to create constant Art, i.e., Art which transcends the fashionable, it is necessary for the artist to have had a comprehensive background in traditional techniques. The quality of a painting can be assessed in terms of it's technical virtuosity e.g, composition and colour harmony or treatment of light. As Plato wrote: "THE GOOD IS THE BEAUTIFUL".

The artists at the atelier aspire to perfection which is understood in relation to the works of such masters as Raphael or Botticelli. Their approach towards painting is academic and they are very conscious of what they are creating, intellectually and technically. The communal life of the Atelier is fundamental, creating a situation where the artists are constantly learning through discussion or mutuel criticism. The Atelier is a stimulous, generating energy and encouraging a serious approach to painting.

The name "ATELIER NEO MEDICI" is significant. Its fundamental ideas and principles are based on those found in the Renaissance concept of an Atelier. As it was with the Renaissance, the Master-Student relationship here is very strong. Without impinging on the students' individuality, the Master imparts to them his knowledge of painting techniques.

The importance of a disciplined and profound knowledge of painting techniques is greatly emphasized at the Atelier. The artists learn not only contemporary but also XV and XVI century techniques. They learn all aspects of their craft, from the maintenance of their equipment, to the different paints and tools, to a highly scientific analysis of light and of colour and the relationship between them.

The ATELIER NEO-MEDICI was first founded by the Master Painter, PATRICK BETAUDIER, in a grand Norman style house in the village of Verneuil-sur-Seine, outside of Paris in 1974. Throughout the next fifteen years students from the U.S. and Europe came to study with him. In 1989, like many French artists before him, P.Betaudier was drawn to the southwest. Avoiding Provence, he chose the more pristine region of the southwest. The atelier relocated to the 13th century walled town of Monflanquin. The charm of this medieval village and the beauty of the countryside heighten the Atelier's continuity with its historical predecessors. At the time, Gregory Pelizzari was already working there.

Patrick Betaudier believed, like Van Eyck, that paintings must strive to unite Heaven and Earth: The Atelier Neo Medici forms a bridge from painting's distant past to its living present. His extensive research of the Masters of the Northern and Italien Renaissance was evident in his own extraordinary work, and his generosity in transmitting this knowledge was acknowledged and appreciated by all who had the good fortune to work under him.

Gregory Pelizzari is an American artist living in France since 1974, his work is exhibited in the USA,England, Switzerland and France. His intensely realist paintings explore the contrasts of nature and civilisation. He has been teaching painting and drawing since 1996.