Atelier Movement

Unique training that has taken root once again across the globe.

To get a clearer picture of what the modern Atelier Movement encompasses we need to step back and take a brief look through the history of Western art. Traditionally the training of artists has been no different than the training of architects, musicians, dancers, authors, chefs and athletes. In each of these disciplines, craftsmanship leads to mastery. It doesn’t hinder creativity, it facilitates it. Until one attains mastery in playing the violin, for instance, you will never have a conduit through which the music inside can flow expressively and unhindered. Countless generations populated by highly intelligent and motivated individuals have dedicated their lives to being the best they could be. Much of what they accomplished would be passed along to the next generation who would add their own blood, sweat and tears to take this to the next level. In all disciplines, the ‘fundamentals’ became the ‘fundamentals’ because they are the ‘fundamentals.’ 

It is Shakespeare’s ability as a master wordsmith that empowers his words to capture the full spectrum of human joy and tragedy. It is through the craft of painting that Mona Lisa’s smile, centuries later, still engages. 

Starting in the late Middle Ages, fine art developed and evolved primarily through young, potential artists attaching themselves and apprenticing under established masters of their craft. Some would become acknowledged masters in their own right and take on their own apprentices. This was the foundation. In each generation, along with the tried and true training methods, new ideas would also be put into practice, tested, refined and evaluated by the results. Some would be rejected and others added to the accepted curriculum going forward. This was the rising tide that raised all ships.  

While there are and always have been a multitude of styles within painting, they developed on top of this fundamental foundation. Composition, draftsmanship, seeing and organizing values, modeling the form and the flow of light are the core elements of all representational painting. Rather than focusing on the occasional Rembrandt or Da Vinci that comes along every generation or two, maybe the real glory of classical art rests on the methods of how it was passed on so successfully from generation to generation.

We believe craftsmanship is the vehicle to artistry. The reality is that without the training in the craft that all of the old masters received in their youth, none of the greats would have become the artists they became.

“Atelier” is the French word that translates into “studio workshop.” The development of this method of training can be traced back to the apprentice system that flourished in the Renaissance, producing greats such as DaVinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. In the 17th century, this training was formalized under the French painter Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) and formed into the French Academie Royale de Peinture, who was also its first director. The famous painter of Napoleon, Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) revitalized and promoted it to a level where the French influence dominated the Western world for the next two and a half centuries. By the early 1800s, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris had established itself as the leading institution of fine art. Eventually, the students fortunate enough to pass their rigorous application process would typically study there for three years before they would apply to one of the many private ateliers in Paris to complete their training under a particular master.  Jean-Leon Gerome (1824-1904) along with being the director was one of three master artists that ran their Ateliers at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. The American Impressionist, Willam McGregor Paxton (1869-1941) studied with Gerome in Paris. R.H.Ives Gammell (1883-1981) was a student of Paxton and trained Richard Lack (1928-2009). Jeffrey T. Larson (1962) studied at Atelier Lack from 1980-1984.

Modernism was part of the reevaluation of all of society and a questioning of all of its accepted norms. They questioned “the box” and explored well outside of its boundaries.  This occurred in all realms and in all of the arts and was, for the most part, healthy and necessary. What most all other disciplines came to realize rather quickly was that the box did contain, among many things, the tried and true methods and standards that allowed for the best training in each discipline and was, therefore, invaluable.  

‘Modern’ composers still studied Bach, ‘modern’ dancers still trained in classical ballet and ‘modern’ musicians still mastered their instruments. 

This was not so in the visual arts where, for some unexplainable reason, the “baby got thrown out with the bathwater” and philosophical standards of any sort were eliminated. Sadly, enough people believed that the traditional training was unnecessary, even detrimental to creativity. So much so, that by the mid-twentieth century, there were only a small handful of art studios left in the world still training up and passing along these skills and knowledge at a high level.

This 500 year western art tradition, along with the hard-won accumulated studio knowledge, was almost lost. 

When Jeff was studying with Richard Lack in the 1980s, he was aware of only a small handful of institutions and studios worldwide still preserving and passing along the great tradition of classical training. Much of the studio knowledge accumulated over the centuries became seriously close to being lost. While there were always a few professors bucking the system and doing their best to give their students tangible skills, most of the universities and art schools rejected classical training and have actively promoted only conceptualism to their students.

The Atelier Movement is the reemergence of young, potential artists, realizing that modern art institutions have failed in training artists with even the most basic skills, let alone the skills and knowledge needed to reach the level of quality that they see when they walk into a museum. Fortunately, there was a small number of individuals in this past century who did not follow the herd and diligently worked to learn, maintain and pass along this knowledge, while basically being canceled by the now powerful Modern Art Establishment. Starting around the last decade of the twentieth century, a small but growing number of their students opened small, private Ateliers and Academies. Today, there are more opportunities to study and earn a solid, classical training than there have been for generations.