Corot, Lake Piediluco, 1826, and photo, 2004
July 14-21, 2007
International School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture
Montecastello di Vibio,
Perugia Italy
Interspersed with painting trips to some of Corot's painting sites, this one-week seminar is based on the model of a "master class," instilling the values of total commitment to work, intimate engagement with great art of the past, and the attainment of the personal vision that grows from continuous practice.
We will follow parts of Corot’s painting itinerary of May – September 1826 in the province of Terni, less than one hour from Montecastello.
This is the period when Corot reached his full maturity as an outdoor painter. Corot’s work in these five months is a remarkable episode. In this period he moved from competence to mastery and beyond it to works of astonishing originality and power, which could not be fully appreciated until much later, after their radical conception had become the norm. Corot in Italy, Peter Galassi, Yale University Press, New Haven.
Corot, Lake Piediluco, 1826, and photo, 2004
It is incredibly thrilling to stand in places where our artistic predecessors actually set up to paint from nature. Many of the locales in which Corot painted on his trips to Italy – Papigno, Narni, the Cascada del Marmore, Lago Piedeluco - were on the itinerary of many painters in the nineteenth century and are a relatively short distance from our location in Montecastello. Seeing these places from the angles from which they were painted is fascinating and can give rise to many insights regarding the act of seeing vis-a-vis the act of painting. Through comparison of the reality with Corot’s conception of it as a motif, we will be able to reach an understanding of how Corot developed these early, seminal, and archetypal landscape paintings. This can become a point of departure for proceeding in our own painting.
This seminar will consist of slide lectures and discussions as well as painting on site and critiques. We will address aspects of Corot’s technique as well, especially in his early work and his first trip to Italy. The course will aim to reveal how painting outside is not merely the compilation of a list of things seen, but rather an attempt to record the quality and impact of a visual experience in painterly terms.
Three mornings or afternoons during the week, students and faculty will travel by chartered bus to visit and paint Corot’s motifs. Students will have the rest of the day to study the landscape of Montecastello, or paint in their studios. Evenings will feature critiques, slide talks and lectures by the faculty, acknowledged masters in their fields. Montecastello di Vibio, home to the International School of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture, is a tiny medieval hill town in Umbria, a 2-hour drive north of Rome and 2 hours south of Florence. A beautifully preserved medieval borgo, Montecastello looks much like it did 500 years ago. A fortress wall surrounds the tiny heart-shaped town, with vast panoramas all around and a tranquil little park at one edge. This delightful village is the School's campus, with the School's facilities based in a complex of historic buildings. Students and faculty enjoy meals together, enabling students to have close contact with their art mentors. Dinners are on the dining room terrace, with a panoramic view of the Tiber river valley. Meals are simple and wholesome, with fresh produce from nearby farms and prepared with care by our local cooks. Painting and drawing materials are available at the International School Art Supply Store. Students share modest apartments, or have rooms in the main School building, a former convent, with views of the Umbrian countryside. Rooms are single-occupancy. The International School provides housecleaning services and clean sheets and towels, but does not provide accommodations for spouses, pets or guests. Facilities in Montecastello are very basic and are not suitable for people with special needs. Classrooms and studios are in several great stone palazzi in the village of Montecastello. Students have 24-hour access to their private studios. Throughout the ancient town and out in the landscape are wonderful motifs and views to paint. |
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 Cascata della Marmore, photo 2004 |
Corot, Papigno, 1826, and photo 2004
Papigno, which has hardly changed since the 1820’s, is a cluster of houses perched on an outcrop of the steep incline that descends from the high plateau to the valley of the river Nera. From the village Corot could climb to the plateau to paint the Lake of Piediluco and the rushing stream of the Velino, which roars over the cliff in a magnificent cascade, called La Cascata delle Marmore. Or he could descend to the valley to paint the famous cascade from below. On the switchback road between the heights and the valley, Corot painted a series of mountain vistas to the east. Corot in Italy, Peter Galassi, Yale University Press, New Haven.
Admissions and FeesCandidates should submit:
Students from economically disadvantaged countries who have problems with the application requirements may still apply: please email the school for assistance. All fees must be received no later than one month before the session begins. Fees are calculated in Euros and include 20% IVA (value-added tax). Please see the Currency converter for the latest rates. The basic fees include tuition, studio space, a single room, three meals a day, group trips, and ground transportation from and to Rome on the first and last day of each session.
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 Monument to Corot, Papigno |
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