art holidays Italy France lecture in Rome Italy from Ponte vecchio in Florence Italy painting the landscape in Italy painting courses Italy

"We have never been to Europe and we expected the touring component to be the highlight of our time away. This was not the case as our time at icscis with Monica and Yves was not the restful anticlimax we expected but the ultimate experience"

"Yves talked, we listened, and we met Picasso, Giotto, Cimabue, and St Francis of Assisi! Peter Doig, Odd Nerdrum and Marcel Duchamp (if you say it is art – it is art!). Most of all, we met ourselves!"

Photos (left to righ and downward)

1) Sky (icscis)
2)Prof. Létourneau giving a lecture in
a restaurant in Rome (icscis)
3) Sunset on the Arno in Florence
4) Tuscan fields (icscis)
5) Cylcing in Florence (icscis)

The Team

all professionals

Prof. Yves M. Larocque
(B.A. in Art Theory and B.A. in Visual Arts, University of Ottawa,
M.A. University of Montréal, D.É.A. and Ph.D. Art History, Université de Paris I, Sorbonne)

Prof. Yves M. Larocque is icscis’ founder and director. His studies gave him the opportunity to work with renowned artists and professors such as Jacques Derrida in Paris. Yves is a respected teacher of drawing and painting and has been teaching both disciplines for 25 years at the Ottawa School of Art. His paintings have appeared in several group exhibitions, most importantly Arteder 82 at the Muestra d’Arto Grafica of Bilbao, Spain. His paintings have also been shown in Europe and both Americas; many are part of private collections. Moreover, a public TV network produced a short program on his works.

His participation in the artistic domain goes beyond the aforementioned activities. Many times, his voice has been heard over the radio waves of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as a known art critic and historian. Also, as art historian he regularly publishes in periodicals such as La Vie des Arts (Montreal), Liaison (Ottawa), Médium (Paris), RACAR (Canada), Histoire de l’Art, RACAR and Médium (Paris). His conferences on art history have taken him across Canada and to France, the Netherlands, Colombia and the United States.

Thanks to Yves’ vast knowledge, you will learn about not only the many aspects of colours, compositions, perspective and contrast, but also about content, concept, and context, for a work of art always incorporates sensitivity and intelligibility. With Yves you can be sure to return home with a new commitment toward painting.(more)

S.E.

a few of Yves Larocque's work covering a 25 year span

Mónica Márquez Zalamea
(B.A. in Business Administration, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Specialist Diploma in Finance, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, M.A. in International Affairs, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Ottawa).

Since 2001 Mónica has been Project Manager and Interpreter at icscis inc. She speaks Spanish, English and French fluently. She is an autodidact painter and photographer. Her works have been exhibited in Canada, Colombia, Italy and France and can be found in private collections.

Before joining icscis, Mónica worked as Director of Mergers and Acquisitions at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya in Bogotá, Colombia. Prior to that she was Assistant to the Director of Public Credit at the Ministry of Finance and Treasurer of Bancoldex. During her years in the financial world, Mónica always found time to fuel her passion for art.

A few icscis past colleagues

Gerald Smith (MFA)
Bobbie Alsgaard-Lien (MFA)
Prof. Alain Létourneau (Ph.D.)

Eliminate something superfluous from your life.
Break the habit! (Piero Ferrucci)

updated July 14, 2010