Painting Workshops | Italy and France | Art Courses | Tuscany Provence

What is the Sublime

What, in essence, is the sublime? There must surely be some mechanism—visual, auditory, psychological, etc.—capable of bringing forth this sublime that I seek so intensely. This is what Baldine Saint Girons (1945) attempts to demonstrate in her book Le Sublime de...

My SUBLIME TREEHOUSE

(Above, Guido Reni, Hippomenes and Atalanta, Prado, Madrid, Spain.Here an episode of Métamorphoses d’Ovide (Book X, verses 560–707) please Google.) Finding the sublime Warning This text is poorly constructed, somewhat like the treehouse of my childhood. A...

Are We, Artists, Creators of Atmospheres?

Resisting Intermittence Two very important essays structure this post: Atmospheres by the German philosopher Hermann Schmitz (Mimesis 2026), and the second by the French philosopher Yves Michaud, L’art, c’est bien fini: Essai sur l’hyper-esthétique et les atmosphères...

Veni, vedi, veci ! Conquering the landscape !

by Yves M. Larocque (Ph.D.) | Aug 6, 2025 | art classes Italy France, art retreat, Art workshops, Inspiration |Thoughts, Painting, Painting | plein air, painting workshops Italy France

Coming back from Italy from another successful art workshop! About to leave again for Studio Italia, and whenever my students will set their easels before a breathtaking landscape, a recurring question will arise: Should I engage in a personal veni, vidi, vici of this...

The bastard of Marcel Duchamp: Contemporary Art

by Yves M. Larocque (Ph.D.) | Apr 30, 2020 | art classes Italy France, Art History, General, Inspiration |Thoughts

We are not living a crisis but a change of time “Urinal, you are” fountain “, and on this fountain, I will build my art! “(Christine Sourgins, Mirages of Contemporary Art, yet to be translated in English) Well, I have read Christine...

COVID-19 and Your Art

Thanks to everyone for your kind messages during these challenging times for all. Throughout the years more and more we realize that many of our lifelong friendships have been built around our workshops. Yes, we are doing well here in the Ottawa countryside. Life can...