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 In
1972, after fifteen years spent teaching painting and drawing at
the Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, Leo Marchutz
and his former students, Billy Weyman and Sam Bjorklund, founded
the school which bears his name. After occupying different premises
in Aix, the school relocated in 1985 to what was Marchutz"s
former studio on the route du Tholonet. |
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| The
mission of the school is, above all, to develop the student’s
capacity to see. But it is also to install in each individual interested
in artistic expression a perception of the nature of art itself as
expressed in the cave paintings of Lascaux until our present day.
The faculty’s 25 year collaboration in the studio and landscape
as well as their profound experiences in the museums of Europe are
invaluable assets that help inspire students to reach beyond their
normal expectations. |
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| Leo Marchutz, 1966 |
William Weyman, Lumière des Montagnes,
2000 |
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| Enrollmment
normally not more than twenty, with a varied range of experience:
studio art and art history majors, high school teachers, working
artists, and MFA candidates work together in a common space,
frequently on common themes ; regardless of his/her level of
experience, each student is considered “a working artist”.
Engaged in individual projects, disparities of age and past
achievement tend to enrich dialogue and capacity for growth
in all ages and at all stages. Willingness to accept new challenges
is considered more important than past accomplishment ! The
school welcomes students and artists committed both to looking
out onto the world and within themselves. All students participate
in the school’s unique combination of studio art, field
trips, local, and / or Paris and Venice, museum study, and
critical dialogue. Many report how involvement in the arts
enriched their later lives. |
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| The school archives include a
voluminous correspondence between Léo Marchutz,
the school's founder, and art historians John Rewald,
Lionello Venturi, Adrien Chappius, Fritz Novotny
and others. |
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Situated on the famous
and now protected "route de Cézanne" the
studio was designed by architect Fernand Pouillon. Modern
in style it maintains the classical simplicity that marks
the region and is built from the same stone, stucco and
tile found in much older buildings around Aix. |
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| In
recent years a working committee consisting of John Gasparach,
François de Asis, and the present director, Alan Roberts,
has undertaken a number of new projects which, as they add
to the school’s stature, enrich the experience of its
students, and complement and reinforce the school’s primary
purpose. These include distinguished guest lectures relating
to the School’s curriculum, visits to other studios, exhibitions,
colloquia, and research projects sponsored by French and American
universities. |
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of the preceding, by provoking reflexion and increased awareness
of matters beyond the confines of classroom and studio, contribute
to a lively and stimulating intellectual climate. At the same
time they lay the foundations for a cultural institution and
resource centering upon Aix, its incomparable countryside,
the life, œuvre, and friends of Leo Marchutz. |
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