One morning last February, in a chilly studio in Brussels, 28 people in white coats gathered to watch Sylvie Van der Kelen paint the sky. “The first touch of the brush is generally the best,” said Van der Kelen as light, pink-tinged clouds began to appear. “It is preferable not to make revisions.”
For a few days this winter I was allowed to sit in on classes at the École Van der Kelen-Logelain, a mythologised painting school in Brussels that is unlike any other arts education institution in the world. Run by the same family since it was founded in 1892, the Van der Kelen course takes place every winter underneath its glass and wrought iron roof, extending out of the back of a gothic brick townhouse.
