THE course in traditional painting techniques at the Van der Kelen Logelain institute in Brussels can involve working seven days a week for up to 11 hours a day. At times, students are required to paint by candlelight, to mimic the conditions in which artists worked before the advent of electricity. Such is the physicality of the work that the upper age limit is 50. However rarefied the results, the demands of this art form are, without doubt, challenging. Happily, the hard work has never discouraged artists: the most luxurious villas in Pompeii were finished with faux marble effects and decorative painting reached new heights of sophistication in the Renaissance.
Today, not everyone working in the field goes through a Van der Kelen-style training. Some are self-taught, others have undertaken some form of apprenticeship. What most share is an ability to turn their versatile talents
