Press Release. Oct 13, 2020

Contacts:
Julie Snyder, Workshops in France, email.    

Vanessa Rothe, Americans in Paris, email

Americans in Paris Paint Provence, April 2022

MAKING HISTORY “AMERICANS IN PARIS” ART RETREAT COMES TO PROVENCE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

In April 2022, major artistic talent from the USA will converge on France to attend a historical art event: Americans in Paris Paint Provence. Attendees to this 10-day painting trip to the heart of the Provençal countryside will engage with and learn from five of today’s contemporary painting masters: Casey Childs, Michelle Dunaway, David Gray, Olga Krimon, and Vanessa Rothe. The retreat is a partnership between Workshops In France and Americans in Paris.

“We’re extremely proud to partner with Vanessa Rothe and her impressive vision of the Americans In Paris,” said Julie Snyder, Founder of Workshops in France. “Today’s artists can now walk in the footsteps of the great painters before them, while taking instruction from five of today’s stellar artists. This all takes place on the grounds of Moulin de La Roque, a Château estate in Provence.”

“Americans in Paris started out with the initial idea to inspire some of the American artists of today to travel to Paris to gain insight and illumination from the masterworks found in the Museums, from the light and culture of the city and to influence one another as so many great painters had done through the ages,” said Vanessa Rothe, creator of Americans in Paris, and one of five talented instructors for the retreat. Historically, some of the greatest artists America has ever produced—for example, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, and William Merritt Chase—came to France to engage with and learn from the leading masters of the day. These associations and cross-influences resulted in some of the most important art ever created. “It gives me great pleasure to bring together some of Americas’s top artists to learn from one another and take inspiration from France as we continue this tradition and we are honored to do it with Julie and Workshops in France.”

At the retreat, attendees will be treated to elegant accommodations, authentic French cuisine and a varied wine selection on the château estate. The Americans in Paris Paints Provence workshop welcomes five of the original group of painters to share the residence with twenty guests artists and a handful of collectors. The 10-day retreat will include instruction from the master artists, painting locals who will model for the group on the estate and out in the Provençal countryside. The group will be treated to presentations on the history of art as it relates to the region and its influences. Evenings will be open to discussions on philosophy, literature, painting and their impact on our culture.

“I feel that artists coming to Americans in Paris Paint Provence will reach the same or even greater heights than in 2017,” Rothe said. “They will be infused with ideas and subjects—and with these five teachers, they will additionally learn to improve their technique. At the same time, thanks to Julie Snyder and her amazing team, they get to enjoy France without distractions —they can focus on their art and their inspiration, without having their attention on where to eat and where to stay. It will be an amazing event for us all, students and teachers alike.”

Original Retreat and Launch

In 2017, Rothe organized the first Americans In Paris as a workshop to help inspire exciting new subjects for the talented group and provide artists valuable art history information as well as humanities and group figure composition. The 12 American artists painted in Paris and the Grande Chaumiere atelier for one week together, and filled their sketchbooks and minds with new ideas, some inspired by the past. The group had lively evening discussions based on specific topics just like creative groups of the past such as the Impressionist artists and like writing groups that included Hemmingway and Fitzgerald had done in Paris bistros and bars years before.

In order to raise money for this journey, Rothe curated an exhibition at the Salmagundi Club in New York in spring of 2016, where 12 invited American realist and impressionist artists sold many works and were able to plan for the journey. The works at this point were simply works that they created to sell, without the direct influence of the trip yet, however some of the works did have a Parisian flair. 

Following the journey, Rothe curated and organized two bi-continental exhibitions at top galleries for realism in America and Paris, with new works the artists created with their new-found inspiration. These works included Paris nocturnes, Louis the 14th interiors, winged figures and florals inspired by the masters, and figures in the landscape inspired by literature discussions the group had in Paris. The first exhibition was held at Arcadia Contemporary in Los Angeles in April 2018, and the second at Gallerie Prince de L’Oeil Paris France, May 2018. Both were met with great success.  

More information, including registration, can be found at: https://panalink.net/wp/workshopinfrance/americans-in-paris-paint-provence/

Images: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1f8dZedsz2lBYWJubr4I_NGNEYQWpLGDN?usp=sharing

About Workshops in France

Workshops in France creates a unique invitation for artists to paint, sketch and stay with other artists in magnificent locations such as châteaux in the French countryside, manor estates in the UK and ‘agriturismo’ farmhouses in Italy. Artists both seasoned and novice, with opportunities both instructed and non-instructed, can immerse themselves in a distraction-free experience in which they can simply create. More information can be found at https://panalink.net/wp/workshopinfrance

About Americans in Paris

Americans in Paris was created by Vanessa Rothe to bring today’s American artists to Paris to learn, where many great artists have been inspired throughout history. In the first such retreat in 2017, 12 artists painted in Paris for one week together, and also engaged in lively evening discussions just like creative groups of the past such as the Impressionists and Hemingway and Fitzgerald’s writing groups had done in Paris years before. In spring 2022, the journey will continue as Americans in Paris joins forces with Workshops in France to present Americans in Paris Paint Provence.

Image: Youthful Decadance, Casey Childs. Americans in Paris Artist

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