Atelier

An atelier (French: [atəlje]) is the private <a href="/facts/Workshop/Y4FvIpVA">workshop</a> or <a href="/facts/Studio/WHfhIIVF">studio</a> of a professional artist in the <a href="/facts/Fine_art/eCVxehXE">fine</a> or <a href="/facts/Decorative_arts/w0TpPKvu">decorative arts</a> or an <a href="/facts/Architect/pv0f9bYq">architect</a>, where a principal <a href="/facts/Master_craftsman/pGqb15nJ">master</a> and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing <a href="/facts/Fine_art/eCVxehXE">fine art</a> or <a href="/facts/Visual_arts/95RgxP8e">visual art</a> released under the master's name or supervision.
Ateliers were the standard vocational practice for European artists from the <a href="/facts/Middle_Ages/RqzEKB9v">Middle Ages</a> to the 19th century, and common elsewhere in the world. In <a href="/facts/Medieval_Europe/RqzEKB9v">medieval Europe</a> this way of working and teaching was often enforced by local <a href="/facts/Guild/cWSyNP50">guild</a> regulations, such as those of the painters' <a href="/facts/Guild_of_Saint_Luke/MdTY1dYv">Guild of Saint Luke</a>, and of other craft guilds. <a href="/facts/Apprentice/6K8BRMRQ">Apprentices</a> usually began working on simple tasks when young, and after some years with increasing knowledge and expertise became <a href="/facts/Journeyman/pqXLjw3z">journeymen</a>, before possibly becoming masters themselves. This master-apprentice system was gradually replaced as the once powerful guilds declined, and the <a href="/facts/Academy/Q1cenQyr">academy</a> became a favored method of training. However, many professional artists continued using students and assistants as they had been in ateliers; sometimes the artist paid the student-assistants, while sometimes they paid the artist fees to learn.
In art, the atelier consists of a master <a href="/facts/Artist/7kfrXB5P">artist</a>, usually a professional <a href="/facts/Painting/ygQ47K3b">painter</a>, <a href="/facts/Sculpture/F01q8gtb">sculptor</a>, or architect—or from the mid-19th century a <a href="/facts/Fine-art_photography/3hQpPDDh">fine art photographer</a>—working with a small number of students to train them in visual or fine arts. An atelier can also be the work and study space of a <a href="/facts/Haute_couture/MDkf5hAR">haute couture</a> fashion designer, <a href="/facts/Hairdresser/my8I6JWb">hair stylist</a>, or artists more generally. Atelier schools can be found around the world, particularly in <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a> and <a href="/facts/Western_Europe/YmWlV59w">Western Europe</a>.
Although the methods vary, most painting ateliers train students in the skills and techniques associated with creating some form of representational art, the making of two-dimensional images that appear real to the viewer. They traditionally include sessions for drawing or painting <a href="/facts/Nude_(art)/6FrD95oV">nude art</a>.

Atelier open-in-new

Atelier