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The Atelier Review
The Atelier d’Arts is launching a new series of articles for students and anyone interested in all things art—covering both technical and stylistic topics.
Feel free to comment on the articles, share them, repost, and pass along anything that resonates with you. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to chat with me during class at the studio or drop a comment.
Happy reading!


Gerhard Richter’s Blurred World
On the occasion of the retrospective devoted to him at the Fondation Vuitton, one thing becomes clear: looking at a work by Gerhard Richter is never a comfortable experience. At first, we think we recognize something. A photograph. A portrait. A landscape. Then something resists. The image does not fully give itself up. It confirms nothing. It stands there, slightly unstable, as if refusing to settle. That precise point is where Richter’s work begins.
Mestan Tekin
Dec 25, 20255 min read


Reading, Understanding, and Practicing Abstract Art
Abstraction in art is neither an escape from reality nor an aesthetic whim. I am convinced that it represents one of the major adventures of modernity. Refusing to depict the visible does not mean refusing reality. Abstraction simply proposes to explore another layer of the real, in which rhythms, structures, and invisible forces organize the world.
Mestan Tekin
Jul 31, 202510 min read


Artemisia Gentileschi: Blood, Silk, and Silence
With Artemisia Gentileschi, we reach the final chapter of our Caravaggesque trilogy. After Caravaggio, the founder, and Ribera, the contemplative, here comes a more vibrant, more colorful figure—yet just as radical. Artemisia is Caravaggio’s light filtered through a woman’s experience, violence transfigured into narrative power, historical painting inhabited by a singular voice.
Mestan Tekin
Jun 9, 20258 min read


José de Ribera: Master of Darkness and Flesh
Nicknamed Lo Spagnoletto — “the little Spaniard” — is one of the true heavyweights of European Baroque. As the second great Caravaggesque master in our trilogy, he left a brutal, unforgettable mark on Neapolitan painting. A bold champion of raw tenebrism, Ribera stood out as one of Caravaggio’s fiercest heirs, while forging his own intense visual language — a mix of visceral drama, anatomical precision, and spiritual impact that hits you right in the gut.
Mestan Tekin
May 9, 20256 min read


Caravaggio: Painting the Light, Striking the Real
He simplifies, he condenses. He stages. And above all, he changes painting — for good. This article looks at that turning point.
Mestan Tekin
Mar 26, 202512 min read


Jenny Saville: Painting Flesh and Redefining Beauty
Jenny Saville is a towering figure in contemporary painting. For over thirty years, her monumental canvases have disrupted traditional…
Mestan Tekin
Mar 9, 20255 min read


The Night Watch: Analysis of an Absolute Icon by Rembrandt
The Night Watch by Rembrandt, created in 1642, is an iconic masterpiece of Western art.
Mestan Tekin
Jan 22, 20259 min read


John Singer Sargent, the Virtuoso
John Singer Sargent (1856–1925) stands as one of the most influential painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Mestan Tekin
Jan 10, 20257 min read


Turner: The Master of Light and Vibes
He is arguably the painter who planted the deepest and most original seed of modern art!
Mestan Tekin
Nov 23, 20245 min read
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