**A Forgotten Art Form Lives On: The École Van der Kelen-Logelain's Unique Approach to Painting** In a chilly studio in Brussels, 28 students in white coats gathered to watch Sylvie Van der Kelen paint the sky on a February morning. "The first touch of the brush is generally the best," she said, as light, pink-tinged clouds began to appear. "It is preferable not to make revisions." For a few days this winter, I had the opportunity to observe classes at the École Van der Kelen-Logelain, a painting school in Brussels that has been run by the same family since its founding in 1892. The school's unique approach to education is evident in its strict rules and traditional methods. Students must arrive by 9am, or they will be shut out until lunchtime. They are not allowed to bring phones or cameras into the school's workspace, and they must wear white lab coats while they work. Silence is also mandatory, and the students must be able to tolerate the cold, as the studio is ineffectively heated by a single wood-fired stove nicknamed "la mama." Despite these strictures, students who complete the six-month course will possess a range of specialized skills, including sign painting, lettering, and the application of gold and silver leaf. The core of the course is the school's expertise in trompe l'oeil painting techniques. Literally translated as "deceive the eye," trompe l'oeil is a genre of illusionistic painting that has a history dating back to ancient Egypt. At the Van der Kelen, students learn to create three-dimensional illusions using textures, shading, and tricks of perspective. They practice creating fake relief sculptures and architectural details out of flat surfaces, as well as copying different types of wood grain and marble in oil paints. Sylvie Van der Kelen's tip for painting a perfect trompe l'oeil sky is that clouds are rarely rounded, but rather "elongated like the shape of the human body." When the Van der Kelen was founded by Alfred Van der Kelen, it capitalized on a late-19th century vogue for decorative painting. The school's graduates went on to have highly paid careers in decorative painting. However, in the 21st century, the school has faced existential challenges. The passion for decorative painting among the wealthy upper middle class has evaporated, and trompe l'oeil has fallen out of style in interior decoration and high art. Student numbers have dropped to dangerously low levels, but the family continues to oversee the course every winter. Despite the challenges, the school remains committed to preserving this unique and specialized art form.