Didactic model

Form and content

Traditionally, within art there is a distinction drawn between form and content.'Content' usually means 'what is it about?', or 'what does the artist want to emphasize?' whereas 'form' is usually 'how convincingly is this portrayed?'

Form
The programme of lessons at the Klassieke Academie concentrates on the three basic principles of painting: composition, form and colour. Students are expected to already have a certain competence, both from their previous history (a convincing image production from a previous study or autodidactic development) and from talent.

Previous history: how a student came to be producing paintings is less relevant than the nature and extent of that production. This must be of sufficient quality to justify admission and of sufficient extent to be able to form a reasonable judgement about quality. This production must also be able to provide insight into the previous development, and to the question of how to respond to that per individual.

Talent: is absolutely essential in art. In practice, talent is usually limited to one of the above principles - one person has a natural feel for composition, another a feel for form, and a third a good feel for colour. Combinations of these talents do occur, but only rarely. Talent gives you a head start, but if it's missing in one of the principles then it can be learned to a great extent. However, you have to be completely open for this.

Content
It's not the place of a course to propagate a single artistic view or direction. The individual student has to make that choice. What the Academie can do is offer an adequate framework of reference that students can use to determine their position.
There are two possible ways to do this:

- with theoretical information, for example an art-historical overview. What is important here is to emphasize the wealth of diversity that art history offers rather than to examine one or other aspect in detail. In addition, the framework of reference will be expanded with classical sources of inspiration such as myths, religious stories, literature, film, theatre and music.

- through personal confrontation, by asking about the how and why of artistic actions, either through discussions or in more confrontational types of lessons. What is important here is that the personal insights of the teacher must be subordinate to the individual characteristics and potential of the students, either through the manner of teaching or through meetings with different artists (and their approaches, starting points, etc.).

Craft
Wherever form and content are in balance - while simultaneously under tension - visual art is created. To a large degree this is a craft in both a material sense - you need a workshop with tools and materials - and socially. An artist is an independent traditional producer who should outline a survival strategy for social intercourse - preferably one that will lead to success. The Academie will do its best to prepare the students for this.

Testing

Regular testing will take place, known as 'work discussions'; in other words, exhibitions of work created during the course that is commented on during a collective session. In art, everything revolves around the visible result. Intentions and the creation process will be taken into account, but the visualization is what it's actually all about.

Admission
The first test is the admission selection. The quantity and quality of the candidate's 'own work' is what matters here. Is the quantity such that admission is a foregone conclusion? Is the standard of the work such that a path to a high quality artistic future can be offered? As well as drawing from a model on the spot, candidates also must complete a homework project. In addition, during an interview the teachers will try to form an impression of the artistic character and motivation of the applicant.

First year
There will be two work discussions during the first year. The first will have an exploratory function - does the student have specific problems, points that need to be adjusted or even stimulated. The second work discussion, on the other hand, is determinative: is the student suited to the profession? Has he or she learned enough and been able to integrate this into their own thinking?  Has this student come far enough to advance to the next phase?
The assessment will be by the teachers from the next (second) year. They in fact decide who is admitted to the next year or not. The teachers from the first year play an advisory role.

Second year
  Here, too, there will be two formal work discussions with the same goals as in the previous year. Here, too, admission to the third year will be decided by the teachers for that third year.

Third year
The work discussions will take place as in previous years, with the same goals.
However, a separate admissions procedure will be arranged for progression to the fourth year, with artists from outside the Academie taking part.

Fourth year
Continuation of the course in the fourth study year will involve about six interim 'reflections', one after every Master Class. The year will be rounded off with a final work discussion with all the teachers from the previous three years. They will decide whether the student is ready to graduate. This decision is so important that the opinions of external experts will also be requested.

Learning outcomes

A course of study is intended to raise students to a level that is clearly higher than at the start of the course.No matter how relative what you actually learn about art may be, the study results are concrete and visible and thus assessable.
With a classical approach, the framework of reference of centuries of painting plays a role - artistic quality is mainly determined through comparison.We need to sound a note of caution here, too, however - the image of art history is significantly determined by the work of a small number of geniuses who made their marks on a few occasions through history.The likelihood that the Klassieke Academie will ever train such a genius is not impossible, but certainly slim.The comparative material will thus more reasonably be sought in the category of the 'Lesser Masters'.
Consistent with the approach of the Klassieke Academie, the learning outcomes will be sought in the categories 'Form' (how great is the ability of the student to impart form now the course has ended) and 'Content'(how original is the work, how are the interpretations made individual).

Learning outcomes for knowledge of form
 These can be assessed using the following list:

• the ability to apply radical or complex forms of composition
• adequate mastery of form so that tension and intensity are created
• the ability to use tone and colour effectively (e.g. varying from elegant to dramatic)
• the ability to convincingly create the impression of 3-dimensional space on a flat surface
• the ability to convincingly render materials

The assessment of all these abilities is unavoidably subjective, but weaknesses can certainly be discussed, thus enabling a reasonable degree of objectivity.

The assessment of the content value of a work is particularly subjective.
After all, this is directly linked to the personality of the student in question. In fact, the assessment here will limit itself to the question of whether or not we can speak of a personality - it goes without saying that these are delicate matters, and not only because the personal expectations of the assessor also play a role.
Also important is the judgement of the student him or herself - to what degree is he or she of the opinion that the course has offered a good starting position to become a painter. The final conclusion can be the result of the assessments of both the judge and the student

The learning outcomes here can be formulated as follows:

• the ability to express oneself in a unique, recognizable idiom
•  the mastery of the means of expression (incl. arrangement, atmosphere, emotional content)

These assessments will take place at the end of the fourth year of study.