Courses Offered

Professional Graduate Training

The ATPFormation training has been qualified to award students who successfully complete the program the Diploma of “Painting and Polychrome Art Object Conservationist,” from level II (L3-M1), code NSF 342V, by ministerial decree from the National Commission of Professional Certification (Aug. 22, 2012) A CERTIFICATE for “Assistant: Restorer of Paintings” is issued at the end of the second year (subject to the validation of sufficient proficiency).  

Training Information 

Initial training is offered to highly motivated adults, with a minimum Baccalaureate level, who are looking for vocational training, or those who are in the process of retraining.

Continuing Training is aimed at conservators who wish to improve their skills or who seek to build upon their abilities by means of specific, theoretical courses or with practical work on lesser-known techniques. 

Prerequisites for Training 

Applications can only be made after a pre-registration interview. This meeting will assess the motivations and skills of the applicant and will provide an opportunity to freely discuss all facets of the restoring and conservationist training in order to determine if this path is right for them and at what level into which they can be placed.

For international students, a French language certificate of level B2, as minimum, is required. 

Education Objectives

ATPFormation aims to train real professionals. Autonomy is gradually acquired during training, and mandatory work placements with professionals enable students to integrate more effectively into the working world. We can also accompany students in the difficult preparation for the I. N. P (National Heritage Institute) competitions, and the Master Conservation Restoration of Cultural Property (M. C. R. R. B. C.).

A conservator’s work has two sides: scientific and manual. The theoretical part is the most important as this knowledge allows for the understanding of techniques and it may be acquired all at once. However, manual experience requires constant training…

Thanks to the multidisciplinary teaching offered, the training provided by ATPFormation reflects the daily life of a restorer of paintings and polychrome art objects. On one hand, the different technical and theoretical courses offer real-life situations involving varied cases. On the other hand, working in restoration workshop offers direct integration with the Atelier. Working for both the public and private markets and with mandatory courses over the course of training, ATPFormation offers a total immersion into the working life of the painting restorer.

The Multidisciplinary Restorer 

The precision gained through thorough education: the conservation and restoration of paintings can only be learned by gradually integrating diverse and integral knowledge. Professional autonomy will only be acquired through multiple, varied situations.

Academic Drawing – Simple or draped composition, outside perspective or plaster studies and live models, and the introduction of the various graphic techniques (from pencil to different coloring tools) will sharpen the sense of observation and the precision of the gesture – both of which are crucial to restoration students.

Art History– Since the conservationist doesn’t approach a “classical” painting in the same way as a modern or contemporary work, they must be able to situate the painting in its historical and aesthetic context. For this, a minimal knowledge in Art History will be necessary to determine the diagnosis.

Copies of Ancient Techniques – Through the process of manufacturing coatings, sanding preparations, grinding pigments, and applying them to different encountered mediums throughout prolonged periods of painting, the materials will gradually become second nature in the hands of the restorer, enabling them to understand alterations. 

Practical Restoration and Conservation Work – small treatments (wire threads, inlays, tension bands), refixings, doubled laminations with thermoplastic resins or traditional backing, complex cleaning tests and lightening implementations, fillings of gaps, retouching and varnishing: all classical or innovative operations can be tackled and implemented thanks to a specific professional didactic material. From traditional techniques to those resulting from the latest research; students will be confronted with a wide variety of cases in their daily environment. Benefiting from all the tools and essential materials in their applications, they will practice all techniques essential to mastering their profession (from linings to varnishing).

Physics – Chemistry and Archaeometry – How do rays make it possible to see “under the paint” ? How do I interpret scientific documents? Why is the surface matte or glossy? What is moisture’s reaction on a varnish? How do cracks form? Why do adhesives stick? How do I identify a fiber, wood, binder, or pigment? These are the questions that these science subjects will answer, while providing essential information to the student restorer of works of art. Practical work, in two groups, will enable sampling and analysis of various materials in paintings to be carried out and their nature identified. Dossiers will be assembled to develop the scientific reasoning necessary for the new generation of art conservationists.

Status Report and Diagnosis – How to establish a condition report and an essential diagnosis prior to the restoration? How to evaluate and implement the various curative, conservative, aesthetic, or preventive works? How to write a restoration technical file? These are some of the many questions a restorer asks themself. All of which require the specific methodology presented here, and of which will produce the answers they seek.

Theoretical Catering – The history of the profession and its professional deontology, the materials constituting a painted work, the various restoration and conservation techniques used over the centuries. From the most traditional method to the most recent scientific research, theory allows the conservation student to establish a source for documents essential to their daily work.

The Advantages of This Training Center

The initial program is completed in over 3 years and the module’s validation can be extended for a maximum of 5 years.
By being integrated into a restoration workshop (Atelier du Temps Passé SARL), the training benefits from a privileged relationship with the daily life of professionals. Thus the student observes many cases, observes the different treatments of Restoration and Conservation of paintings and those of various collaborators, and gradually assimilates the management notions of private workshops.

The partnership established between the Atelier du Temps Passé and LAMS-UPMC Paris Sorbonne allows students to follow the research program on the identification and dating of oil within the authentication framework of paintings.
The module for Expertise and authenticity of the painting by the knowledge of its constituent materials will be established beginning 2017. It’ll be open to all art lovers and will be offered as an evening class.

CERTIFICATES and DIPLOMAS

Evaluation methods: biannual evaluations by subject and continuous overseeing allows for the validation of the modules.
A Certificate of Assistant: Restorer of Paintings” is issued at the end of 2nd year (subject to module validation).
The Diploma of “Conservationist of Paintings and Polychrome Art Objects”, (title approved by the C. N. C. P, level II), is issued at the end of the 3rd year (subject to module validation).
It allows the newly graduated conservationist to gain recognition for their skills in the private market, the public art market, and for historical Institutions.