The Academy and the Mediterranean Light The studio at the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam provides the first rigorous framework for Kees Salentijn. Under the guidance of O.B. Kat, the focus remains on the discipline of free painting. This formal training eventually gives way to a more visceral, wandering education. The quiet halls of the Prado in Madrid offer a different kind of lesson, where the weight of Spanish history settles into his vision. This period of study is not confined to museums; it extends to the lived experience of a Berber family in Morocco, where the text…