The Florence Academy of Art was founded in 1991 by Daniel Graves to provide the highest level of instruction in classical drawing, painting and sculpture. Graves' vision of the Academy is its potential to train a select group of highly skilled Realist artists.

His philosophy, which underlies the Academy's curriculum and method of instruction, demands a return to discipline in art, to canons of beauty, and to the direct study of nature and the Old Masters as the foundation for great painting. Under his direction, the Academy is a source of stimulation and healthy competition, in which an internationally varied group of students receives training from professional painters of different nationalities, in a city renowned for its artistic past.