Our story begins with Florence
Daniel Graves founded The Florence Academy of Art in 1991 with a handful of students in a small studio in the gardens of a Florentine palace. He chose Florence to surround them with some of the greatest artwork in history. This daily encounter with beauty naturally influences the students’ work, as they look to examples from the past to learn the language of classical art and endeavour to understand how the masters created works of such universal significance. Today, the school is housed in a 35,000 square foot former customs house, just outside the city center, a short walk from the Arno River and the monuments of Florence. The antique structure, with its soaring ceilings and abundant natural light, has been transformed into a campus for realism: 30 north lit classrooms, a gallery, library, cafe, private studios for faculty and apartments for visiting artists. In 2007, the Florence Academy opened a branch campus in Mölndal, Sweden, and in 2020, inaugurated the Master of Arts in Studio Art.
“I am not part of a post contemporary movement. I am connected to a tradition that never ever stopped.”
– Daniel Graves, Founder
What is
The FAA?
Students who apply to The Florence Academy of Art seek the language of Rembrandt, Velasquez, Titian and Sargent, and the tools to convey their ideas with confidence through the oil or clay mediums. A common visual aesthetic draws them to the classical world (and its renaissance in Florence) to build an artistic vocabulary where beauty and humanity are intrinsic to art. When students walk in the door of the Florence Academy, they are assigned a north light studio space, and settle into a rhythm of working that will remain constant throughout their years of study: half the day working from the figure, half of the day on specific exercises in their studios, and in the evenings attending lessons in Anatomy, Art History, materials & techniques.
Our Exhibitions
Permanent Collection
Past Exhibitions
News from the Blog
Our landscape season would not be complete without a mention and small retrospective of the work of American painter, Nelson White.
Daniel Graves, “Nelson White portrait”, […]
Retrospective
“Before the Bath” is a painting of light and quiet movement.
I wanted to capture a private moment and I looked to Vermeer, with his intimate explorations of light, movement, and color, (most especially […]
Interview with the Artist
“If you look closely, what do you see… is it magic?”
How do we experience reality.
A room, the studio, sunlight light hitting a door, that falls in a specific way for just a few […]
Interview with the Artist
The first installment in a series of Art Talk videos to be featured on The FAA Collective.
The FAA Collective would like to present “The Craft of Art and Nature,” an immersive video interview with artist, […]
Video Interview with the Artist
This week we are excited to present you with a short video featuring Daniela Astone, Director of the Intermediate Program at The Florence Academy of Art.
Artist and educator, Daniela Astone paints what is outside her […]
Video
This weeks’s Spotlight on Art features La Marionetta by Former Director of Sculpture at FAA Rob Bodem.
La Marionetta was sculpted during my tenure as Director of the sculpture program at the FAA […]
Interview with the Artist
As we have chosen to dedicate Fall to the subject of Sculpture, we are particularly excited to bring to you this video, with its exploration of the beauty and complexity of casting sculpture in bronze, and the rebirth […]
Video
This weeks’s Spotlight on Art features Hermits by FAA graduate and former Principal Instructor Zacheriah Kramer.
The idea behind the picture:
It seems we go wrong when we fail to see ourselves as part of the world […]
Interview with the Artist
This week we would like to present you with a collaboration between realist painter Tanvi Pathare and Dior.
Fine art and fashion meet to create beautiful one of a kind travel trunks!
Tanvi […]
Video
Full lecture available on Patreon!
An Installment in the Art History related content on The FAA Collective Patreon
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Art History Lecture
Thor Larsen, Principal Instructor and graduate of The Florence Academy of Art, has recently been commissioned to create a large-scale public sculpture depicting well-known and beloved characters from the Danish comedy film series […]
Video Interview with the Artist
“I feel I need to include the elements from all my senses, not just from vision. What I’m looking for is to bring more to the table in […]Video
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This week we would like to present you with a collaboration between realist painter Tanvi Pathare and Dior.
Fine art and fashion meet to create beautiful one of a kind travel trunks!
Tanvi […]
Video
-
This weeks’s Spotlight on Art features Hermits by FAA graduate and former Principal Instructor Zacheriah Kramer.
The idea behind the picture:
It seems we go wrong when we fail to see ourselves as part of the world […]
Interview with the Artist
-
As we have chosen to dedicate Fall to the subject of Sculpture, we are particularly excited to bring to you this video, with its exploration of the beauty and complexity of casting sculpture in bronze, and the rebirth […]
Video
-
This weeks’s Spotlight on Art features La Marionetta by Former Director of Sculpture at FAA Rob Bodem.
La Marionetta was sculpted during my tenure as Director of the sculpture program at the FAA […]
Interview with the Artist
-
This week we are excited to present you with a short video featuring Daniela Astone, Director of the Intermediate Program at The Florence Academy of Art.
Artist and educator, Daniela Astone paints what is outside her […]
Video
-
The first installment in a series of Art Talk videos to be featured on The FAA Collective.
The FAA Collective would like to present “The Craft of Art and Nature,” an immersive video interview with artist, […]
Video Interview with the Artist
Testimonials
“Gratitude for Daniel Graves’ hard work to learn and pass on this knowledge to new generations.”
– Troy Argyros
“Classmates arrived from around the globe making it a truly international experience.”
– Tammy Duris
“At The Florence Academy of Art, I learned what I needed to learn, and it changed by life. Thanks.”
– Rulon Erich LeBaron
“Gratitude for Daniel Graves’ hard work to learn and pass on this knowledge to new generations.”
– Troy Argyros
“Classmates arrived from around the globe making it a truly international experience.”
– Tammy Duris
“At The Florence Academy of Art, I learned what I needed to learn, and it changed by life. Thanks.”
– Rulon Erich LeBaron
