Galerie Michael opens its fall season with an Exhibition by Artist Alumni from the Florence Academy of Art

With a private evening reception on Thursday, September 15, Galerie Michael opened its doors for the inaugural exhibition of recent paintings and sculpture by artist alumni from the Florence Academy of Art (FAA) in Italy. The exhibition showcases twenty-two artists in the academy’s west coast debut whose works are reminiscent of the European masters of the Renaissance. Technically exquisite and thematically exploring mythological storytelling and a play on life, death, narcissism and the supernatural the exhibition highlights traditional craftsmanship, observation from nature and studio expertise that these artists continue.

In his opening speech gallery owner Michael Schwarz expressed his lasting commitment in presenting the works of the artists of the Florence Academy and respectfully spoke of the integrity, stimulating artistic discourse and dedication that these young artists have offered since his first visit to the academy in Florence. Equally proud of the collaboration and launching of the exhibition program was FAA founder Daniel Graves and executive director Susan Tintori who shared insights of the academy’s history and mission.

Invited guests flocked to the gallery opening delighted to meet several of the artists in person and to view the expansive new art display firsthand. During the evening clients and artists mingled in the upstairs galleries filled with impressive figurative paintings, still lifes and life size bronze sculptures. Off to an exciting new art season the exhibition continues on view through October 15, 2011.

A fifty page full color catalog is available.

Galerie Michael
224 N. Rodeo Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Mon – Sat: 10:00am to 7:00pm
Sun: 12:00pm to 6:00pm

Paul Brown (b.1967)

Tiger, 34"x73", oil on canvas

Paul S. Brown was born in 1967 and raised in North Carolina. At the age of ten he received classical drawing lessons from painter D. Jeffrey Mims with whom he would return to during university studies for an extensive apprenticeship. In 1988 he journeyed to Florence, Italy for 2 years training at Studio Cecil-Graves under the tutelage of Charles Cecil and Daniel Graves. He would later help Daniel Graves open the Florence Academy of Art and teach there for two years before returning to North Carolina in 1992. There Paul set up a studio where he continued to paint as well as teach a select number of students in plein air figure and portrait painting. He has had a series of one-man shows in North Carolina and at Hollis Taggart Galleries in Washington D.C. Paul has exhibited with teachers and peers in Florence Academy Alumni exhibitions in London, England, The Italian Institute in San Francisco, California and the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala, Florida as well as in numerous solo and group shows in the US and Europe.

Living in the UK since 1994, Paul works in his Battersea studio in London, hand making his oil paints with carefully selected pigments and oils, using old master techniques and mediums and working from life in the naturalist tradition. He enjoys painting all subjects, concentrating on the nude and still life as well as portraits and landscapes. In London, Paul has exhibited in the BP Portrait Award in the National Portrait Gallery, with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters at the Mall Galleries and had an exhibition of figure drawings at the Groucho Club in Soho. In 2003 he took part in “Realism Revisited”, an exhibition of former teachers at the Florence Academy of Art that was held at the Panorama Museum in Bad Frankenhausen, Germany, Hirschl and Adler Galleries in New York City and Century Gallery in Washington DC. In 2005 he had a one man show at WH Patterson Fine Arts Limited where he has been represented in London since 1995. Paul’s pictures hang in public and private collections throughout the world.

Hunter Eddy (b.1967)

Passion Over Purity, oil on canvas, 35"x43"


Hunter Eddy was born in 1967 and grew up in Rutland Vermont. He decided to pursue a career in art after years of drawing in his childhood. He attended the Art Institute of Boston and graduated with the honor of an “Excellence in Illustration” award from the College. His work after graduation included Aesthetics Signage Company, as well as a freelance illustrator for private clients. He spent time in Italy studying landscape painting and drawing with the Boston Visual School under the direction of painters John Lanza and George Gabin. He also studied drawing and painting with Boston artist Tom Oulette where he developed his interests in traditional drawing techniques. He then made his decision to undertake fulltime study at The Florence Academy of Art under the direction of Daniel Graves.

After the first year he was made an assistant teacher in the program and has been with the academy ever since. He has taught the advanced painting and drawing courses, and is currently co-Director of the painting program. His work has been exhibited and sold at various galleries including: Peel Gallery, Rutland Vermont, Grenning Gallery, Sag Harbor, New York, Hirschl and Adler Gallery, New York, Century Gallery, Alexandria, Virginia, Gallery Americana, Carmel, California, Anderson Fine Art Gallery, St. Simons Island, Georgia. Gold Leaf Designs, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Ann Long Fine Art, Charlestown, South Carolina, W. H. Patterson LTD, London, England.

“In painting my main goal is to create an impression of light and depth over and around the objects or people I choose to paint. I work only from life, never from photographs, and I never use artificial lighting. Drawing and painting from nature is the only way to study the effects of natural light on objects and people, and, for me, nature is a constant source of inspiration and challenge. I find there is always an emotional connection between my subjects and me. With still-life, the subtleties of the textures, the smell of the fresh fruit, the way the light changes on the objects revealing different colors at different times, all help me understand and capture what I feel to be the essence of my painting. With people, there is always an emotional energy or feeling they give off when posing, and I try to tune into this to bring out that person's nature, to bring my paintings to life, and to render the theme I have chosen."

Daniel Graves

Sunset at the Old Oak,oil on canvas, 20"x27"

Daniel Graves, founder and director of The Florence Academy of Art, exemplifies the Academy's commitment to the academic tradition and to the importance of receiving instruction from teachers who are also active painters in their own right. He graduated Cum Laude from the Maryland Art Institute in 1972, where he studied anatomy and painting with Joseph Sheppard, then pursued etching and history painting with Richard Serrin at the Villa Schifanoia Graduate School of Fine Art in Florence. After studying with Richard Lack at the Atelier Lack in Minnesota, where he also taught etching, he returned to Florence. It was here that Daniel came under the influence of Pietro Annigoni, who praised the truly unusual candor of Daniel's work, calling him one of the most gifted foreign painters in Florence.

While studying in Florence, Daniel came to understand that what is passed on from teacher to student is a language evolved through the centuries, something impossible to transmit except by visual example. After realizing that frustration was common among students unable to find solid training, he began teaching in Florence in 1984. The Florence Academy of Art was formed in 1991 on the principle that through intense observation of nature and study of the Old Masters, and the use of traditional techniques, students will develop considerable powers of draftsmanship. Daniel aims for the highest level of instruction at the Academy to ensure that his students acquire the skills needed to develop a visual language, and, ultimately, create a work of universal relevance. Daniel Graves has had numerous successful solo and group shows in Europe and the United States, and his portraits, interiors, still lives, and etchings are part of private and public collections worldwide.

Angel Ramiro Sanchez (b.1974)

Poppy, 20"x53". oil on canvas

Angel Ramiro Sanchez was born in 1974 in Maracaibo, Venezuela. At age six Ramiro was accepted with full scholarship into the Instituto Niños Cantores del Zulia, a school for musically gifted children. At age fourteen he began five years of apprenticeship with the realist painter, Abdon Jose Romero, an eminent specialist in murals for churches and public buildings. In 1993 a study grant from Msgr. Gustavo Ocando Yamarte, Founder of the Ninos Cantores, enable him to travel to Florence, Italy, Where he successfully passed the admission examination for the renowned Accademia di Belle Arti. For the next four years, he studied full time at the Accademia, receiving his diploma magna cum laude. Ramiro also attended drawing and painting sessions at the Florence Academy of Art, directed by painter Daniel Graves. Ramiro was appointed Senior Painting Instructor at the FAA in 1997. Today he is the Academy Painting Program Director and he shares his life and passion for art with his wife, the artist Melissa Franklin Sanchez.

Ramiro’s paintings came to the attention of Italian private collectors for the first time in 1996 at a juried exhibition in Montopoli, near Florence. In 2003 his paintings and drawings were subject of a monograph “Ramiro” by international art critic John T. Spike. In 2005 he received the special Director’s Award at the Florence International Biennale of Contemporary Art. He was then invited to show his work as a guest artist at the Austria Biennale in 2006. Ramiro won the prestigious Stobart Foundation Award in 2008, which is awarded to artists who use live models in their works. Paintings, drawings and portraits by Ramiro are found in public and private collections in Europe, the United States and Venezuela.