Artist Statement -
Isabelle Weir is an artist based in the UK who is dedicated to reviving the timeless beauty of classical techniques and bringing them to life in contemporary contexts. In the Autumn of 2021 she began her studies at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy and since then graduated from the intensive drawing and painting programme, took up the role of Graduate in Residence and has now become a principal instructor for the Foundation year at the academy. Through that education she was able to study figurative painting at the highest level under world class tutelage. Through this education she gained a profound admiration for the craftsmanship and aesthetic refinement found in classical art. The intensive study of the figure, anatomy, composition and the interplay of shadow and light serves as the bedrock of her creative process and allows her to experiment with a more contemporary style while maintaining a foundation of precision and authenticity. Her influences range from the mediaeval period and the works of Giotto to the British Modernists and Surrealist artists.
From 2018-2021 Isabelle completed a Bachelor’s degree in the History of Art at Jesus College, University of Cambridge. In 2025 she received her MA there also. She continues to immerse herself in this tradition by designing a series of lectures as part of the History of Art programme at the Florence Academy of Art. She draws on critical theory and discourse throughout the History of Art to inform both the subject matter and technical aspects of her work and situate it within the rich tapestry of ideas and concepts encompassed under this historical tradition.
- Curriculum Vitae -
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Current | Principal Instructor for the Foundation Year and Art History Lecturer at the Florence Academy of Art. Instructor in the MA course at the Florence Academy of Art.
2025 | Artist Residency in Nepal, for the month of September I made a series of work that documented the architectural restoration work and its impacts on the community in the region of Upper Mustang, Nepal.
2025 |Worked as an assistant teacher for the MA programme with Tom Richards and Andrew Waller at the Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy
2025 | Landscape workshop led by Daniela Astone, Florence, Italy
2025 | University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, received an MA in the History of Art
2024 | Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy, Etching workshop led by Daniel Graves and Matteo Taverna
2024-2025 | Graduate in residence at the Florence Academy of Art and Assistant teacher in the First year of the Intensive Painting and Drawing Programme
2024 | Worked as an assistant teacher for the “Portraiture, Techniques and Traditions” workshop with Marco Franco at the Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy
2024 | Worked as a temporary assistant teacher for the “Landscape painting” workshop with Tanvi Pathare at the Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy
2021-2024 | Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy, Certificate Drawing and Painting Programme
2023 | Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy, Sculpting for Painters programme led by Mitch Shea
2022 | Landscape workshop led by Daniela Astone, Florence, Italy
2018-2021 | University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, BA History of Art
2018 | Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy, Six week intensive drawing painting and art history coursees here
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2026 | Selected as part of the Top 40 paintings in the March/April Modern Impressionism Salon
2025 | Shortlisted for the Young Artist Awards with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters
2025 | Finalist in the Almenara Art Prize in the category ‘From Life by Graduated Students’
2025 | First prize in the life size category in the Paper-Mirror-Paper exhibition at the Florence Academy of Art
2025 | MA in the History of Art from the University of Cambridge.
2024 | The Florence Academy of Art Returning Student Work-Study Scholarship in the role of Studio Assistant for the “Etching: Masters of Line” workshop with Daniel Graves.
2024 | Graduated from the Florence Academy of Art and awarded the Graduate in Residence position.
2023-2024 | The Florence Academy of Art Returning Student Work-Study Scholarship in the role of Art History research assistant and lecturer.
2022-2023 | The Florence Academy of Art Returning Student Work-Study Scholarship in the role of Art History research assistant and lecturer.
2022 | Best figure drawing of First year, awarded by the Florence Academy of Art.
2018 - 2021 | BA in the History of Art from the University of Cambridge.
2021 - 2017 | Art Scholarship to Millfield Senior School.
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2026 | Summer Faculty Show, 2026/07/10 - 2025/07/16, Florence Academy of Art, Florence.
2026 | The Green & Stone summer exhibition, 2026/07/27-08/23, The Gallery at Green & Stone, London.
2026 | The 77th Annual exhibition of the Chelsea Arts Society, 2026/06/17-06/21, Chelsea old town hall, London.
2026 | The New English Art Club (NEAC) annual exhibition, 2026/06/11 - 06/20, The Mall Galleries, London.
2026 | “Put the Cat Amongst the Pigeons”, 2026/05/30-2026/07/07, The Gallery Holt, Norfolk.
2026 | Codici | Visioni, 2026/01-2026/05, Prisma Legal with the Pneuma foundation, Florence.
2025 | Etching Exhibition, 2025/12/06, The Florence Academy of Art, Florence.
2025 | Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition, 2025/11/26-2025/12/13, The Mall Galleries, London.
2025 | Solo show at the Palazzo Tournabuoni,12/11/2025-2026/12/01, Palazzo Tournabuoni, Florence.
2025 | ING Discerning eye, 2025/11/14-2025/11/23, The Mall Galleries, London.
2025 | Almenara Art Prize, 2025/11/07-2025/12/09, Real Circulo di Armistad, Cordoba.
2025 | XV Florence Biennale with the Pneuma Foundation, 2025/10/18-2025/10/26, Fortezza di Basso, Florence.
2025 | ‘First Impressions’ a solo exhibition following a collaborative project documenting the restoration work in Upper Mustang Nepal, 2025/09/26, La Terrasse, Kathmandu.
2025 | Broadway arts festival, 2025/09/26-2025/10/05, Theatrebarn, Bretforton.
2025 | New Classical Art exhibition, 2025/08/20-2025/09/28, Fulham Palace, London.
2025 | Summer Faculty Show, 2025/07/11 - 2025/07/25, Florence Academy of Art, Florence.
2025 | Graduate in Residence end of year exhibition, 2025/05/30, The Florence Academy of Art, Florence.
2025 | Paper - Mirror - Paper’, 2025/05/09 - 2025/05/31, The Florence Academy of Art, Florence.
2025 | Old Millfieldian Open, 2025/02/28 - 2025/03/29, The Atkinson Gallery, Somerset.
2025 | ‘Ida at my table - the art of writing memoir’, 2025/02/23, Whitechapel Gallery, Somerset.
2024 | Etching Exhibition, 2024/10/04, The Florence Academy of Art, Florence.
2024 | Summer Faculty Show, 2024/07/26 - 2024/07/19, Florence Academy of Art, Florence.
2020 | Girl Talk, 2020/03/07, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.
2020 | John Hughes Art Festival, Jesus College Cambridge.
2019 | Black Swan Arts Young Open, Black Swan Art Gallery, Frome.
2019 | Girl Talk, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.
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2026 | A Florentine Narrative: The joys, rituals and tragedies of childbirth As depicted in the Tournbuoni Fresco cycle, The Florence Academy of Art, 08/05/2026
2026 | Rembrandt: FAA perspectives, The Florence Academy of Art, 20/02/2026
2026 | The interior worlds of Anna Ancher and Vilhelm Hammershoi, The Florence Academy of Art, 23/01/2026
2025 | The Real and Romanticised land, The Florence Academy of Art, 24/10/2025
2025 | Etching: from preparatory drawings to plate tone, for The Medical Art Society at the Hampstead School of Art, 20/08/2025
2025 | Etching: The Process, The Florence Academy of Art, given alongside Andrew Waller and Matteo Taverna, 09/05/2025
2025 | Lecture by the graduates in residence with a focus on Laura Knight, The Florence Academy of Art, 14/03/2025
2024 | John Piper’s stained glass windows, The Medical Art Society at The Hampstead School of Art, 20/09/2024
2024 | The city as classroom, The Florence Academy of Art, 17/05/2024
2024 | Self portraits by women artists, The Florence Academy of Art, 15/03/2024
2023 | Anna Vallayer-Coster and Mary Moser, The Florence Academy of Art, 24/11/2023
2023 | Venetian landscapes by Canaletto and Emma Ciardi, The Florence Academy of Art, given alongside Daniel Graves and Tom Richards, 05/05/2023
2023 | The nude, The Florence Academy of Art, 17/03/2023
2022 | The dance, The Florence Academy of Art, 18/11/2022
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