Fine Arts Merchant
Expert Services
Instruction, master copies, and museum access delivered through our network of classically trained practitioners — schooled in the ateliers of Florence and the academies of Stockholm.
By appointment. Every engagement begins with an inquiry, and we take on fewer commissions than we are asked to.
Make an inquiry
One
Classes & Workshops
Private and small-group instruction in classical oil painting technique, taught in the sight-size and atelier traditions. Beginners are welcomed at foundations level; advanced painters are taken privately, and the cohort is kept deliberately small.
Foundations Course
Eight weekly sessions, small group — drawing, value, and the grisaille underpainting.
In person, San Diego
from $X
Weekend Intensive
Two days, six hours daily — limited palette portrait or still life from life.
In person, San Diego
from $X
Plein Air Session
Half a day on location — oil sketching, colour temperature, working at speed.
In person, San Diego county
from $X
Private Mentorship
Ongoing one-to-one direction for serious painters, with structured critique between sessions.
In person or remote
from $X
Two
Master Copy Commissions
Hand-painted, museum-quality reproductions of Old Master and Modern Master works, executed in oil on linen or panel using classical technique. No digital, no print, no shortcuts — the surface is built in the same order the original was.
The process
- 01
The client selects a source work, or proposes one for consideration.
- 02
Feasibility and scope are assessed: support, dimensions, palette, and the condition of available references.
- 03
A small colour study is painted and approved before the final canvas is begun.
- 04
Progress is documented at agreed checkpoints through the execution.
- 05
The finished work is varnished, crated, and delivered or shipped insured.
Each commission is secured by deposit and advanced only through written approval at the study and mid-execution checkpoints. Provenance of the process is documented in full and issued with the finished work.
Small Study
[$X,XXX+]Up to 40 × 50 cm, oil on panel.
Standard
[$X,XXX+]Up to 90 × 120 cm, oil on linen.
Large or Complex
[$XX,XXX+]Multi-figure compositions, elaborate drapery, or oversized supports.
Three
Expert-Guided Museum Tours
Small groups, led by a classically trained painter. Art-historical context is paired with the working knowledge of someone who has copied these pictures at the easel — why a passage was scumbled, where the drawing was corrected, what the surface tells you that a reproduction cannot.
Itineraries are built around the guide's own training and interests rather than a highlights reel, and rooms are chosen for what can be learned in them.
- Group size
- Capped at eight to ten
- Duration
- Half-day or full-day sessions
- Access
- Private or before-hours viewing where it can be arranged
- Geography
- San Diego, plus [European art capitals — Florence, Barcelona, and select cities to be announced]
Why Fine Arts Merchant
Genuine training, work made by hand, and a scale small enough to answer for.
Fine Arts Merchant works with practitioners formed in the atelier tradition, where technique is learned from the picture in front of you rather than from a screen. Whether the engagement is a course, a commissioned master copy, or a morning in a gallery, the same conditions apply: human-led work, a curated rather than open enrolment, and a standard we would be willing to hang beside the original.
Inquiries
By appointment
Tell us what you have in mind and we will reply with availability, the current calendar, or a scope assessment as appropriate.