Princeton Academy of Art

Princeton Academy of Art Princeton Academy of Art is an educational institution dedicated to training fine artists in the contemporary academic realism tradition

Princeton Academy of Art is dedicated to educating fine artists in the contemporary realism tradition. We integrate rigorous technical training in painting, drawing, and sculpture with artistic concepts and approaches that develop the creative and intellectual abilities of our students. The Academy's focus is on individual growth, identifying and nurturing the unique style of each student. We provide a dynamic, collaborative learning environment and seek to prepare emerging representational artists to become leaders in today's increasingly complex and rapidly changing art market.

Renaissance art is rich with layers of symbolism, rooted in deep philosophical traditions. Platonic ideas, Hermetic text...
01/19/2025

Renaissance art is rich with layers of symbolism, rooted in deep philosophical traditions. Platonic ideas, Hermetic texts, and Kabbalistic principles shaped the artistic and intellectual landscapes of the period, creating a world where symbols were seen as keys to more profound truths. ⁠

Join us online or in person for “The Reality of the Symbolic: Renaissance Esotericism” on Thursday, January 30th at 6:00 pm. 
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In this Zoom lecture, Dr. James Justin Sledge will discuss how Renaissance thinkers and artists used esoteric ideas to transform art, language, and culture. From alchemical metaphors to the symbolic geometry of masterworks, this talk invites us to explore the Renaissance as a time of lasting symbolic invention.⁠
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In Person Group Watch Party:

PAA will host attendees in person to watch this lecture together, light snacks will be served. 

We ask that you be seated by 5:55 pm so our Zoom meeting can begin on time. 
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Seating is limited; reserve your spot via the link in our bio 🔗⁠
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PAA Student Kaiwen Zheng working on her first Bargue plate⁠⁠
05/21/2023

PAA Student Kaiwen Zheng working on her first Bargue plate⁠
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Today, we typically encounter art from the ancient world displayed in glass cases positioned around stark, white museum ...
01/31/2023

Today, we typically encounter art from the ancient world displayed in glass cases positioned around stark, white museum galleries. But these modern spaces could not be more different from the ancient settings in which sculpture and painted pottery were found.⁠
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In this lecture, Dr. Abbey Ellis ( ) of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) Princeton and the Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) will lead the audience on a journey across space and time to explore how ancient art would have been experienced by its original audience. Join us to travel from the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, surveying sculptures exhibited at the birthplace of the Olympic Games, to Athens’ Kerameikos cemetery, the site of some of the city’s most spectacular sepulchral monuments.⁠
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Monday, February 13th, 2023 @ 6:30 pm - doors at 6:00 pm⁠
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Reserve your tickets today via the link in our bio🔗⁠
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Join Princeton Academy of Art and Leon Okun ( - LAAFA Fine Art Dept. Co-chair) for a 5-day portrait painting masterclas...
01/24/2023

Join Princeton Academy of Art and Leon Okun ( - LAAFA Fine Art Dept. Co-chair) for a 5-day portrait painting masterclass!⁠
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MARCH 20th - 24th, 2023, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm⁠
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Students will complete a portrait demonstrating a strong understanding of structural form and intense color. Okun will guide them through his method exploring the fundamentals and advanced nuances of temperature shifts, full-chroma color, and atmospheric perspective.⁠
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Emphasis will be placed on the analysis of planar forms and the relationship between the sitter and their environment. ⁠
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Students of various backgrounds, techniques, and subject matter are encouraged to join this master class. A full-color palette is a powerful item in the contemporary artist's toolbox when used in a balanced, informed way.⁠
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Okun's painting style merges the traditional European classical approach with the bold colors that Russian painters throughout history have been noted for.⁠
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Leon was born in a small town in Siberia, Russia. In 1993, he and his family immigrated to San Diego, California. His love for figurative art first began at Mesa Community College. In 2003, he decided to explore this passion further, returning to Russia, where he later received his BFA and MFA from the I. E. Repin State Institute for Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. In 2011, he moved back to to San Diego and began his teaching career. He is a member of the California Art Club, Plein Air Painters of San Diego, the American Impressionist Society, and the American Portrait Society. ⁠
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To register for this workshop, view the required materials list, or see all other PAA Spring 2023 workshops, tap this image in the link in our bio. Registration is done completely online.⁠
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📧 Email us at "[email protected]" for more information.⁠
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PAA held a reference photography workshop for our full-time students this month. They learned how to take proper images ...
01/06/2023

PAA held a reference photography workshop for our full-time students this month. They learned how to take proper images using their cell phones and DSLR cameras. This skill is vital to contemporary artists' practice. ⁠
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There don't have to be two opposing sides when discussing the pros and cons of using photography in contemporary realism; it's okay to fall somewhere in the middle. We always say that if Leonardo had this technology, he would have used it. It's all about using it as another tool in your kit, not as a crutch.
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Distortion is the main issue to overcome when using reference photos, and the only way to combat this is to understand structure, perspective, and nuance in values thoroughly. Another problem is not knowing when to leave out information to improve the atmosphere of your piece.⁠
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You need to know when your photo is not telling the complete structure and value story of your subject and, more so, how to fix it.⁠
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PAA's Spring workshop schedule will be announced within the next week or so - turn on post notifications to be the first to know when workshops like this open to students outside of the Academy.⁠
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Myths and legends about gods and goddesses, heroes and monsters, and warriors and fools permeated everyday life in the a...
01/04/2023

Myths and legends about gods and goddesses, heroes and monsters, and warriors and fools permeated everyday life in the ancient world. Such stories were used to explain everything from religious rituals to the weather, giving meaning to the (often confusing) world the ancients saw around them.⁠
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Join us Monday, January 9th at 6:30 pm (doors @ 6:00 pm)!⁠
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In this lecture, Dr. Abbey Ellis of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, will explore how these myths survive to be told today through their representation in some of the finest sculptures and painted pottery from antiquity.⁠
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🔗Link in bio for tickets to this lecture and the rest of the "Greek Art: Bringing Ancient Athens to Princeton" series⁠
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“Classical Art: Bringing Ancient Athens to Princeton”, is a series of 5 lectures and one guided museum tour with Dr. Abb...
10/31/2022

“Classical Art: Bringing Ancient Athens to Princeton”, is a series of 5 lectures and one guided museum tour with Dr. Abbey Ellis of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) Princeton hosted by Princeton Academy of Art.



The first of this series open to the public, “Greek Art from Homer to Alexander” (TOMORROW Tuesday NOV 1 @ 6:30pm) will explore the beginnings of Greek artistic production in the age of Homer, charting how it developed into the rapturous beauty of the age of Alexander the Great.

Dr. Ellis will track the less-than-scrupulous attempts to uncover works of art at the sites of Troy and Mycenae, explore the repertoire of some of the biggest names in sculpture from antiquity, and unpick the major innovations in the representation of the human form that make Greek art so impactful to this day.

Link in bio for tickets on Eventbrite!

PAA students are working on master copies of Jusepe de Ribera’s “Penitent St. Peter” during our 6-hour Portrait Painting...
10/31/2022

PAA students are working on master copies of Jusepe de Ribera’s “Penitent St. Peter” during our 6-hour Portrait Painting studio course on Monday's.

Students work from start to finish in the footsteps of the old masters. They focus on finishing the work with a better understanding of how to apply the artists methodology to enhance personal projects and less on making an identical surface reproduction.

To see the original work in person, head to Gallery 211 at the Art Institute of Chicago.

📧 Email us directly at "[email protected]" for more information regarding how to apply for our full-time program or how to begin part-time study today.
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In this course, students will have the opportunity to create elegant and detailed reliefs from real botanical specimens ...
08/24/2022

In this course, students will have the opportunity to create elegant and detailed reliefs from real botanical specimens while discovering the ancient sculptural technique of plaster casting with Dr. Abbey Ellis of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.



Plants and flowers will be delicately hand-pressed into clay and removed to create a negative impression. Liquid Plaster of Paris will be poured into the impression to produce casts that capture the textures and details of nature.

Taking inspiration from cameo jewelry of the Victorian era, students will then be invited to finish their casts with paint. 

Students will begin the workshop on day one with a tour of Morven’s garden led by the museum's horticulturist Charlie Thomforde, then start their first day of the workshop on-site at Morven.

Day two will be held at Princeton Academy of Art’s new secondary studio located at 10 Nassau St, Suite 23, Princeton, NJ 08542, where they will be encouraged to use the techniques learned the previous day to specimens they've collected and brought in from home.

August 29th & 30th 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Only a few spaces left. Register today via the link in our bio. Tap this image there to learn more.

Join Dr. Abbey Ellis of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), Princeton, and Princeton Academy of Art (PAA)…Tuesday, ...
08/12/2022

Join Dr. Abbey Ellis of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), Princeton, and Princeton Academy of Art (PAA)…

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2022 @ 6:00pm

… to discuss some of the most fascinating and ridiculous stories of artistic deception from history, including how a pair of fake underpants fooled a host of specialists at the British Museum and more.

This lecture will be free and open to the public though seating will be limited; reserve your tickets today via the link in our bio🔗 tap this image there.

PAA Director and Founder Anna Neis continuing an in-progress demo for our Portrait Painting students on Monday.Semester ...
06/14/2022

PAA Director and Founder Anna Neis continuing an in-progress demo for our Portrait Painting students on Monday.

Semester 2 registration has closed but summer session begins July 7th! Check out the Summer 2022 Session course catalog via the link in our bio and register today.

PAA Director and Founder Anna Neis demoing during our Monday Portrait Painting course Summer 2022 workshops are now live...
05/24/2022

PAA Director and Founder Anna Neis demoing during our Monday Portrait Painting course



Summer 2022 workshops are now live on our website! PAA has started using CourseStorm for workshop registrations. Students can now register completely online - tuition payments and forms - via a single easy to use platform. Link in bio🔗

Email 📧[email protected] for more information
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Address

138 Nassau Street, 2nd Floor
Princeton, NJ
08542

Opening Hours

Monday 11am - 5pm
Tuesday 11am - 5pm
Wednesday 11am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 10:30am - 5pm
Sunday 10:30am - 6pm

Telephone

+16094543721

Website

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Princeton Academy of Art is dedicated to educating fine artists in the European classical tradition. Our curriculum merges the methods of classical atelier education and the Russian academic tradition. Following in these traditions, instruction is a focused immersion into human anatomy, perspective, and tactile approaches to analyzing form and atmosphere.

By rigorously studying these methods alongside concrete principles of value, color and composition, students are able to traverse various media and techniques to interpret the world around them in a way that suits their temperament and vision. We provide a dynamic collaborative learning environment and seek to prepare emerging representational artists to become leaders in today's increasingly complex and rapidly changing art market.