The Klassieke Academie for painting holds an unusual position among art academies in the Netherlands. The Klassieke Academie is an independent, unsubsidised art institution. It was established in 2005 to ensure transfer of specialist knowledge to new generations, and has been led eversince by driven classicly schooled artists. Originally established for painting, the academy has a sculpting department since 2010.

The starting point is the profession, the know-how and the craft, the tools of the trade.
 You are taught how to master the tools of a visual artist; the actual artistic processing is your personal affair and will flow from your own, unique, personality.

You only get admitted after successfully passing an entrance exam (no more than 20 students are admitted each year). You take various classes in a condensed schedule (in two successive days a week) Besides that you make assignments at home. In addition to the practical classes you take art history classes.

During the final phase, attention will be paid to the various aspects of professional practice and the Academie will do its utmost to position its graduates in the art market – helped by the fact that an economically flourishing part of the current art market is eagerly on the lookout for new, highly trained talent.

The Klassieke Academie is not acknowledged by the government and does not receive any government grants. It is independent for that matter. That is why tuition fee is 50% higher than at the subsidised art education institutions.

The advantage of being independent is that you are not bound by rules of the powers that be. The teachers, artists themselves, determine the content of the art education.

Disadvantage might be that you cannot obtain student grants for your education. To compensate this, the Klassieke Academie is connected to some private funds that will provide you (up to 30 years of age) under certain conditions, with scholarships.