About Our Team

Who we are

Fine Art Commissions is dedicated to providing a helpful, informative and, above all, personal service and we are on hand at every stage of the process. Our combined knowledge and experience ensures that we are best placed to assist with whatever is needed for your bespoke work of art.

Sara Stewart

Founder & Managing Director

Sara established Fine Art Commissions in 1997. She responded to the market demand for a figurative agency after working with contemporary artists while a director of the Malcolm Innes Gallery.

The agency moved to a ground floor gallery in Knightsbridge and in 2003 she and Oliver Swann of The Tryon Swann Gallery founded the Arndean Gallery in Cork Street. Used as a temporary exhibition space available for artists and dealers without representation, the ascent of Fine Art Commissions meant the gallery was used as an additional exhibition space to support our artists. From an office above the tube line in Walton Street, to our home at 19 Ryder Street, via Bury and then Duke Street, Fine Art Commissions has succeeded in ensuring portrait commissions remain firmly in fashion.

Six months after founding FAC, Sara unearthed press cuttings about a portrait commissioning agency established by Lady Cochrane who owned a contemporary gallery in Knightsbridge in the 30’s. It was a novel idea which opened to press acclaim. The next time the press showed an interest in a private commissioning agency was when Fine Art Commissions was founded over seventy years later. Sara had been aware of the existence of the Knightsbridge gallery, but not the portrait agency. Hilda Cochrane was her grandmother.

“I meet so many fascinating artists and clients and have had the greatest of fun over the last 25 years. I look forward to continuing to provide dozens of talented people with interesting faces to paint and stories to hear.”

sara@fineartcommissions.com

Isabella Bromhead

Associate Director

After completing her History of Art degree, Issy worked for one year in the interior design trade before working closely with the Director of Osborne Studio Gallery in Belgravia for four years. It was here where she learnt all the necessary skills to run a busy gallery, as well as always improving her eye and staying knowledgeable of the contemporary art market, trends and fashions.

As Associate Director, Issy will oversee the running of Fine Art Commissions, as well as lead the exhibition programming, whilst ensuring the needs of our artists and clients are met.

‘I am extremely creative as well as being full of ideas for new exhibitions and commissions and I look forward to turning our client’s vision into reality’.

isabella@fineartcommissions.com

Emma Grayson

Gallery Administrator

Emma joined Fine Art Commissions in the summer of 2023, having recently graduated from Edinburgh University, where she studied History of Art.

Emma has experience working with both Art Consultants and London Galleries. Her experience gained in these roles has set Emma up very well to assist in the day to day running of the gallery.

emma@fineartcommissions.com

We love the portrait…The whole process has been so enjoyable and easy and we have you all to thank for that.

Sunningdale School

Get in touch

Fine Art Commissions has two gallery spaces. Our London Gallery is located on Ryder Street, St James’s, in the heart of the art world of London. Just up the road from Christie’s, and nestled in amongst a number of established art institutions, our gallery is well worth a visit. In October we will be opening our second premises in the hugely popular village of Ham, Wiltshire. Four miles west of the antique hub, Hungerford.

Fine Art Commissions - Established 1997