The Presidential Library highlights the history of the Russian Academy of Arts

By the decision of the Senate, the Academy of the Three Noble Arts was created at the Imperial Moscow University on November 17 (6 old style), 1757 during the reign of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna - the time of flourishing of science and culture.

The Presidential Library’s portal contains materials spotlighting the emergence and development of the Academy, for example, compiled by its President Alexey Olenin "A Brief Historical Information on the State of the Academy of Arts, from 1764 to 1829" (1829), the publication "Historical Class of the Academy of Arts second half of the XIX century" (2007) candidate of art history Veronica-Irina Bogdan, memoirs of a graduate and rector, artist Oleg Eremeev "Half a century with the Academy of Arts" (2003) and many others.

The higher art school has a long history. Even during the reign of Peter the Great, a drawing school was opened at the St. Petersburg printing house, officially called the Academy; artists, architects and engravers were sent to study in Europe, and in 1724 the emperor signed a decree "On the Academy, by which languages ​​would be studied, as well as other sciences and noble arts".

After the death of Peter, the interest of the Russian authorities in the development of art was declined, the main attention was paid to engraving in its applied use for science - the production of botanical and ethnographic sketches and maps.

In 1747, the Academy of Sciences was transformed into the Academy of Sciences and Arts. The plans of its active figure, Jacob Stehlin, to separate the Academy of Arts into an independent institution were not implemented. A conflict has matured between the artistic and scientific tasks of the Academy.

In 1757, the curator of Moscow University, statesman and philanthropist Ivan Shuvalov, with the support of the adviser to the academic chancellery, scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, applied to the Senate with a project of the Academy of Arts. The decision was positive and, as Aleksey Olenin, an honorary member of the Academy of Arts since 1804, wrote in his "Brief Historical Information...", "The Imperial Academy of the Three Noble Arts began to perceive itself in 1758, at the behest of the Empress Elisabeth Petrovna". 

The Academy of Arts was opened at the Imperial Moscow University, the expenses for it were supposed to be included in its budget, but initially the Academy was located in St. Petersburg, in the mansion of Ivan Shuvalov at Malaya Sadovaya Street 1/25. Shuvalov became the first president of the Academy, and he made up for the lack of money allocated for a new educational institution from his own funds. He invited teachers from abroad, recruited the first students and donated his art collection to the Academy, which laid the foundation for one of the oldest museums in Russia. At first, the only Russian teacher at the Academy was the famous architect Alexander Kokorinov, who headed the architectural class, and then became the rector of the institution.

The year 1764 was significant for the Academy of Arts, when the "Privilege and Charter of the Imperial Academy of the Three Noble Arts" were approved, according to which the institution received the status of an imperial one. “Catherine II formed this useful Establishment, in the general State composition, by the most merciful grant of Privileges, Charter, different from others, and by the generous hand of the located State. In this wise education, Her Majesty, taking into account that an institution of this kind should, in its essence, depend on the direct patronage and generosity of the Monarchs, without which it cannot fully succeed, she was pleased to decide between the main rights, this Academy was most mercifully granted: its direct dependence on the Imperial Majesty Samago", - emphasized Alexey Olenin. The Academy of Arts became a government agency, distributing official orders and awarding academic titles. Today, this significant date is reminded of the Roman numerals laid out in mosaics on the floor of the lobby of the Academy - MDCCLXIV.

In the same 1764, it was decided to build a special building for the Academy on Vasilievsky Island, on the embankment of the Neva River, according to the project of the architects who taught at the Academy - Alexander Kokorinov and Jean Baptiste Michel Wallen-Delamot. The construction of this outstanding architectural monument of early classicism in Russia lasted until 1788. Now the building, which belongs to the "especially valuable objects of cultural heritage", at University Embankment, 17 houses the I. E. Repin St. Petersburg State Academic Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and the Scientific Research Museum at the Russian Academy of Arts.

According to Olenin, “with special royal patronage and with sufficient means, the Academy of Arts flourished from 1764 to 1811. Being all this time under the own authority of the Imperial Majesty, it was enriched with significant wealth for it, consisting in the best Artistic aids, for the correct teaching of its pupils in Fine Arts.

The full course of study at the Academy until the beginning of the 19th century lasted 15 years and was divided into five categories. At first, future artists learned to draw ornaments and copy originals, then - to draw plaster heads and figures, and only in the highest category they wrote from nature. At the Academy, as in all European educational institutions, general subjects were also taught. The best students received scholarships, and graduates who were awarded a gold medal for completing the "program" - works on a given topic, at public expense were sent for internships and further improvement of skills abroad. It was also remarkable that the students often worked together with teachers, as a rule, the greatest masters of the visual arts of their time.

Such artists as Fyodor Rokotov, Orest Kiprensky; author of "The Last Day of Pompeii" Karl Bryullov, Alexander Ivanov, commissioned by the Academy who wrote "The Appearance of Christ to the People", the itinerant artist Ilya Repin; renowned masters of architecture - the founders of Russian classicism Vasily Bazhenov and Matvey Kazakov, the creator of the Kazan Cathedral Andrei Voronikhin, the author of the project for the complex of buildings of the Admiralty Andreyan Zakharov and many others studied at the Academy of Arts.

After the 1917 revolution, the Academy was abolished, and part of the academic art collections was transferred to the State Hermitage Museum. Since 1933, the All-Russian Academy of Arts has been located in its building on Vasilyevsky Island, which in 1947 was transformed into the Academy of Arts of the USSR with a base in Moscow. The USSR Academy of Arts was later transformed into the Russian Academy of Arts.

The history of the Academy is closely associated with the history of Russian artistic culture. Throughout its history, the institution has remained the world's largest art school for outstanding masters of the visual arts.