History Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

life drawing room @ vienna academy, martin ferdinand quadal, 1787

on 20 january 1725, emperor charles vi appointed frenchman jacob van schuppen prefect , director of academy, refounded k.k. hofakademie der maler, bildhauer und baukunst (imperial , royal court academy of painters, sculptors , architecture). upon charles death in 1740, academy @ first declined, during rule of daughter empress maria theresa, new statute reformed academy in 1751. prestige of academy grew during deanships of michelangelo unterberger , paul troger, , in 1767 archduchesses maria anna , maria carolina made first honorary members. in 1772, there further reforms organisational structure. chancellor wenzel anton kaunitz integrated existing art schools k.k. vereinigten akademie der bildenden künste (imperial , royal unified academy of fine arts). word vereinigten (unified) later dropped. in 1822 art cabinet grew bequest of honorary member anton franz de paula graf lamberg-sprinzenstein. collection still forms backbone of art on display.

main entrance on schillerplatz

in 1872 emperor franz joseph of austria approved statute making academy supreme government authority arts. new building constructed according plans designed faculty theophil hansen in course of layout of ringstraße boulevard. on 3 april 1877, present-day building on schillerplatz in innere stadt district inaugurated, interior works, including ceiling frescos anselm feuerbach, continued until 1892. in 1907 , 1908, young adolf hitler, had come linz, twice denied admission drawing class. stayed in vienna, subsisting on orphan allowance, , tried unsuccessfully continue profession artist. had withdrawn poverty , started selling amateur paintings, watercolours, meagre sustenance until left vienna munich in may 1913.

fragment of main building of academy of fine arts in vienna



anatomical room of akademie

during austrian anschluss nazi germany 1938–1945, academy forced heavily reduce number of jewish staff. after world war ii, academy reconstituted in 1955 , autonomy reconfirmed. has had university status since 1998, retained original name. austrian university doesn t have word university in name.