Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
View with the main portal (around 2017)
Sculptor class in the early 1880s
Charles Willson Peale, The Artist in His Museum , self-portrait

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts ( PAFA ) is the oldest art museum and art school in the United States.

purpose

“The object of this association is to promote the cultivation of the Fine Arts, in the United States of America, by introducing correct and elegant Copies, from works of the first Masters, in Sculpture and Painting, and, by thus facilitating the access to such Standards, and also by occasionally conferring moderate but honorable premiums, and otherwise assisting the Studies and exciting the efforts of the artists, gradually to unfold, enligthen and invigorate the talents of our Countrymen. The name of this Association shall be 'The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts'. "

- Articles of Association, Dec. 26, 1805, of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

history

PAFA was founded in 1805 by the 71 citizens of Philadelphia on the initiative of Charles Willson Peale . Among the founders were only three artists (including Rembrandt Peale and the sculptor William Rush ). PAFA is both the oldest museum and the oldest art school among the institutions still in existence in the United States .

In the early years, control of PAFA was with lay artistic people, with the exception of John Sartain who had been a director since the 1850s.

The first president of PAFA was George Clymer , who was succeeded by Joseph Hopkinson (author of the text from Hail, Columbia ).

Benjamin West became the first honorary member of PAFA. The most important acquisitions of PAFA's early days were The Dead Man Restored to Life by Touching the Bones of the Prophet Elisha by Washington Allston and Death on the Pale Horse by Benjamin West.

In the early years of PAFA, the students learned from each other because there was no teacher. It was not until 1868 that the Alsatian artist Christian Schussele was hired as an art professor.

From 1870 to 1878 the PAFA was closed due to the construction of its new building. The building committee was led by Fairman Rogers and Frank Furness was the architect. Since reopening in April 1878, PAFA has been in the same building that is now a National Historic Landmark .

As Schussele's health deteriorated, Thomas Eakins became his unpaid assistant (with one interruption), teaching classes as well as working as a demonstrator in the anatomy classes. After Schussele's death, Eakins became a paid professor at PAFA. He changed the curriculum considerably and attached great importance to painting from the model.

PAFA was one of the first art schools to admit women as students on the same terms as men.

The Gross Clinic , Thomas Eakins

From 1811 to 1969, PAFA held annual art exhibitions and also acquired many of the works on display. Eakins' Die Klinik Gross was exhibited in 1879 , but in a secluded room.

Harrison S. Morris, director from 1892 to 1905, collected contemporary American art for PAFA. Among the many works he has acquired are those by Cecilia Beaux , William Merritt Chase , Frank Duveneck , Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer , Childe Hassam and Edmund Tarbell .

The museum is listed as a building on the National Register of Historic Places in May 1971 . In May 1975, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts was recognized as a National Historic Landmark .

Today, PAFA students can earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania , as well as a Master of Fine Arts degree .

At the turn of 2006/2007, PAFA and the Philadelphia Museum of Art acquired the Gross Clinic for 68 million US dollars.

Well-known students and teachers

literature

  • Mark Hain: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: 200 Years of Excellence. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2005, ISBN 978-0-943836-24-9 .

Web links

Commons : Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  - collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ^ Lloyd Goodrich: Thomas Eakins . tape 1 . Harvard Univ. Pr., Cambridge, Mass. 1982, ISBN 0-674-88490-6 , pp. 168 .
  2. ^ Lloyd Goodrich: Thomas Eakins . tape 1 . Harvard Univ. Pr., Cambridge, Mass. 1982, ISBN 0-674-88490-6 , pp. 169 f .
  3. ^ Lloyd Goodrich: Thomas Eakins . tape 1 . Harvard Univ. Pr., Cambridge, Mass. 1982, ISBN 0-674-88490-6 , pp. 171 .
  4. ^ Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts on the National Register of Historic Places , accessed February 13, 2020.
  5. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Pennsylvania. National Park Service , accessed February 13, 2020.

Coordinates: 39 ° 57 ′ 18.6 ″  N , 75 ° 9 ′ 48.5 ″  W.