The
Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp is one of the oldest of its kind in Europe. It was founded in 1663 by
David Teniers the YoungerDavid Teniers the Younger , a Flemish artist born in Antwerp, was the more celebrated son of David Teniers the Elder, almost ranking in celebrity with Rubens and Van Dyck. His son David Teniers III and his grandson David Teniers IV were also painters...
, painter to the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm and Don Juan of Austria. Teniers was master of the Guild of St Luke — which embraced arts and some handicrafts — and petitioned
Philip IV of SpainPhilip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640. On the eve of his death in 1665, the Spanish empire reached its territorial zenith spanning almost 3 billion acres...
, then master of the Spanish Netherlands, to grant a royal charter to establish a Fine Arts Academy in Antwerp.
The Royal Academy developed into an internationally acclaimed institute for Fine Arts, Architecture and Design.
The
Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp is one of the oldest of its kind in Europe. It was founded in 1663 by
David Teniers the YoungerDavid Teniers the Younger , a Flemish artist born in Antwerp, was the more celebrated son of David Teniers the Elder, almost ranking in celebrity with Rubens and Van Dyck. His son David Teniers III and his grandson David Teniers IV were also painters...
, painter to the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm and Don Juan of Austria. Teniers was master of the Guild of St Luke — which embraced arts and some handicrafts — and petitioned
Philip IV of SpainPhilip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640. On the eve of his death in 1665, the Spanish empire reached its territorial zenith spanning almost 3 billion acres...
, then master of the Spanish Netherlands, to grant a royal charter to establish a Fine Arts Academy in Antwerp.
19th century
The Royal Academy developed into an internationally acclaimed institute for Fine Arts, Architecture and Design. From the nineteenth century on, the academy attracted young artists from abroad. Irish, German, Dutch, Polish artists looking for a solid classical training found their way to Antwerp.
Under the direction of Gustave Wappers (1803-1874) and his registrar Henry Conscience the academy faced significant restructuring. The academy's significant art collection was exhibited in its own gallery space. By 1890 this gallery would develop into the Royal Museum of Fine Arts (Dutch; Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten) and would move to its current location in Antwerp.
In 1880 a promising young artist Henry Van de Velde enrolled at the Antwerp Academy. He would become one of the pioneering 20th century architects and designers.
in 1885 and 1886
Vincent Van GoghVincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose work had a far reaching influence on 20th century art for its vivid colors and emotional impact. He suffered from anxiety and increasingly frequent bouts of mental illness throughout his life, and died largely unknown, at the age...
was also to spend a short time at the Antwerp academy, prior to his departure to France.
In 1885,
King Leopold IILeopold II was King of the Belgians. Born in Brussels the second son of Leopold I and Louise-Marie of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the throne in 1865 and remained king until his death. He was the brother of Empress Carlota of Mexico and first cousin to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom...
commissioned the establishment of the National Higher Institute for Fine Arts Antwerp (Nationaal Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten) as a unique post graduate program, inspired by the
Ecole des Beaux-Arts in ParisThe École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts is the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France.The École des Beaux-arts is made up of a vast complex of buildings located at 14 rue Bonaparte, between the quai Malaquais and the rue Bonaparte, in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Près,...
.
20th and 21st centuries
In 1946 the Architecture program became an independent institute, The National Higher Institute of Architecture.
Another key moment in the history of the academy would be 1963. A unique new course ‘Fashion Design’ started. This course was moderately successful from the beginning, but became world leading in the early eighties. “The Antwerp Six” with Dirk Bikkembergs, Walter Van Beirendonck, Marina Yee, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene and Ann Demeulemeester were hot issue in the media. Stylistically extremely diverse, these young friends had a huge impact on the contemporary fashion scene. The fashion program attracted more and more talents from all over the globe. With over 130 students it's by far the largest program in the visual arts and design department.
In 1995 the Flemish higher educational system faced a radical metamorphosis. The Antwerp Academy and the Henry Van de Velde Institute were included as faculties in a bigger college structure, The University College of Antwerp (Dutch; “Hogeschool Antwerpen”). The Higher Institute of Fine Arts was destined to develop into a separate entity.
[Een tempel bouwen voor de muzen, een korte geschiedenis van de Antwerpse Academie by Jan Lampo, April 1995]
[1885/1985 een eeuw Nationaal Hoger Instituut voo Schone Kunsten te Antwerpen by L.Theo van Looj, 1985/411/7]
The Academy nowadays offers three distinctive programs; Visual Arts and Design, Conservation studies and a one year dedicated teachers training. A body of 540 students(of whom 230 international) work in the four main buildings located in the heart of the city; Mutsaardstraat(Photography, Silversmithing/ Jewelry, Theatre Costume Design and Fine Arts), Nationale Straat (fashion), Keizerstraat (graphic design).
Nurse of Painters
Shortly after the founding of Antwerp Academy, three large paintings were executed for its meeting hall.
Antwerp, Nurse of Painters, by
Theodoor BoeyermansTheodoor Boeyermans was a Flemish Baroque painter from Antwerp who painted classicizing works informed by the tradition of Peter Paul Rubens. In addition he made numerous altarpieces for Flemish churches, group portraits, and allegories. Boeyermans's work also shares a close affinity with his...
(1665; 188 x 454 cm), promotes the city's recent artistic past. Portraits of
Peter Paul RubensSir Peter Paul Rubens was a prolific seventeenth-century Flemish Baroque painter, and a proponent of an exuberant Baroque style that emphasized movement, color, and sensuality...
and
Anthony van DyckSir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of King Charles I of England and Scotland and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English...
watch over students as they practise the arts. At the centre is the allegorical
Antverpia pictorum nutrix ("Antwerp, nurse of painters").
ChronosIn Greek mythology, Chronos in pre-Socratic philosophical works is said to be the personification of time. His name in Modern Greek also means "year" and is alternatively spelled Khronos or Chronus .Chronos was imagined as an incorporeal god...
accompanies other young students who present their artwork. The
river godRiver God is a novel by author Wilbur Smith. It tells the story of the talented eunuch slave Taita, his life in Egypt, the flight of Taita along with the Eygptial populace from the Hyksos invasion, and their eventual return. The novel can be grouped together with Wilbur Smith's other books on...
Scaldis, a
personificationPersonification is an ontological metaphor in which a thing or abstraction is represented as a person.The term "personification" may apply to:...
of Antwerp's river
ScheldtThe Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
, symbolises with his
cornucopiaThe cornucopia is a symbol of food and abundance dating back to the 5th century BC, also referred to as horn of plenty, Horn of Amalthea, and harvest cone.- In mythology :...
the wealth and bounty of the city's artistic heritage.
External links
- http://www.artesis.be/academie - Official website of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (in Dutch)