Description of the attraction
The Vienna Academy of Fine Arts was founded in 1692 as the private academy of the painter Emperor Leopold I Peter Strudel, making it the oldest art academy in Central Europe. After the death of the court painter Peter Strudel in 1714, the academy was temporarily closed. But already in 1726, Emperor Charles VI reopened it.
In 1872, the Academy received the status of a higher educational institution. Since 1876, the Academy has occupied a building designed by the architect Theophilus Hansen in the style of the Italian Renaissance.
In 1907 and 1908, young Adolf Hitler, who had arrived from Linz, twice tried unsuccessfully to enter drawing classes. He stayed in Vienna and tried to continue his profession as an artist. Soon he was left without a livelihood and began selling amateur paintings, mostly watercolors, until he left Vienna for Munich in May 1913.
Currently, the Academy is one of the leading centers for the training of artists. The Academy is subdivided into the following institutes: the Institute of Fine Arts, which houses three departments for painting, graphics, fine arts, media, sculpture; Institute of Art Theory and Cultural Studies (art theory, philosophy, history); Institute for Conservation and Restoration;
Institute of Natural Sciences and Technologies in Arts; School of Teaching Crafts, Design, Textile Art); Institute of Art and Architecture. The academy currently has about 900 students, almost a quarter of whom are international students.
The Art Gallery, located on the second floor of the West Wing, houses an impressive collection of paintings dating back to the 14th century. Particularly noteworthy are Bosch's paintings "The Last Judgment", as well as works by Rubens, Titian and Rembrandt.
