Akademie výtvarných umění v Praze Gallery

The Academy of Fine Arts in Prague is the oldest art school in the Czech Republic. It is a public university that offers master's and doctoral studies. Painting, sculpture, drawing and graphic arts, intermedial creation, new media, restoration of paintings and sculptures, and also architectural creation are taught here. The Academy is at the same time an important cultural institution that participates in the development of culture and society.

It was founded on September 10th, 1799 by decree of Emperor Francis I, and teaching began a year later, in 1800. The Society of Patriotic Friends of Art played a role in its establishment. They wanted to provide quality art education to students from Bohemia, Moravia, and Austrian Silesia, who until then had to travel to Vienna or Munich to study. The first director was the German engraver Joseph Bergler. From 1836, the school was led by a Czech, Professor František Tkadlík, sometimes also referred to as Kadlík. In 1896 the academy was reformed and nationalized. A decree from 1922 then recognized it as the first state university of fine arts.

A turning point came in the eighties of the nineteenth century. From 1885 the school was located in very cramped conditions, in the building of the School of Arts and Crafts Na rejdišti and on Eliščina třída. Moreover, the Society of Patriotic Friends of Art was running out of money and the academy was threatened with closure. Josef Hlávka, then a member of the society's budget committee, took on the task of rescue. In Vienna he convinced the minister of education that the state had to take over the academy and that it needed to be expanded by two new professors. These became the painters Václav Brožík and Vojtěch Hynais, who were living in Paris at the time.

Both initially accepted the offer enthusiastically, but the nationalization was dragging on. Hlávka therefore paid their salaries together with Count Buquoy from his own pocket. Hynais was mainly causing trouble, as he wanted to have an atelier in Prague just like in Paris. The Regional Committee at Hlávka's request lent the Art Pavilion on the edge of Stromovka, which remained after the Jubilee Exhibition, and allowed it to be rebuilt. Architect Bělský drew up plans according to Hynais's wishes, but these were so excessive that almost nothing would be left of the building. Hlávka therefore prepared his own variants together with Jan Bělský and Professor Maxmilian Pirner, and on July 31st, 1893 sent them to both painters in Paris. No reply came, so he wrote again. Brožík, who until then had let Hynais do the talking, finally quickly sent at least his most important remarks.