Russian academy of arts

DEFINITION

Also known as the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, it opened in 1757 with the name Academy of the Three Noblest Arts. Seven years later Catherine the Great named it Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned a new building, which took 25 years to complete. Academy influence was staunchly Neo-classical, and decision makers sponsored many noted painters to Italy and France to become skilled in that style. In the mid-19th century, Realist art proponents led by Ivan Kramskoi broke with the Academy, and the Russian Revolution of 1917 led to its formal demise. In 1947 it was rejuvenated and located in Moscow. The original building in St. Petersburg is now occupied by the Ilya Repin Institute of Arts but remains informally known as the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Academy_of_Arts