# Academy of Fine Arts, Munich

The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (German: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany.
In the second half of the 19th century, the academy became one of the most important institutions in Europe for training artists and attracted students from across Europe and the United States.

## History

The history of the academy goes back to 1770 with the founding by Elector Maximilian III. Joseph, of a "drawing school", the "Zeichnungs Schule respective Maler und Bildhauer Academie". In 1808, under King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, it became the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The curriculum focused was on painting, graphics, sculpture and architecture.
The Munich School refers to a group of painters who worked in Munich or were trained at the Academy between 1850 and 1918. The paintings are characterized by a naturalistic style and dark chiaroscuro. Typical painting subjects included landscape, portraits, genre, still-life, and history. Karl von Piloty, the foremost representative of the realistic school in Germany, became director in 1874.
From 1900 to 1918 the academy's director was Ferdinand Freiherr von Miller. During the Second World War, Hitler replaced the academy’s “non-Aryan” professors with Nazi artists. In 1946, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts was merged with the School of arts and crafts and the School of applied arts. In 1953, its name was changed to the current Academy of Fine Arts.

## Buildings

The large 19th-century Renaissance Revival style building complex, designed by Gottfried Neureuther, was completed in 1886. It has housed the Academy since then.
A new Deconstructivist style expansion, designed by the architectural firm Coop Himmelb(l)au as an extension from the original building, was completed in 2005.
The AkademieGalerie (gallery of the academy) is located at the nearby subway station Universität. Since 1989 students could show artworks especially created for this location.

## Teaching

The study at the Academy is organized in class associations. Overall, the Academy accommodates twenty-three classes, led by professors, who each stand for an individual approach to contemporary fine art. These classes are complemented by twenty study workshops and a library, as well as seminars and lectures in art science, philosophy and didactics.
The following study programs are offered:
* Free Art (Diploma)
* Art Education (State Examination and Master Degree)
* Interior Architecture (Bachelor and Master Degree)
* Architecture (Master Degree)
* Art Therapy (Master Degree)

## People
### Notable professors

* Lawrence Alma-Tadema
* Hermann Anschütz
* Anton Ažbe (1884–1885)
* Nikolaus Gysis
* Peter von Cornelius
* Res Ingold
* Max Klinger
* Franz von Lenbach
* Walter Maurer (1990–2000)
* Robin Page (1981–1998)
* Eduardo Paolozzi (1981–1989)
* Sean Scully
* Jacob Ungerer (1890–1920)
* Arthur von Ramberg
* Gerd Winner (born 1936)
* Heinrich Kirchner [de]
* Hito Steyerl

### Notable students

* Josef Albers (1919–1920)
* Mainbocher
* Franz Ackermann (1984–1988)
* Erwin Aichele
* Henry Alexander
* Cuno Amiet (1886–1888)
* Henry Baerer (1837-1908)
* Octav Băncilă
* Vladimir Becić
* René Beeh
* Ignat Bednarik
* Claus Bergen
* Robert Julius Beyschlag
* Friedrich Brugger
* Harry Chase
* William Merritt Chase
* Giorgio de Chirico
* Albert Chmielowski
* Susanne Clausen
* Lovis Corinth (1880–1884)
* William Jacob Baer (1880–1884)
* Menci Clement Crnčić
* Thomas Demand
* Samuel Friedrich Diez
* Edgar Downs (1876–1963; silver medallist)
* Frank Duveneck
* Alex Dzigurski (1911–1995)
* Valentin Peter Feuerstein (1917–1999)
* Lothar Fischer (1952–1958)
* Günther Förg
* Wilhelm Heinrich Funk (born 1866), (an American portrait painter)
* Oskar Garvens (1874–1951)
* Karl Gatermann the Younger
* Herbjørn Gausta
* Dimitrios Geraniotis (1871–1966), Greek portrait painter
* Aleksander Gierymski (1846–1874)
* Maksymilian Gierymski (1850–1901)
* Louis Grell (1887–1960)
* Rita Grosse-Ruyken (1971–1977)
* Nicholaos Gysis (1842–1901)
* Karl Michael Haider (1846–1912)
* Herman Hartwich (1853–1926)
* Hermann Helmer
* Oskar Herman
* Louis Christian Hess
* Peter von Hess
* Hallgrímur Helgason (born 1959)
* Friedrich Hohe (1802–1870)
* Elmyr de Hory (1906–1976)
* Jörg Immendorff (1984–1985)
* Đorđe Jovanović (sculptor)
* Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944)
* Robert Koehler (1873–1875; 1879-1886 bronze and silver medalist)
* Elisaveta Konsulova-Vazova (1881–1965)
* Alfred Kowalski
* Miroslav Kraljević
* Alfred Kubin (1899)
* Paul Klee (1900)
* Wilhelm Leibl
* Maximilian Liebenwein (1869—1926)
* Richard Lindner (1925–1927)
* Melissa Logan
* Ştefan Luchian
* Mahirwan Mamtani (1935)
* Franz Marc (1900–1903)
* Jan Matejko
* Dieter Mathoi (1963–1967)
* János Mattis-Teutsch
* Mato Celestin Medović (1890–1893)
* Vadim Meller
* Josef Moroder-Lusenberg (1876–1880)
* Alphonse Mucha
* Otto Mueller
* John Mulvany (1839–1906)
* Adolfo Müller-Ury (1881–82)
* Edvard Munch
* Alex Murray-Leslie
* Hubert Netzer (1865–1939)
* Elisabet Ney (1981–1989)
* Eduard Niczky [de] (1850–1919)
* Charles Henry Niehaus (1855–1935)
* Thomas Satterwhite Noble (1881–83)
* Markus Oehlen (2002–)
* Paul Ondrusch
* Ernst Oppler
* Fritz Osswald
* Ulrike Ottinger (born 1942)
* Bruno Paul
* Carl Theodor von Piloty
* Edward Henry Potthast
* Otto Quante (1875–1947)
* Josip Račić (1905–1908)
* Robert Hermann Raudner (1854–1915)
* Richard Riemerschmid (1888–1890)
* Léo-Paul Robert (1869)
* Franz Roubaud
* Anna May-Rychter (1864–1955)
* Sep Ruf
* Heinrich Schlitt
* Karl Saltzmann (1896– )
* Barbara Seidenath (born 1960), metalsmith, jeweler.
* Günther Schneider-Siemssen (1926–1915), scenic designer
* Walter Shirlaw
* Edith Soterius von Sachsenheim (1887–1970)
* Karina Smigla-Bobinski
* Emil Span
* T. C. Steele
* Vardges Sureniants (1860–1921)
* Johann Gottfried Steffan
* Franz von Stuck
* Nicolae Tonitza
* Axel Törneman (1880–1925)
* John Henry Twachtman
* Petar Ubavkić (1852–1910)
* Spyridon Vikatos (1878–1960)
* Robert Voit (born 1969)
* Lascăr Vorel
* Alexander von Wagner (1869–1910)
* Henrik Weber (1818–1866)
* Sybilla Mittell Weber (1892–1957)
* Barbara Zeigler,
* Hans-Peter Zimmer
* Tadeusz Zukotynski (1877–1912)