The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp () is an

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

located in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. It is one of the oldest of its kind in Europe. It was founded in 1663 by

David Teniers the Younger David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II (bapt. 15 December 1610 – 25 April 1690) was a Flemish Baroque painter, printmaker, draughtsman, miniaturist painter, staffage painter, copyist and art curator. He was an extremely versatile artist ...

, painter to the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm and Don Juan of Austria. Teniers was master of the

Guild of St Luke The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Four Evangelists, Evangelist Saint Luke, Luke, the patron sa ...

—which embraced arts and some handicrafts—and petitioned

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV (, ; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered for his patronage of the ...

, then master of the Spanish Netherlands, to grant a royal charter to establish a Fine Arts Academy in Antwerp. It houses the Antwerp Fashion Academy.

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 Egide Charles Gustave, Baron Wappers (23 August 18036 December 1874) was a Belgian painter. His work is generally considered to be Flemish painters, Flemish and he signed his work with the Dutch form of his name, Gustaaf Wappers.Note: The painte ...

(1803–1874) and his registrar

Hendrik Conscience Henri (Hendrik) Conscience (3 December 1812 – 10 September 1883) was a Belgian author. He is considered the pioneer of Dutch-language literature in Flanders, writing at a time when Belgium was dominated by the French language among the upper c ...

, 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 Henry Clemens van de Velde (; 3 April 1863 – 15 October 1957) was a Belgian painter, architect, interior designer, and art theorist. Together with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, he is considered one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium ...

enrolled at the Antwerp Academy. He would become one of the pioneering 20th century architects and designers. In 1885 and 1886,

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

was also to spend a short time at the Antwerp academy, prior to his departure to France. In 1885,

King Leopold II Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Le ...

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 Paris.

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 years, but became renowned in the fashion world during the 1980s when “the

Antwerp Six The Antwerp Six are a group of fashion designers who trained at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts between 1980–1981 under Linda Loppa. The press began referring to them as a group beginning in about 1990 after the group in 1986 drove in ...

” designers (

Dirk Bikkembergs Dirk Bikkembergs (born 2 January 1959) is a Belgian fashion designer. Early life Dirk Bikkembergs was born in Cologne, Germany, as his father was in the Belgian Army. He lived most of his years in Diepenbeek, Limburg, Belgium. In 1982, Bikkem ...

Walter Van Beirendonck Walter Van Beirendonck (born 4 February 1957) is a Belgian fashion designer. He was the head of the fashion department at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp until 2022. Education He graduated in 1980 from the Royal Arts Academy in Ant ...

Marina Yee The Antwerp Six are a group of fashion designers who trained at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts between 1980–1981 under Linda Loppa. The press began referring to them as a group beginning in about 1990 after the group in 1986 drove in ...

, Dries Van Noten,

Dirk Van Saene The Antwerp Six are a group of fashion designers who trained at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts between 1980–1981 under Linda Loppa. The press began referring to them as a group beginning in about 1990 after the group in 1986 drove in ...

and

Ann Demeulemeester Ann Verhelst (born 29 December 1959), known professionally as Ann Demeulemeester (), is a Belgian fashion designer whose label, Ann Demeulemeester, is mainly showcased at the annual Paris Fashion Week. She is known as one of the Antwerp Six in ...

) became prominent alumni. 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''). However, the Higher Institute of Fine Arts was kept independent and to develop into a separate entity. en tempel bouwen voor de muzen, een korte geschiedenis van de Antwerpse Academie by Jan Lampo, April 1995 885/1985 een eeuw Nationaal Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten te Antwerpen by L.Theo van Looj, 1985/411/7/ref> 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 are international) work in the four main buildings located in the heart of the city: Mutsaardstraat (photography, silversmithing/jewelry, theatre costume design and fine arts), Nationalestraat (fashion) and Keizerstraat (graphic design). As of September 2013, the programs are offered by the "Artesis Plantijn Hogeschool Antwerpen", a fusion between

Artesis Hogeschool Antwerpen AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts Antwerp , founded in 2012, is a non-profit public higher education institution located in the city of Antwerp and created as a merger between Artesis Hogeschool Antwerpen and Plantijn Hogeschool /sup ...

and

Plantijn Hogeschool AP University of Applied Sciences and Arts Antwerp , founded in 2012, is a non-profit public higher education institution located in the city of Antwerp and created as a merger between Artesis Hogeschool Antwerpen and Plantijn Hogeschool /su ...

''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 Boeyermans Theodoor Boeyermans, Theodor Boeyermans or Theodor Boeijermans (10 November 1620 – January 1678) was a Flemish people, Flemish painter active in Antwerp who painted Baroque history paintings and group portraits informed by the tradition of Peter ...

(1665; 188 x 454 cm), promotes the city's recent artistic past. Portraits of

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

and

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

watch over students as they practise the arts. At the centre is the allegorical ''Antverpia pictorum nutrix'' ("Antwerp, nurse of painters"). ''

Chronos Chronos (; ; , Modern Greek: ), also spelled Chronus, is a personification of time in Greek mythology, who is also discussed in pre-Socratic philosophy and later literature. Chronos is frequently confused with, or perhaps consciously identified ...

'' accompanies other young students who present their artwork. The river god ''Scaldis'', a

personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, National personification, countries, an ...

of Antwerp's river

Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...

, symbolises with his

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (; ), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts. In Greek, it was called the " horn of ...

the wealth and bounty of the city's artistic heritage.

Notable alumni

Willis Seaver Adams Willis Seaver Adams (1842–1921) was a landscape painter who studied under James Abbott McNeill Whistler. He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium and was part of the Tonalism movement, which took place in the late 19th ...

* Willem Albracht *

Lawrence Alma-Tadema Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema ( ; born Lourens Alma Tadema, ; 8 January 1836 – 25 June 1912) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter who later settled in the United Kingdom, becoming the last officially recognised Denization, denizen in 1873. Born in ...

Wilhelm Busch Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch (14 April 1832 – 9 January 1908) was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day. Busch drew on the tropes of f ...

George Edmund Butler George Edmund Butler ( – ) was a landscape and portrait painter specialising in oils and watercolours. Born in England, his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was 11 years old. After completing his schooling, he studied art at the Welling ...

* Jan Cockx *

Georges Croegaert Georges Croegaert (7 October 1848 – 1923) was a Belgian Academic art, academic painter who spent most of his career in Paris. He is known for his genre paintings of scenes from elegant society and portraits of women. He also had a reputation f ...

* Pieter Franciscus Dierckx * Marthe Donas * John Duncan *

Frans-Andries Durlet Frans-Andries aka François André or Franciscus Andreas Durlet, (11 July 1816 – 2 March 1867) was a Belgian architect, sculptor and printmaker. Durlet was born and died in Antwerp. He taught at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp and was ...

Jan Fabre Jan Fabre (born 14 December 1958) is a versatile Belgian artist known for his contributions to theater, literature, and visual arts. With a career spanning nearly four decades, Fabre has established himself as an influential figure in the artist ...

* David Foggie *

Frans Geerts Frans Geerts (14 September 1869 in Antwerp – 30 June 1957 in Borgerhout) was a Belgian painter. While Geerts predominantly made oil paintings, he also used watercolors and ink drawings to create realistic and romantic portraits, pastoral and ...

* Jan Geeraerts *

Gerard Muller Gerard Gustaaf Muller (20 January 1861 – 26 March 1929) was a Dutch Impressionism, Impressionist painter associated with the 19th-century Dutch literature#The Movement of 1880, Tachtigers literary movement. His later works show elements of Ori ...

Demna Gvasalia Demna Gvasalia ( ka, დემნა გვასალია ; born 25 March 1981), known mononymously as Demna ( ) is a Georgian people, Georgian fashion designer, previously the creative director of Balenciaga and the co-founder of Vetements. ...

* Dr. Hugo Heyrman *

Floris Jespers Floris Jespers (18 March 1889 in Borgerhout – 16 April 1965 in Antwerp) was a Belgian Avant-garde painter. After his graduation from the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts, he hooked up with the poet Paul Van Ostaijen and joined the Antwerp avant- ...

Nicaise de Keyser Nicaise de Keyser (alternative first names: Nicaas, Nikaas of Nicasius; 26 August 1813, Zandvliet – 17 July 1887, Antwerp) was a Belgian painter of mainly history paintings and portraits who was one of the key figures in the Belgian Romantic- ...

Jef Lambeaux Jef Lambeaux or Josef Lambeaux (14 January 18525 June 1908) was a Belgian sculptor. His best known work is '' Temple of Human Passions'', a colossal marble bas-relief. Early life and education Lambeaux was born in Antwerp, Belgium, on 14 Janua ...

* Evert Larock * Devon Halfnight LeFlufy *

William Logsdail William Logsdail (25 May 1859 – 3 September 1944) was a prolific English landscape, portrait, and genre painter. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists, the Grosvenor Gallery, the New Gallery (London), and ot ...

Ford Madox Brown Ford Madox Brown (16 April 1821 – 6 October 1893) was a British painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often William Hogarth, Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his mos ...

Martin Margiela Martin Margiela (born 9 April 1957) is a Belgian fashion designer, artist, and founder of the French luxury fashion house Maison Margiela. Throughout his career, Margiela has maintained a low profile, refusing to grant face-to-face interviews o ...

Gustav Metzger Gustav Metzger (10 April 1926, Nuremberg – 1 March 2017, London) was a statelessness, stateless artist and political activist who developed the concept of Auto-Destructive Art and the Art Strike. Together with John Sharkey, he initiated the ...

Yuima Nakazato Yuima Nakazato (born 29 September 1985 in Tokyo) is a Japanese fashion designer and an eponymous fashion brand. As of 2023, he is the only guest member of Haute Couture Week from Japan. Early life and education Yuima Nakazato was born in Toky ...

Nat Neujean Nathanael Neujean (5 January 1923 – 4 February 2018) was a Belgian sculptor from Antwerp. A figurative artist, he mostly worked in plaster and bronze. His works are held in various international collections. He has been honored as a Grand Office ...

* Jef Nys *

Roderic O'Conor Roderic O'Conor (17 October 1860 – 18 March 1940) was an Irish painter who spent much of his later career in Paris and as part of the Pont-Aven movement. O'Conor's work demonstrates Impressionist and Post-Impressionist influence. Early life ...

Walter Osborne Walter Frederick Osborne (17 June 1859 – 24 April 1903) was an Irish impressionist and Post-Impressionism landscape and portrait painter, best known for his documentary depictions of late 19th century working class life. Most of his paint ...

Panamarenko Henri Van Herwegen (5 February 1940 – 14 December 2019), known by the pseudonym Panamarenko, was a prominent Assemblage (art), assemblagist Belgian sculptor. Famous for his work with aeroplanes as theme; none of which are able nor constructed t ...

Mommie Schwarz Samuel Leser Schwarz, known as Mommie (28 July 1876 – 19 November 1942) was a Dutch Jewish painter and graphic artist. He also worked as a designer of book covers. In 1920, he married Else Berg. Together they became an artistic couple and we ...

* Hideki Seo *

Raf Simons Raf Jan Simons (; born 12 January 1968) is a Belgian fashion designer. Beginning in furniture design, Simons launched his own menswear label in 1995. He was creative director at Jil Sander (2005–2012), Christian Dior (2012–2015), and Calvin Kl ...

* Heaven Tanudiredja *

Luc Tuymans Luc Tuymans (born 14 June 1958) is a Belgian visual artist best known for his paintings which explore people's relationship with history and confront their ability to ignore it. World War II is a recurring theme in his work. He is a key figure ...

Kris Van Assche Kris Van Assche (born 12 May 1976) is a Belgian fashion designer. He was the creative director of Berluti (2018-2021), a luxury leather brand owned by LVMH, and artistic director for Dior Homme from 2007 to 2018. Early life and education Van Assc ...

* Jan van Beers *

Haider Ackermann Haider Ackermann (Arabic: حيدر عكرمان) (born 29 March 1971) is a Colombian-born French designer of ready-to-wear fashion. He lives in Paris, and is currently creative director of Canada Goose and Tom Ford. Early life Born in Bogotá, Co ...

* Dries Van Noten * Piet Verhaert * Michel Marie Charles Verlat * Bernardus Weber *

Albert Edelfelt Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt (21 July 1854 – 18 August 1905) was a Finnish Painting, painter noted for his naturalistic style and Realism (arts), Realist approach to art. He lived in the Grand Duchy of Finland and made Finnish culture visib ...

* Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven * Minju Kim *

Barış Manço Mehmet Barış Manço (born Tosun Yusuf Mehmet Barış Manço; 2 January 1943 – 1 February 1999), better known by his stage name Barış Manço, was a Turkish people, Turkish rock music, rock musician, singer, composer, actor, television ...

* Glenn Martens *

Filip Arickx Filip () is a masculine given name and a surname, cognate to Philip. The male name Filip comes from the Greek "philos" (love) and "hippos" (horse), which means "horse lover". In Croatia, the name Filip was among the most common masculine given nam ...

* An Vandevorst *

References

External links

*
ap-arts.be
official website of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts
History Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp , AP School Of Arts
{{Authority control Culture in Antwerp Educational institutions established in the 1660s 1663 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1663 establishments in the Spanish Empire 17th-century establishments in the Habsburg Netherlands Education in Antwerp