Académie des beaux-arts, National art academy at Institut de France, Paris, France
The Académie des beaux-arts occupies the Institut de France in Paris, a learned society rather than a school. Its river facade has six fluted Corinthian columns on square bases, a triangular pediment with a gold-faced clock and carved figures, and a frieze inscribed EVL. MAZARIN S. R. E. CARD. BASILICAM ET GYMNASIVM A. M. D. CLXI. Behind rises a ribbed dome with a lantern and weather vane over a drum of tall arched windows; the entablature reads ACADEMIE DES BEAUX ARTS.
Created by ordinance on 21 March 1816, the Académie des beaux-arts merged the royal academies of painting and sculpture (1648), music (1669) and architecture (1671), after the Revolution had suppressed them. It grew out of the fine-arts class set up within the Institut de France in 1803. Its nine sections now run from painting to choreography, added in 2018.
The name comes from the 1816 merger of the painting and sculpture, music and architecture academies, and music remains one of its nine sections. Since 2000 it has elected 19 women, among them actress Jeanne Moreau in 2000. On 30 November 2016 Pierre Cardin staged a haute-couture show inside the Grande salle de séances of the Institut de France.
Visiting typically requires advance registration since the campus is primarily used for study and artistic work. The best way to learn about public events and activities is to contact the Institut de France directly or check their website.
The academy is one of the five academies of the Institut de France, and its members sit in nine sections, from painting and sculpture to photography (since 2005) and choreography (since 2018). Its full name is carved on the entablature of the domed building: "ACADEMIE DES BEAUX ARTS".
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