The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (, usually abbreviated to ''ASP''), is a public institution of higher education located in the centre of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, Poland. It is the oldest Polish

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

academy, established in 1818 and granted full autonomy in 1873. ASP is a state-run university that offers 5- and 6-year

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

programmes. As of 2007, the Academy's faculty comprised 94 professors and assistant professors as well as 147 Ph.D.s.

History

The Academy of Fine Arts (ASP) was originally a subdivision of the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

's Department of Literature and was initially (1818–1873) called the School of Drawing and Painting (''Szkoła Rysunku i Malarstwa''). Among its original teachers were Polish

Neoclassicist Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

Antoni Brodowski Antoni Stanisław Brodowski (26 December 1784, Warsaw – 31 March 1832, Warsaw) was a Polish painter in the Classical style. Biography According to the wishes expressed in his father's will, he began by studying mathematics.Franciszek Ksawery Lampi Franciszek Ksawery Lampi, also known as Franz Xaver Lampi (22 January 1782 – 22 July 1852), was a Polish Romantic painter born in Austria of ethnic Italian background. He was associated with the aristocratic circle of the late Stanisław II ...

, a world-renowned landscape and portrait artist in

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

whose most notable students there were Wojciech Korneli Stattler (a teacher of Jan Matejko) and Piotr Michałowski, equestrian master artist of the

Romantic period Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. ASP received the status of an independent institution of higher learning in 1873 as the School of Fine Arts (''Szkoła Sztuk Pięknych''). The first President of the Academy was painter

Jan Matejko Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale ...

, who brought in other leading artists as professors including

Jan Nepomucen Głowacki Jan Nepomucen Głowacki (1802 – July 28, 1847) was a Polish realist painter of the Romantic era, regarded as the most outstanding landscape painter of the early 19th century in Poland under the foreign partitions. Głowacki studied painting at ...

, the most outstanding landscape painter of the early 19th century in Poland, as well as

Florian Cynk Florian Stanisław Cynk (3 May 1838 – 10 October 1912) was a Polish painter, notably of religious subjects, and a prominent art teacher. He also worked as an illustrator. Biography He was born in Kraków and began his studies at the Academ ...

, Aleksander Gryglewski and Leopold Loeffler, member of the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. The main building based on a neoclassical design by architect

Maciej Moraczewski Maciej (Polish pronunciation: ) is a Polish given name, the etymological equivalent of Matthias. Its diminutive forms are Maciek, Maciuś. Namedays according to Polish calendar: 30 January, 24 February, 14 May Maciej may refer to: Arts and ent ...

was erected in today's Matejko Square in 1879. In 1893–95 its principal was a broadly educated

Władysław Łuszczkiewicz Władysław Łuszczkiewicz (3 September 1828 – 23 May 1900) was a Polish historian and painter of the late Romanticism in Poland, Romantic era from Kraków, active in the period of the foreign partitions of Poland. He was a professor at the Jan ...

(another teacher of Jan Matejko and later, his close associate) who also served as conservator of architectural monuments in the city. Following the death of Jan Matejko in 1893, the next ASP President elected in 1895 was

Julian Fałat Julian Fałat ( Tuligłowy, near Lwów, 30 July 1853 – 9 July 1929, Bystra Śląska) was one of the most prolific Polish watercolorists, one of the country's foremost landscapists, and a leading impressionist. Life Fałat studied at the ...

, who remained at his post until 1909. Fałat gave the Academy a new direction by hiring new art instructors associated with contemporary Western art approaches and associated painters such as

Teodor Axentowicz Teodor Axentowicz (; 13 May 185926 August 1938) was a Polish-Armenian painter and university professor. He was also the rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. As an artist, Axentowicz was famous for his portraits and scenes of Hutsul lif ...

Jacek Malczewski Jacek Malczewski (; 15 July 1854 – 8 October 1929) was a Polish symbolist painter who was one of the central figures of the patriotic Young Poland movement. His works combined the predominant style of his time with historical motifs of Pol ...

(the father of Polish

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

), Jan Stanisławski,

Leon Wyczółkowski Leon Jan Wyczółkowski (; 11 April 1852 – 27 December 1936) was a Polish painter and educator who was one of the leading painters of the Young Poland movement, as well as the principal representative of Polish Realism (arts), Realism in art of ...

Konstanty Laszczka Konstanty Laszczka (born 3 September 1865 in Makowiec Duży; died 23 March 1956 in Kraków) was a Polish sculptor, painter, graphic artist, as well as professor and rector (academia), rector of the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. Las ...

Józef Mehoffer Józef Mehoffer (19 March 1869 – 8 July 1946) was a Polish painter and decorative artist, one of the leading artists of the Young Poland movement and one of the most revered Polish artists of his time. Life Mehoffer was born in Ropczyce ...

Stanisław Wyspiański Stanisław Mateusz Ignacy Wyspiański (; 15 January 1869 – 28 November 1907) was a Polish playwright, painter, poet, and interior and furniture designer. A patriotic writer, he created symbolic national dramas accordant with the artisti ...

(one of first in Europe to work in all genres),

Wojciech Weiss Wojciech Weiss (4 May 1875 – 7 December 1950) was a prominent Polish painter and draughtsman of the Young Poland movement. Weiss was born in Bukovina to a Polish family in exile of Stanisław Weiss and Maria Kopaczyńska. He gave up mu ...

, and Józef Pankiewicz among others. The first woman admitted to study at the Academy was

Zofia Baltarowicz-Dzielińska Zofia Janina Maria Baltarowicz-Dzielińska née Baltarowicz (1894–1970) was a Polish sculptor and the first woman to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, Poland, after almost a century of its existence. Early life Zofia Baltarowicz ...

, who, in 1917, gained a status of an auditor. Officially, women were allowed to become students over a year later, after the academy passed a resolution in December 1918. On the 100th anniversary of its founding, in 1979, the Academy was named for

, its founder and first president. In 2008 the Academy joined

Icograda The International Council of Design (ICoD; formerly known as ico-D, International Council of Communication Design or Icograda, which was formerly an initialism for International Council of Graphic Design Associations) is an international organis ...

(the International Council of Graphic Design Associations) and became that organization's first educational member in Poland.

Rectors

The School of Fine Arts (director) * 1873–1893:

* 1893–1895: Władysław Łuszczkiewicz (acting rector) * 1895–1900:

The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (rector) * 1900–1909: Julian Fałat (till 1905 director of The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts) * 1909–1910:

* 1910–1911:

* 1911–1912:

* 1912–1914:

* 1914–1918:

* 1918–1919:

* 1919–1922: Józef Gałęzowski * 1922–1927: Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz * 1927–1928:

* 1928–1929: Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz * 1929–1931: Konstanty Laszczka * 1931–1932: Fryderyk Pautsch * 1932–1933: Józef Mehoffer * 1933–1936: Wojciech Weiss * 1936–1939: Fryderyk Pautsch * 1945–1949: Eugeniusz Eibisch (till 1947 active rector) * 1949–1950: Zbigniew Pronaszko * 1950–1951: Zygmunt Radnicki * 1951–1952: Konrad Srzednicki * 1952–1954: Mieczysław Wejman * 1954–1967: Czesław Rzepiński * 1967–1972: Mieczysław Wejman * 1972–1980: Marian Konieczny * 1980–1987: Włodzimierz Kunz * 1987–1993: Jan Szancenbach * 1993–1996: Włodzimierz Kunz * 1996–2002: Stanisław Rodziński * 2002–2008: Jan Pamuła * 2008–2012: Adam Wsiołkowski * 2012–2020: Stanisław Tabisz * 2020- : Andrzej Bednarczyk

Faculties

* Faculty of Painting **Department of Painting **Department of Drawing **Department of Additional Specializations **Department of Stage Design * Faculty of Sculpture **Department of Sculpture (I, II) **Department of Drawing **Department of Architecture-Sculpture Design * Faculty of Interior Design * Faculty of Intermedia * Faculty of Industrial Design **Department of Visual Communication **Department of Product Design * Faculty of Graphic Arts **Department of Graphic Arts **Department of Graphic Design **Department of Drawing and Painting * Faculty of Art Conservation * Interdisciplinary Department of Art History

Notable faculty members

Miłosz Horodyski Miłosz Horodyski (born 1974 in Kraków) is an artist, painter, a Polish film director and television director, film producer, an academic teacher and journalist. He lives and works in Kraków as a journalist in a Polish Television TVP Kraków ...

Notable graduates

* Bronislaw Abramowicz *

Ludmila Armata Ludmila Armata (; born 1954) is a Polish-born Canadian painter, printmaker, and educator. She lives and works in Quebec. Biography Ludmila Armata was born in Zabrze, Poland. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (now Jan Matejko ...

* Władysław T. Benda * Sasza Blonder * Tadeusz Brzozowski *

* Stanisław Frenkiel * Henryk Gotlib *

Artur Grottger Artur Grottger (11 November 1837 – 13 December 1867) was a Polish Romantic painter and graphic artist, one of the most prominent artists of the mid 19th century under the partitions of Poland, despite a life cut short by incurable illness. B ...

* Zbylut Grzywacz *

Wojciech Jerzy Has Wojciech Jerzy Has (1 April 1925 – 3 October 2000) was a Polish film director, screenwriter and film producer. Early life and studies Wojciech Jerzy Has was born in Kraków. Has himself was agnostic. However, his family on both sides was ...

Maria Jarema Maria Jarema (24 November 1908 – 1 November 1958) was a Polish painter, sculptor, scenographer and actress. Life and career She was born on 24 November 1908 in Staryi Sambir (Polish: ) in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (currently Ukrai ...

* Ewa Juszkiewicz *

Tadeusz Kantor Tadeusz Kantor (6 April 1915 – 8 December 1990) was a Polish painter, assemblage and Happenings artist, set designer and theatre director. Kantor is renowned for his revolutionary theatrical performances in Poland and abroad. Laureate of ...

* Carl Krull *

Ephraim Moses Lilien Maurycy "Ephraim Moses" Lilien (; ; 23 May 1874 – 18 July 1925) was a Polish-Jewish Art Nouveau illustrator and printmaker particularly noted for his art on Jewish themes and his influence on the Bezalel school art movement. He is sometimes call ...

* Tadeusz Makowski *

* Anton Manastyrski *

Henryk Minkiewicz Henryk Minkiewicz (19 January 1880 – 9 April 1940) was a Polish socialist politician and a general of the Polish Army. Former commander of the Border Defence Corps, he was among the Polish officers murdered in the Katyń massacre.; ; ; ; ; ; ...

Igor Mitoraj Igor Mitoraj (Polish pronunciation: ; 26 March 1944 – 6 October 2014), born Jerzy Makina, was a Polish artist and monumental sculptor. Known for his fragmented sculptures of the human body often created as large-scale installations in public p ...

* Abraham Neumann *

Jerzy Nowosielski Jerzy Nowosielski (Polish: ; born 7 January 1923 – died 21 February 2011) was a Polish painter, graphic artist, scenographer, illustrator and Eastern Orthodox theologian. He is regarded among the greatest contemporary Polish icon painters ...

Roman Petrović Roman Petrović (1896, in Donji Vakuf – 1947) was a Yugoslav painter and writer. He belongs to the generation of artists who created the history of Bosnian-Herzegovinian (and Yugoslav) painting between the two world wars. Biography Born to an et ...

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...

* Stanislaw Przespolewski * Heinrich Rauchinger *

Tadeusz Rychter Tadeusz Rychter (c. 1873 in Lviv – 1943 in Warsaw) was a Polish early twentieth-century artist best remembered for his watercolors of the Holy Land.

Wilhelm Sasnal Wilhelm Sasnal (born December 29, 1972) is a Polish painter, photographer, poster artist, illustrator and filmmaker. Sasnal graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków in 1999. He is considered one of the most prominent and i ...

Edward Rydz-Śmigły Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz also called Edward Rydz-Śmigły, (11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941) was a Polish people, Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland's armed forces, as well as a painter and ...

Czesław Słania Czesław Słania (22 October 1921 Czeladź; 17 March 2005 Kraków) was a Polish postage stamp and banknote engraver, living in Sweden from 1956. According to the ''Guinness Book of World Records'', Słania was the most skilled and prolific of ...

Adam Studziński Fr. Adam Studziński (2 June 1911 – 2 April 2008) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest (of the Dominican Order). Studzinski served as chaplain of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. Biography Studziński was first ordained as ...

* Boguslaw Szwacz * Zoja Trofimiuk * Petar Tiješić *

Stanisław Tondos Stanisław Tondos (10 March 1854 – 22 December 1917) was a Polish landscape painter and architectural painter. Life Tondos was born on in Kraków. He studied during the years 1869–1875 at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts with Jan ...

* Ivan Trush *

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...

* Andrzej Wróblewski *

Mariusz Zaruski Mariusz Zaruski (18 January 1867 – 8 April 1941) was a brigadier-general in the Polish Army, a pioneer of Polish sports yachting, an outstanding climber of the winter and caves of Tatra Mountains. He was a photographer, painter, poet and writ ...

References

External links

Universities of Krakow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jan Matejko Academy Of Fine Arts Educational institutions established in 1818 Universities and colleges in Kraków Arts organizations established in 1818 1818 establishments in Poland Universities and colleges established in the 1810s