Escola de Belas Artes (School of Fine Arts) is one of the centers of the

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro or University of Brazil (UFRJ; pt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro or ') is a public research university located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the ...

and dates back to colonial times. A royal letter of Nov 20 1800 by

John VI of Portugal , house = Braganza , father = Peter III of Portugal , mother = Maria I of Portugal , birth_date = , birth_place = Queluz Palace, Queluz, Portugal , death_date = , death_place = Bemposta Palace, Lisbon, Portugal , ...

established the ''Aula Prática de Desenho e Figura'' in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. It was the first institution in Brazil systematically dedicated to teaching the arts. During

colonial times The ''Colonial Times'' was a newspaper in what is now the Australian state of Tasmania. It was established as the ''Colonial Times, and Tasmanian Advertiser'' in 1825 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colon ...

, the arts were mainly of religious or utilitarian nature and were learnt in a system of

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

. The Decree of Aug 12, 1816 created the ''Escola Real de Ciências, Artes e Ofícios'' (Royal School of Sciences, Arts and Crafts), which established an official education in the fine arts. Then it was renamed as the ''Academia Imperial de Belas Artes'' (

Imperial Academy of Fine Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thr ...

), instituting a system of artistic education that would greatly influence the development of

Brazilian art The creation of art in the geographic area now known as Brazil begins with the earliest records of its human habitation. The original inhabitants of the land, pre-Columbian Indigenous or Natives peoples, produced various forms of art; specific c ...

. On Nov 8 1890, the old Imperial Academy was transformed into the ''Escola Nacional de Belas Artes'' (National School of Fine Arts). In 1931, the School joined the University of Rio de Janeiro, the current

Notable students

Artur Barrio Artur Barrio (Artur Alipio Barrio de Sousa Lopes) is an artist who lives and works in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Much of his work consists of installation pieces that create interaction with the public. Barrio engages the viewer as participant in h ...

(1945- ), conceptual artist *

Affonso Eduardo Reidy Affonso Eduardo Reidy (Paris, 26 October 1909 - Rio de Janeiro, 10 August 1964) was a Brazilian architect. He was the son of an English father and a Brazilian mother. Reidy entered the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro at age 17. H ...

(1909-1964), architect *

Arthur Timótheo da Costa Arthur Timótheo da Costa (12 November 1882, Rio de Janeiro – 5 October 1922, Rio de Janeiro) was an Afro-Brazilian painter and designer. Biography Arthur Timótheo da Costa was born on November 12, 1882. He and his brother João Timóteo da ...

(1882– 1922),

Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians ( pt, afro-brasileiros; ) are Brazilians who have predominantly African ancestry (see "Black people#Brazil, preto"). Most members of another group of people, Pardo Brazilians, multiracial Brazilians or ''pardos'', may also have a ...

painter *

Lúcio Costa Lúcio Marçal Ferreira Ribeiro Lima Costa (27 February 1902 – 13 June 1998) was a Brazilian architect and urban planner, best known for his plan for Brasília. Career Costa was born in Toulon, France, the son of Brazilian parents. His fath ...

(1902-1998), Brazilian architect and urban planner *

Rubens Gerchman Rubens Gerchman (January 10, 1942 in Rio de Janeiro – January 29, 2008) was a Brazilian painter and sculptor. He was heavily influenced by concrete and neoconcrete art. Many of Gerchman's works are paintings based on populist themes and h ...

(1942-2008), painter and sculptor *

Oswaldo Goeldi Oswaldo Goeldi (31 October 1895 – 16 February 1961) was a Brazilian artist and renowned engraver. He was the son of Swiss naturalist Émil Goeldi. Goeldi was born in Rio de Janeiro, but lived in Belém, in the state Pará, until he was 6 ...

(1895-1961), artist and engraver *

Anna Maria Maiolino Anna Maria Maiolino (born May 20, 1942) is a Brazilian contemporary artist. Early life Maiolino was born in Scalea, in Calabria in southern Italy, to an Italian father and Ecuadorian mother. In 1954, her family emigrated to Venezuela, wher ...

(1942- ), Italian plastic artist *

Burle Marx Roberto Burle Marx (August 4, 1909 – June 4, 1994) was a Brazilian landscape architect (as well as a painter, print maker, ecologist, naturalist, artist and musician) whose designs of parks and gardens made him world-famous. He is accredite ...

(1909-1994), landscape architect *

Victor Meirelles Victor Meirelles de Lima (18 August 1832 – 22 February 1903) was a Brazilian painter and teacher who is best known for his works relating to his nation's culture and history. From humble origins, his talent was soon recognized, being admitted as ...

(1832-1903), painter *

Ismael Nery Ismael Nery (October 9, 1900 – April 6, 1934) was a Brazilian artist. Biography Background Born in Belém, Pará, of Dutch, Native-Brazilian, and African ancestry, he studied at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes (National School of Fine A ...

(1900-1934), poet and painter *

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was ...

(1907-2012), architect *

Lygia Pape Lygia Pape (7 April 1927 – 3 May 2004) was a Brazilian visual artist, sculptor, engraver, and filmmaker, who was a key figure in the Concrete movement and a later co-founder of the Neo-Concrete Movement in Brazil during the 1950s and 196 ...

(1927-2004), sculpture, engraving, and filmmaking *

Candido Portinari Candido Portinari (December 29, 1903 – February 6, 1962) was a Brazilian painter. He is considered one of the most important Brazilian painters as well as a prominent and influential practitioner of the neo-realism style in painting. Portinari ...

(1903-1962), painter *

Franz Weissmann Franz Josef Weissmann (September 15, 1911 – July 18, 2005) was a Brazilian sculptor born in Austria, emigrating to Brazil while he was eleven years old. Geometric shapes, like cubes and squares, are strongly featured in his works. He was one ...

(1911-2005), Austrian sculptor

External links

Escola de Belas Artes
(School of Fine Arts of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) *

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro 1816 establishments in Brazil Arts organizations established in the 1810s {{Brazil-university-stub