The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-sec ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

."Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts"
Encyclopedia Britannica, Retrieved 28 July 2018. It was founded in 1805 and is the first and oldest art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum is internationally known for its collections of 19th- and 20th-century American paintings, sculptures, and works on paper. Its archives house important materials for the study of American art history, museums, and art training. It offers a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts a ...

, certificate programs, and continuing education.

History

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts was founded in 1805 by painter and scientist

Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolution, and ...

, sculptor William Rush, and other artists and business leaders. The growth of the Academy of Fine Arts was slow. For many years it held its exhibitions in an 1806 building, designed by John Dorsey with pillars of the

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composi ...

. It stood on the site of the later American Theater at

Chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelate ...

and 10th streets. The academy opened as a museum in 1807 and held its first exhibition in 1811, where more than 500 paintings and statues were displayed. The first school classes held in the building were with the ''Society of Artists'' in 1810. The academy had to be reconstructed after the fire of 1845. Some 23 years later, leaders of the academy raised funds to construct a building more worthy of its treasures. They commissioned the current Furness-Hewitt building, which was constructed from 1871. It opened as part of the

1876 Philadelphia Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

., p. 65 In 1876, former academy student and artist Thomas Eakins returned to teach as a volunteer.

Fairman Rogers Fairman Rogers (November 15, 1833 – August 22, 1900) was an American civil engineer, educator, and philanthropist. Early life Fairman Rogers was born in Philadelphia on November 15, 1833. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 18 ...

, chairman of the Committee on Instruction from 1878 to 1883, made him a faculty member in 1878, and promoted him to director in 1882. Eakins revamped the certificate curriculum to what it used to be today. Students in the certificate program learned fundamentals of drawing, painting, sculpture, and printmaking (

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

, intaglio, and

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone ( lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

) for two years. For the next two years, they had conducted independent study, guided by frequent critiques from faculty, students, and visiting artists. From 1811 to 1969, the academy organized important annual art exhibitions, from which the museum made significant acquisitions. Harrison S. Morris, managing director from 1892 to 1905, collected contemporary American art for the institution. Among the many masterpieces acquired during his tenure were works by

Cecilia Beaux Eliza Cecilia Beaux (May 1, 1855 – September 17, 1942) was an American society portraitist, whose subjects included First Lady Edith Roosevelt, Admiral Sir David Beatty and Georges Clemenceau. Trained in Philadelphia, she went on to study in ...

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design ...

, Frank Duveneck, Thomas Eakins,

Winslow Homer Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th-century America and a preeminent figure ...

, Childe Hassam, and Edmund Tarbell. Work by The Eight, which included former Academy students

Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...

and John Sloan, is well represented in the collection. It provides a transition between 19th- and 20th- century art movements. From 1890 to 1906, Edward Hornor Coates served as the tenth president of the academy. In 1915, Coates was awarded the academy's gold medal. Painter John McLure Hamilton, who began his art education at the academy under Thomas Eakins, in 1921 described the contributions Coates made during his tenure:

The reign of Mr. Coates at the Academy marked the period of its greatest prosperity. Rich endowments were made to the schools, a gallery of national portraiture was formed, and some of the best examples of Gilbert Stuart's work acquired. The annual exhibitions attained a brilliancy and éclat hitherto unknown ... Mr. Coates wisely established the schools upon a conservative basis, building almost unconsciously the dykes high against the oncoming flow of insane novelties in art patterns ... In this last struggle against modernism the President was ably supported by Eakins, Anschutz, Grafly, enry JosephThouron, Vonnoh, and Chase ... His unfailing courtesy, his disinterested thoughtfulness, his tactfulness, and his modesty endeared him to scholars and masters alike. No sacrifice of time or of means was too great, if he thought he could accomplish the end he always had in view—the honour and the glory of the Academy. It was under Mr. Coates' enlightened direction that was fulfilled the expressed wish of Benjamin West, the first honorary Academician, that "Philadelphia may be as much celebrated for her galleries of paintings by the native genius of the country, as she is distinguished by the virtues of her people; and that she may be looked up to as the Athens of the Western World in all that can give polish to the human mind."

During World War I, academy students were actively involved in war work. "About sixty percent of the young men enlisted or entered Government service, and probably all of the young women and all the rest of the young men were directly or indirectly engaged in war work." A war service club was formed by students and a monthly publication, ''The Academy Fling'', was sent to service members. George Harding, a former PAFA student, was commissioned captain during the war and created official combat sketches for the American Expeditionary Forces.

Women at the Academy

The 1844 Board of Directors' declaration that women artists "would have exclusive use of the statue gallery for professional purposes" and study time in the museum on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings signified a significant advance towards formal training in art for women. Prior to the founding of the academy, there were limited opportunities for women to receive professional art training in the United States. This period between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries shows a remarkable growth of formally trained women artists. By 1860 female students were allowed to take anatomy and antique courses, drawing from antique casts. In addition, women enjoyed their newly acquired library and gallery access. Life classes, the study of the nude body, were available to women in the spring of 1868 with female models; male models were added for study six years later. This came after much debate on whether it was appropriate for women to view the nude male form. It took 24 years before women could take full advantage of all aspects of training at the prestigious institution. After 1868 women took more active leadership roles and achieved influential positions. For example, in 1878 Catherine Drinker, at the age of 27, became the first woman to teach at the academy. One of her pupils, her younger cousin

, would leave a lasting legacy at the academy as the first female faculty member to instruct painting and drawing, beginning in 1895. By the 1880s women artists competed with men for top accolades and recognition. Not until much later, however, did the academy gain its first woman on the board of directors in 1950. Even as women artists were making progress in the United States, they had difficulty studying in Europe. Many of the famous and state-run academies, such as the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

in Paris, actively excluded women until the late 19th century, and many of the only opportunities available were through privately run, less prestigious art schools or ateliers of artists. Women who chose to travel overseas typically studied the works of master artists in the galleries, not in classes. In 2010, the academy acquired the Linda Lee Alter Collection of Art by Women, nearly 500 works by female artists, from collector

Linda Lee Alter Linda Lee Alter (born 1939) is an American visual artist who is primarily known as an art collector and philanthropist. In 2010 Alter donated five hundred artworks by American female artists to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philade ...

. Artists in the collection include those of international renown, such as Louise Bourgeois,

Judy Chicago Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history ...

Louise Nevelson Louise Nevelson (September 23, 1899 – April 17, 1988) was an American sculptor known for her monumental, monochromatic, wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures. Born in the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Kyiv Oblast, ...

Kiki Smith Kiki Smith (born January 18, 1954) is a West German-born American artist whose work has addressed the themes of sex, birth and regeneration. Her figurative work of the late 1980s and early 1990s confronted subjects such as AIDS and gender, whi ...

and

Kara Walker Kara Elizabeth Walker (born November 26, 1969) is an American contemporary painter, silhouettist, print-maker, installation artist, filmmaker, and professor who explores race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity in her work. She is bes ...

, as well renowned Philadelphia artists including

Elizabeth Osborne Elizabeth Osborne (born 1936, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American painter who lives and works in Philadelphia. Working primarily in oil paint and watercolor, her paintings are known to bridge ideas about formalist concerns, particularly ...

. In 2012, the academy featured the collection in the exhibition ''The Female Gaze: Women Artists Making Their World.''

Today

Pennsylvania_Academy_of_Fine_Arts_-_Washington_Foyer

The Museum

Since its founding, the academy has collected works by leading American artists, as well as works by distinguished alumni and faculty of its school. Today, the academy maintains its collecting tradition with the inclusion of works by modern and contemporary American artists. Acquisitions and exhibition programs are balanced between historical and contemporary art, and the museum continues to show works by contemporary regional artists and features annual displays of work by academy students. The collection is installed in a chronological and thematic format, exploring the history of American art from the 1760s to the present.

The School

The academy was well known for its longstanding 4-year certificate program. Since 1929, qualified students have been able to apply for and receive a coordinated

program at the University of Pennsylvania. Another BFA degree program is offered exclusively in-house (a recent addition) its

program, a Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Graduate Studies, and extensive continuing education offerings, as well as programs for children and families. In 2005, the academy received the

National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and arts patrons ...

recognizing it as a leader in fine arts education. In January 2007, the academy, in association with the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin F ...

, purchased Thomas Eakins's work '' The Gross Clinic'' from the Jefferson Medical School. This seminal American work will be displayed at both institutions on a rotating basis. In January 2009, PAFA signed a historic transfer agreement with

Camden County College Camden County College (CCC) is a public community college in Camden County, New Jersey. Camden County College has its main campus in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, with satellite locations in Camden, Cherry Hill and Sicklerv ...

, New Jersey. The "Camden Connection" allows for the transfer of liberal arts and studio classes as well as providing, on a competitive basis, for partial merit scholarships specifically for Camden County College students. Other transfer agreements are now in place with the following community college art departments: Community College of Philadelphia,

Montgomery County Community College Montgomery County Community College (MCCC or Montco) is a public community college in Blue Bell in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. MCCC also has two satellite locations, Pottstown Campus and Culinary Arts Institute in Lansdale. It is accredited ...

, Atlantic Cape Community College, and Northampton Community College. In 2013, PAFA received Middle States Commission on Higher Education accreditation. PAFA had offered a major in the Certificate and the Bachelor of Fine Arts Program. Starting in Summer 2015, PAFA began offering a low-residency Master of Fine Arts program. Since Fall 2015, PAFA has offered courses in fine arts illustration, which complements painting, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture courses.

Buildings

The Furness-Hewitt building

The current museum building began construction in 1871 and opened in 1876 in connection with the Philadelphia Centennial. Designed by the American architects

Frank Furness Frank Heyling Furness (November 12, 1839 - June 27, 1912) was an American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his diverse, muscular, often unordinarily scaled ...

and

George Hewitt George Hewitt or Hewett may refer to: * George Hewitt (footballer) (1878–?), English footballer for Burslem Port Vale and Luton Town * Brian George Hewitt (born 1949), English linguist specialising in Caucasian languages * George Wattson Hewitt ( ...

, it has been called "One of the most magnificent Victorian buildings in the country." The building's façade draws from a number of different historical styles, including Second Empire,

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...

and Gothic Revival, amalgamated in an "aggressively personal manner". The building's exterior coloration combines "rusticated brownstone, dressed sandstone, polished pink granite, red pressed brick, and purplish terra-cotta." It was the first structure in the U.S. specifically designed for fine arts instruction and exhibition in a consolidated facility. The inside of the building is equally varied, combining "gilt floral patterns incised on a field of Venetian red; ... cerulean blue ceiling sprinkled with silver stars", and plum, ochre, sand and olive green gallery walls. The building's structure combines brick, stone and iron; because of fire-proofing concerns, some of the iron i-beams were left uncovered. :1876 opening notes:

The newly Academy of Fine Arts will bear comparison with any institution of its kind in America. It has a front of one hundred feet on Broad Street and a depth of two hundred and fifty-eight feet on Cherry Street. Its situation, with a street on each of its three sides, and an open space along a considerable portion of the fourth, is very advantageous as regards lighting, and freedom from risk by fire. It is built of brick, the principal entrance, which is two stories high, being augmented with encaustic tiles, terra-cotta statuary, and light stone dressings. The walls are laid in patterns of red and white brick. Over the main entrance on Broad Street there is a large
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
window with stone tracery. The Cherry Street front is relieved by a
colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...
supporting arched windows, back of which is the transept and pointed
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...
. Beyond the entrance
vestibule Vestibule or Vestibulum can have the following meanings, each primarily based upon a common origin, from early 17th century French, derived from Latin ''vestibulum, -i n.'' "entrance court". Anatomy In general, vestibule is a small space or cavity ...
is the main staircase, which starts from a wide hall and leads to the galleries on the second floor. Along the Cherry Street side of the Academy are five galleries arranged for casts from the antique; and, further on, are rooms for drapery painting, and the life class. These have a clear north light which can never be obstructed. On the south side, there is a large lecture room, with retiring rooms, and back of these are the modeling rooms and rooms devoted to the use of students and professors. On the second floor is the main hall, which extends across the building, and is intended for the exhibition of large works of art. This story is divided into galleries, which are lighted from the top. Through the center runs a hall which is set apart for the exhibition of statuary, busts, small
statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
s,
bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
s, etc. On each side of this hall are picture galleries, which are so arranged in size and form as to admit of classification of pictures, and which can be divided into suits where separate exhibitions may be held at the same time. The art collections of the gallery are considered the most valuable in America. They comprise the masterpieces of
Stuart Stuart may refer to: Names * Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) Automobile *Stuart (automobile) Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, connecting South Australia and the Northern Territory Northe ...
, Sully,
Allston Allston is an officially recognized neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most pa ...
,
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, and others of our early artists, the Gilpin gallery, fine marbles, and facsimiles of famous statues, as well as a magnificent gallery from the antique.

The academy building is Furness's best known work, and served to establish him as one of the country's top architects. Despite being initially praised by critics, by the turn of the century, tastes had changed and the building was not considered appealing. Eventually, steps were taken to obscure its ornamentation to "modernize" it. In the post-World War II era, the building was newly appreciated again, with the growth in the historic preservation movement making people more aware of treasures from the past. The building is now considered a masterpiece, one of the greatest buildings in Philadelphia and arguably Furness's greatest work. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1971 and designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1975. In 1976 the building was fully restored, both its interiors and exteriors, to coincide with its centennial and with the United States bicentennial. The restoration work was conducted through Day and Zimmerman Associates, and headed by Human Myers. In 2019, architectural firm DLR Group completed another renovation on both the Furness-Hewitt and Hamilton buildings to accommodate growth within the institution's fixed site while maintaining the buildings' historic details.

Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building

In 2002, Dorrance H. Hamilton made a large donation to the academy for its expansion. It purchased the former automobile factory at 128 N. Broad Street, next to the original building. Designed by Charles Oelschlager, the building had formerly been used as a federal building. The structure was renamed in memory of her husband, Samuel M.V. Hamilton. It was renovated and the School of Fine Arts of the academy completed its move there in September 2006. The building also contains a special exhibition space called the Fisher Brooks Gallery, named after James R. Fisher, an artist who attended PAFA in the late 1880s, and Leonie Brooks. They are the grandfather and mother, respectively, of Marguerite Lenfest, a philanthropist and PAFA board member. The Hamilton building also houses Portfolio, the museum's gift shop.

Notable people

Hamilton Men I Have Painted 176f Edward H Coates

Notable Academy students, faculty and leaders include: *

Charles Andes Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

Thomas Pollock Anshutz Thomas Pollock Anshutz (October 5, 1851 – June 16, 1912) was an American painter and teacher. Known for his portraiture and genre scenes, Anshutz was a co-founder of The Darby School. One of Thomas Eakins's most prominent students, he succeed ...

Thomas N. Armstrong III Thomas N. Armstrong III (July 30, 1932, Portsmouth, Virginia – June 20, 2011, Manhattan) was an American museum curator who was director emeritus of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum (1968–1971), the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine ...

* Elizabeth Gowdy Baker * Will Barnet *

Cornelia Barns Cornelia Baxter Barns (September 25, 1888 – November 4, 1941) was an American feminist, socialist, and political cartoonist. Personal life Cornelia Barns was born on September 25, 1888 in Flushing, New York, the oldest of three children born ...

Bo Bartlett Bo Bartlett (born December 29, 1955) is an American Realist painter working in Columbus, Georgia and Wheaton Island, Maine. Early life Bo Bartlett was born James William Bartlett III on December 29, 1955, in Columbus, Georgia. Bartlett’s parent ...

* Walter Emerson Baum * Anna Whelan Betts *

Ethel Franklin Betts Ethel Franklin Betts Bains (September 6, 1877 – October 9, 1959) was an American illustrator primarily of children's books during the golden age of American illustration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life and education Betts ...

Alexander Stirling Calder Alexander Stirling Calder (January 11, 1870 – January 7, 1945) was an American sculptor and teacher. He was the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and the father of sculptor Alexander (Sandy) Calder. His best-known works are ''George Washi ...

* Al Capp (attended briefly) *

Arthur B. Carles Arthur Beecher Carles (March 9, 1882 – 1952) was an American Modernist painter. Biography Carles was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts between 1900 and 1907. He studied with Thomas Pol ...

* Mary Cassatt * Jonathan Lyndon Chase *

Margaret Covey Chisholm Margaret Sale Covey Chisholm (July 6, 1909 – January 24, 1965) was an American portrait painter and muralist who painted the mural for the Livingston, Tennessee post office as part of the WPA artist project during the Great Depression. Her wo ...

* Edward Hornor Coates *

Rachel Constantine Rachel Constantine (born 1973) is a Philadelphia-based realist / impressionist painter."Philly Artists Who Will Make You Rich," (2009, November). Philadelphia Magazine, p. 36. Her work has been exhibited in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the ...

* Colin Campbell Cooper * John Rogers Cox * Ralston Crawford *

Jack Delano Jack Delano (born Jacob Ovcharov; August 1, 1914 – August 12, 1997) was a Ukrainian immigrant who became an accomplished photographer for the Works Progress Administration, United Fund, and most notably, the Farm Security Administration (FSA). ...

Vincent Desiderio Vincent Desiderio (born 1955) is an American realist painter. In 2005 he was on the teaching staff at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; he is a senior critic at the New York Academy of Art. Biography Desiderio was born in 1955, in Pen ...

Blanche Dillaye Blanche Annie Dillaye (sometimes Annie Blanche Dillaye; 1851 – 1932) was a 19th-century artist from the U.S. state of New York. After studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, she became one of the significant figures in the American e ...

* Thomas Eakins * Thomas Harlan Ellett, architect * David Em * Wharton Esherick *

Stephen Etnier Stephen Morgan Etnier (September 11, 1903 – November 7, 1984) was an American realist painter, painting for six decades. His work is distinguished by a mixture of realism and luminism, favoring industrial and working scenes, but always ...

Virginia B. Evans Virginia B. Evans (June 5, 1894 – March 23, 1983) was a West Virginia visual artist and teacher. In the Ohio Valley region she became famous for her impressionist painting and art deco glass work. Considered one of West Virginia's foremost artis ...

* Frances Farrand Dodge *

Louise Fishman Louise Fishman (January 14, 1939 – July 26, 2021) was an American abstract painter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For many years she lived and worked in New York City, where she died. Biography Louise Fishman was born in Philadelphia on Jan ...

* A. B. Frost *

* Charles Lewis Fussell * Daniel Garber * William Glackens * Charles Grafly *

Marie Bruner Haines Marie Bruner Haines (November 16, 1885 – 1979) was an American painter, illustrator, muralist, craftsman, lecturer and teacher. Biography Marie Bruner Haines was born on November 16, 1885, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Charles Henry Haines and Oliv ...

* William Weeks Hall * Walker Hancock *

James Havard James Havard (1937 – December 15, 2020) was an American painter and sculptor. He was a pioneer of abstract illusionism in the 1970s. In the 1980s he changed his style into a form of abstract expressionism influenced by Native American and trib ...

A. G. Heaton Augustus Goodyear Heaton (April 28, 1844 – October 11, 1930)Lewis Randolph Hamersly, et al., (1918). ''Who's Who in New York (City and State)'', p.500. Who's Who Publications, Inc., Washington, D.C. was an American artist, author and leadi ...

Barkley Hendricks Barkley L. Hendricks (April 16, 1945 – April 18, 2017) was a contemporary American painter who made pioneering contributions to Black portraiture and conceptualism. While he worked in a variety of media and genres throughout his career (from p ...

Edward Lamson Henry Edward Lamson Henry (January 12, 1841May 9, 1919), commonly known as E.L. Henry, was an American genre painter, born in Charleston, South Carolina. Early life Though born in Charleston, by age seven his parents had died and Henry moved to live ...

* Thomas Hovenden * Frances Tipton Hunter * Elsa Jemne * Maria Louise Kirk *

Christine Lafuente Christine Lafuente (born 1968) is an American painter, born in Poughkeepsie, NY, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She is best known for her still lives and landscapes, painted alla prima (in one sitting), in an energized, loose, wet-i ...

* Sara Larkin * Dorothy P. Lathrop * Frank B. A. Linton *

Adelia Armstrong Lutz Adelia Armstrong Lutz (; June 25, 1859 – November 17, 1931) was an American artist active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She organized art circles in Knoxville, Tennessee, as director of the Knoxville Art Club and as ...

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

* Paul Manship *

John Marin John Marin (December 23, 1870 – October 2, 1953) was an early American modernist artist. He is known for his abstract landscapes and watercolors. Biography Marin was born in Rutherford, New Jersey. His mother died nine days after his birth, ...

* Don Martin * Donald Martiny * Elise Mercur, architect * James Metcalf * Alme Meyvis * Katherine Milhous *

Abram Molarsky Abram Molarsky (also Abraham; September 25, 1880 – May 4, 1955) was an American Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artist, known primarily as a landscape painter and a colorist. His work is characterized by rich hues and strong, textured ...

* Edward Percy Moran * Alphonse Mucha * Taras Mychalewych * John Neagle * Alice Neel * Brad Neely *

Roy Cleveland Nuse Roy Cleveland Nuse (1885–1975) was a Pennsylvania Impressionism, Pennsylvania Impressionist artist and a teacher at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1925 to 1954. For almost 60 years he lived an ...

* Violet Oakley *

Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter and illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. His career spann ...

* Rembrandt Peale *

Clara Elsene Peck Clara Elsene Peck (April 18, 1883 – February 1968) was an American illustrator and painter known for her illustrations of women and children in the early 20th century. Peck received her arts education from the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts an ...

* Louise Pershing *

Jane Piper Jane Gibson Piper (1916–1991) was an American artist known for her abstract treatment of still lifes. Building on the French modernist tradition of Matisse and Cézanne, she gave color precedence over representation. Shortly after her death a ...

* Albin Polasek * Howard Pyle * Jacques Reich * Seymour Remenick * Edgar Preston Richardson *

Peter F. Rothermel Peter Frederick Rothermel (July 8, 1812 – August 15, 1895) was an American painter. Biography Rothermel was born in Nescopeck, Pennsylvania on July 8, 1812, although various sources give his birth year as 1813, 1814, and 1817. The artist's ...

* William Rush * Lawrence Saint * William Sartain * Mary B. Schuenemann *

Leopold Seyffert Leopold Seyffert ca. 1910 Leopold Gould Seyffert (January 6, 1887 – June 13, 1956) was an American artist. Born in California, Missouri and raised as a child in Colorado and then Pittsburgh, his career brought him eventually to New York City, ...

* Michael H. Shamberg *

David Sherman David Sherman (1958 - November 16, 2022) was an American novelist who dealt overwhelmingly with military themes at the small-unit tactical level. His experiences as a United States Marine informed his writings. Early life and education She ...

* Everett Shinn * John French Sloan *

Owen Staples Owen 'Poe' Staples (born Owen Staples, September3, 1866December6, 1949) was a Canadian painter, etcher, pastelist, political cartoonist, author, musician and naturalist. Early life and training Staples' family arrived in Hamilton, ON from Stoke ...

LeConte Stewart __NOTOC__ LeConte Stewart (April 15, 1891 – June 6, 1990) was a Latter-day Saint artist primarily known for his landscapes of rural Utah. His media included oils, watercolors, pastel and charcoal, as well as etchings, linocuts, and lithograp ...

Frank Wilbert Stokes Frank Wilbert Stokes, also known as Frank Stokes, Frank W. Stokes and F. W. Stokes
Smithsonian American Art Muse ...

Henry O. Tanner Henry Ossawa Tanner (June 21, 1859 – May 25, 1937) was an American artist and the first African-American painter to gain international acclaim. Tanner moved to Paris, France, in 1891 to study at the Académie Julian and gained acclaim in Fren ...

Ellen Powell Tiberino Ellen Powell Tiberino (1937-1992) was an African American artist who was figurative and expressionist in her pastels, oils, pencil drawings and sculptures. Her works were infused with the experiences and history of Black people, women in particula ...

William B. T. Trego William Brooke Thomas Trego (September 15, 1858 – June 24, 1909) was an American painter best known for his historical military subjects, in particular scenes of the American Revolution and Civil War. Biography William B. T. Trego was ...

Orlando Gray Wales Orlando Gray Wales (also O.G. Wales) (1865–1933) was an American landscape painter and Pennsylvania impressionist who lived and painted in Allentown and the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Wales was considered to be one of the best still- ...

Philip Fishbourne Wharton Philip Fishbourne Wharton (April 30, 1841 – July 20, 1880) was an American artist. Wharton was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Fishbourne Wharton (1778–1846), merchant, and his second wife Mary Ann Shoemaker, and the grandson o ...

* Benjamin West * Anita Willets-Burnham

Awards presented to individuals by the academy

* Widener Gold Medal: The academy established the George D. Widener Gold Medal for sculpture in 1912. Widener was a businessman and director of the academy who died on the

RMS Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

. The award recognizes the "most meritorious work of Sculpture modeled by an American citizen and shown in the Annual Exhibition".

Defunct awards

* Beck Gold Medal: The Carol H. Beck Gold Medal was awarded to the best portrait by an American artist exhibited at PAFA's annual exhibition. It was awarded from 1909 to 1968. * Mary Smith Prize: The

Mary Smith Prize The Mary Smith Prize (defunct) was a prestigious art prize awarded to women artists by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. It recognized the best work by a Philadelphia woman artist at PAFA's annual exhibition — one that showed "the m ...

was awarded to "the Painter of the best painting (not excluding portraits) exhibiting at the Academy, painted by a resident woman Artist." It was awarded from 1879 to 1968. * Temple Gold Medal: The Joseph Temple Fund Gold Medal was awarded to the best oil painting by an American artist exhibited at PAFA's annual exhibition. It was awarded from 1883 to 1968.

Deaccessioning

In 2013, the academy sold ''

East Wind Over Weehawken ''East Wind Over Weehawken'' is an oil painting on canvas by American realist painter Edward Hopper. It was held in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in the United States from 1952 until its sale to an anonymous buyer in D ...

'' (1934), one of two

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realism, American realist painter and printmaker. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolor painting, watercolorist and printmaker in e ...

paintings in its collection, to start an endowment fund. About 25 percent of the fund will be used to fill gaps in the collection of historic art, with much of the rest to buy contemporary art of undetermined value with hopes for dramatic increases in the future. The painting was sold at auction for $40,485,000, allowing a substantial boost to the museum's then-current endowment of about $23.5 million,Spiegelman, Willard
"Academy at a Crossroads"
''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' (September 25, 2013) but raised new questions about the museum's mission and whether such

deaccessioning Deaccessioning is the process by which a work of art or other object is permanently removed from a museum's collection to sell it or otherwise dispose of it.Report from the AAMD Task Force on Deaccessioning. 2010. ''AAMD Policy on Deaccessioning' ...

s are in the public interest.

References

Notes Bibliography * ''The Pennsylvania Academy and its women, 1850–1920: May 3 – June 16, 1974 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania'' (exhibition catalogue). Philadelphia, PA: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1974. * Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. ''In This Academy: The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1805–1976.'' Museum Press, Inc: Washington, D.C., 1976.

External links

*
The original Academy of the Fine Arts, 1869
at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania *

The Academy of the Fine Arts and Its Future ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

: address delivered before the Art Club of Philadelphia by Edward H. Coates (24 January 1890)
National Register Nomination
on the National Park Service website
HABS Documentation
on Library of Congress website
Philadelphia Architects and Buildings listing
of the academy building {{authority control 1805 establishments in Pennsylvania Art museums established in 1805 Art museums and galleries in Philadelphia Art schools in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1805 Frank Furness buildings Museums of American art National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia School buildings completed in 1876 Universities and colleges in Philadelphia University museums in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania state historical marker significations Center City, Philadelphia Private universities and colleges in Pennsylvania