The State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe or is an

academy of arts 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 ...

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

, in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

in south-western Germany.

History

The Academy was founded in 1854 by Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden, with the

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

painter Johann Wilhelm Schirmer as the first director. During the Nazi regime, several artists were fired from their teaching positions, due to their art being considered " degenerate". These include, for example, Willhelm Schnarrenberger, Georg Scholz, and Karl Hubbuch - all of whom were associated with the New Objectivity movement. After the

second world war World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the academy re-opened first in 1947 and Schnarrenberger and Hubbuch eventually regained their positions. Post-war heads of the academy include art historian Oskar Gehring (1947/48), (1949–1956), art historian Kurt Martin (1956/57), painter (1957/58), and painter Hans Gaensslen (1958–1963). The latter became the first elected rector as, in 1961, policy was changed from ministry-appointed directors to rectors elected by all professors in 4 year intervals. He was followed by (1963–1971), visual artist Harry Kögler (1971–1976), (1976–1988), art historian (1988–2000), painter (2000–2012), (2012–2018), and sculptor (2018–2021). Since October 2021 it is led by rector and Dutch graphic artist Marcel van Eeden and has about 300 students (2016: 297 according to city statistics report, 2021: "just over 300" according to own report). The Kalinowski room in the main building, where students can self-organize exhibitions, is named after the former professor who passed away in 2013. He also dedicated his estate to a foundation granting awards to graduates of the academy, now referred to as the ''Kalinowski-Preis'' ("Kalinowski-prize").

Location

The Academy is split between several buildings in Karlsruhe, including the castle of the , which is at the Southern edge of Karlsruhe and used to be a hunting lodge. The castle is in need of general renovation, however, as of 2022 it is said to not start before 2025. The other buildings, concentrated in Western Karlsruhe, are the main building, administration, ''Villa Schönleber'', and ''Bildhauergarten'' ("sculptor's garden").

Curriculum

Curriculum at the Academy includes Fine Art (''Freie Kunst''), differentiating mainly between

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...

, as well as art teacher education for one of several German secondary school types (" gymnasium"), called ''Lehramt'' ''mit Bildender Kunst''. Those studying to become teachers are required to choose a second subject in addition to art that they wish to teach in school, which can be studied at the partner universities KIT in Karlsruhe, University of Mannheim or

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. It is standard practice for teachers in Germany to usually know and teach at least two subjects. Deviating from this, teacher trainees at the academy may choose to intensify their artistic studies to become exclusive art teachers with ''Intermediales Gestalten'' (IMG for short, literally translated as " intermediate designing") as their second subject. This consists of additional, specialized courses in architecture at the KIT as well as seminars about subjects such as

performance A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...

digital art Digital art, or the digital arts, is artistic work that uses Digital electronics, digital technology as part of the creative or presentational process. It can also refer to computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960 ...

at the art academy itself. According to the year report for the 2021/2022 semester, 118 students were studying to become art teachers at the time, of which 25 had IMG as their second subject.

Notable students

Notable faculty

Literature

* Axel Heil, Harald Klingelhöller (Editors): ''150 Years. The History of the Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe in Pictures. Die Geschichte der Kunstakademie Karlsruhe in Bildern und Texten''. Swiridoff, 2004. ISBN 3-89929-045-3 * Vereinigung der Freunde der Kunstakademie Karlsruhe e.V. (Hrsg.): ''Festschrift zum 125-jährigen Bestehen''. C.F.Müller Verlag GmbH, Karlsruhe 1979.

References

External links

Homepage of the State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe
{{coord, 49, 00, 52, N, 8, 23, 14, E, region:DE-BW_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Universities and colleges in Karlsruhe Art schools in Germany Educational institutions established in 1854 1854 establishments in the German Confederation Weststadt (Karlsruhe)