The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA), known as the nation’s oldest art school and museum, has a rich history intertwined with notable events and influential figures. Five years into its establishment, the academy received a remarkable donation from Napoleon Bonaparte, bringing with it a trunk that contained 25 volumes of etchings by the esteemed Italian printmaker Giovanni Battista Piranesi.
Piranesi’s intricate etchings of ancient Roman architecture and imaginative structures provided ideal study material for PAFA students seeking to hone their drawing skills. Bonaparte entrusted these significant works to John Armstrong, a Revolutionary War veteran and former U.S. ambassador to France during the Jefferson administration, with specific instructions to donate them to a ‘great public institution.’ Armstrong deemed PAFA as the fitting recipient of this remarkable collection.
Navigating a challenging position in its formative years, PAFA was founded in 1805 with the goal of nurturing fine art in the fledgling United States, which had yet to establish a clear identity in art. The institution leaned heavily on European works to educate its students. To obtain vital resources, the founders connected with influential individuals overseas. Nicholas Biddle, brother of PAFA’s co-founder William Biddle, sent a collection of plaster casts from Paris, encompassing replicas of significant ancient sculptures such as ‘Laocoön and His Sons’ and the ‘Venus de’ Medici.’ These casts provided access to artistic masterpieces at a time when traveling to Europe was a significant undertaking.
Aside from plaster casts, Piranesi’s prints also played a critical role in the education of PAFA students. His captivating etchings of Rome were so breathtakingly detailed that they often overshadowed the actual city, disappointing some visitors like the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The volumes in PAFA’s collection even feature fold-out pages, revealing extended prints of ancient ruins. The legacy of the Piranesi family lives on in the collection as well, with works from his son, Francesco, also included. Francesco employed red ink in his prints to enhance the portrayal of fireworks in a 1790 piece inspired by a composition from Louis-Jean Desprez.
Hoang Tran, PAFA’s director of archives, library, and collections, emphasizes the necessity of having a library filled with resources for artists at the time, pointing out the absence of modern research tools like Google or Wikipedia.
‘You need a library for your resources,’ Tran states. ‘There was no Google, there was no Wikipedia, so you had to really have the resources here. America was still pretty young, you know, 1776 versus 1805. So we still were having this look back into European ideas and what was fine art at the time. We didn’t really have an American art, per se, yet.’
The academy commenced its classes in a neoclassical white marble building on Chestnut Street, with Tran noting that the education model at the time was more akin to a ‘training ground.’ Students might attend classes for short periods before returning to the museum galleries to sketch copies or request feedback from instructors. Although PAFA did not formally charge tuition until the late 19th century, its early student demographic was primarily comprised of individuals from affluent families, who would have likely pursued art studies in Europe prior to PAFA’s establishment.
In 1876, PAFA relocated to a new building at Cherry and Broad streets, where it remains today. Significant changes began to unfold when PAFA alumnus Thomas Eakins, recognized for his influence on American art, assumed the role of director. Under Eakins’s guidance, the academy adopted a more structured approach to education, introducing a printed course catalog organized by student experience level. He also encouraged students to work from live models instead of relying solely on casts, and he introduced sculpture classes that included nude models—an approach that ultimately led to his dismissal but instituted valuable changes that persisted in the school’s curriculum.
‘That is what I would argue is more of the American idea,’ Tran reflects. ‘You’re finding your footing. You’re not looking to Europe anymore.’ Over the next sixty years, PAFA and other art schools across America began cultivating a distinctly American art movement. Graduates, such as Henry Ossawa Tanner and Mary Cassatt, became pivotal figures in establishing this movement. The legacy continued with notable alumni like David Lynch, the renowned filmmaker who attended PAFA in the 1960s.
As PAFA aims to modernize further, it has embarked on a series of upgrades to its HVAC system while still seeking to honor its historical roots. Currently closed since July 2024, PAFA hopes to reopen its historic building in time for its 150th anniversary in 2026. Notably, in a move back towards its foundational principles, PAFA announced plans to phase out its bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in 2024. Students will still have the option to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts through a dual program with the University of Pennsylvania or pursue a certificate program more aligned with the academy’s original focus.
‘We’re just going back to our roots,’ Tran reiterated. ‘We were an academy. We trained artists, serious artists. So we are removing the humanities aspects, the liberal arts, things like that. We are a dual mission institution, and that hasn’t changed.’
image source from：https://www.phillyvoice.com/pafa-museum-collection-piranesi-napoleon-bonaparte/
