St. Petersburg Academy of Arts named after Ilya Repin, is the world authority of Russian fine arts.

The Higher School of Masters of Russian Art and the centre of artistic life of the country - "Academy of Three Noble Arts" - was founded on the initiative of I.I. Shuvalov and M.V. Lomonosov by decree of the Senate in 1757. In 1758, several classes began at once - painting, sculpture, architecture and medallion. Six years later, on November 4, 1764, by the highest decree of Empress Catherine II, the " The Imperial Academy of Arts of the Three Most Noble Arts" was approved - the legislative recognition by the government of self-value and independence of artistic activity. Today, this significant date is reminded of the Roman numerals laid out with mosaics on the floor of the Academy lobby - MDCCLXIV. In the first years, a strictly consistent system of training was already developed and further improved at the Academy.

We started with drawing - at first we learned a simple drawing without a ruler, then we moved on to copying samples (engravings from paintings of the best masters or drawings), gypsum antique samples and, finally, drawing from nude nature. In parallel with drawing, painters began to write from nudity, sculptors began to sculpt it, and architects were engaged in the study of orders, measurements, washing of architectural elements, design of small decorative and park structures, and then the creation of large-scale three-dimensional compositions.

In addition, the Academy taught plastic anatomy, architectural graphics, general education subjects, languages. We ended the course with a fairly complex compositional work in the chosen specialty. The most gifted, whose works were awarded gold medals of the first or second 'dignity' went on a 'pensioner' trip to improve their skills (usually to Italy and France).

The history of the Academy is closely related to the history of Russian artistic culture. There were periods of genuine takeoff, when she was the only authoritative arbiter in the field of artistic policy, and a time of less noticeable influence on the creative practice of Russian artists. However, throughout its history, the Academy of Arts has remained the world's largest art school, a educational institution of outstanding masters of fine arts. It was also remarkable that students often worked together with teachers, usually the greatest artists of their time. They witnessed the creative practice of their educators and watched the whole process of creating a work of art, and sometimes acted as participants in this process, helping the master. All this gave positive results, because in the process of teaching there is nothing more effective than directly observing the work of an experienced artist, studying all its stages.

Website: http://www.artsacademy.ru/