académie

académie. A French term for a private art school, several of which flourished in Paris in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Entry to the official École des Beaux-Arts was difficult (almost impossible for foreigners, who from 1884 had to take a vicious examination in French) and teaching there was conservative, so private art schools, with their more liberal regimes, were often frequented by progressive young artists. Three académies are particularly important in this context.

The Académie Carrière was opened in 1890 by Eugène Carrière (1849–1906), a painter of portraits, religious pictures, and—his speciality—scenes of motherhood. His characteristic style was misty, monochromatic, and vaguely Symbolist. Rodin was a great admirer of his work. There was no regular teaching at the school, though Carrière visited it once a week. It was here that Matisse met Derain and Puy, thus expanding the nucleus of the future Fauves.

The Académie Julian was founded in 1873 by Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907), whose work as a painter is now forgotten. The school had no entrance requirements, it was open from 8 a.m. to nightfall, and it was soon the most popular establishment of its type. Julian opened several branches throughout Paris, one of them for women artists, and by the 1880s the student population was about 600. Although the Académie Julian became famous for the unruly behaviour of its students, it was regarded as a stepping-stone to the École des Beaux-Arts (Julian had astutely engaged teachers from the École as visiting professors). Among the French artists who studied there were Bonnard, Denis, Matisse, Vallotton, and Vuillard. The list of distinguished foreign artists who studied there is very long.

The Académie Ranson was founded in 1908 by Paul Ranson (1864–1909), who had studied at the Académie Julian. After Ranson's early death, his wife France took over as director, and his friends Denis and Sérusier were among the teachers. Among later teachers at the school the most important was Roger Bissière, who in the 1930s influenced many young painters in the direction of expressive abstraction; his pupils included Le Moal, Manessier, and Vieira da Silva. The Académie Ranson remained a popular training centre for foreign artists up to and after the Second World War.