Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

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Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Philadelphia, established in 1805, incorporated in 1806. It is supported by private endowment. The academy grew out of a proposal by Charles Willson Peale for an art institution; this led to the founding of the Columbianum, which in 1795 mounted the first art exhibition in the United States. The academy was formed to supersede it, sponsored by 71 Philadelphia citizens, among them Peale, Charles Biddle, William Rush , and George Clymer . The present building, designed by Frank Furness and George W. Hewitt, was constructed in 1876 to house the academy's art collection, which includes the Temple Collection of modern American paintings, the Gibson Collection of 19th-century European paintings, and the John Frederick Lewis Collection of early American paintings. The academy's more than 2,000 works by American artists forms one of the richest collections of such art in the field. In 1999 the academy acquired a 1916 commercial structure located across a narrow street from its main building. Reconfigured, renamed the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building, and opened in 2006, it incorporates galleries for modern and contemporary American art and also houses the academy's art school, the oldest in the United States.

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. The oldest surviving art institution in the USA, founded in 1805 to encourage local interest in art. Charles Willson Peale was among the founders, but initially it was run by businessmen rather than artists. Teaching was for many years very sporadic, but when the present building opened in 1876 it was fully equipped with classrooms. Designed by the Philadelphia architect Frank Furness, it is in a powerful and very personal Gothic style. Thomas Eakins, who began work there in the year the building opened, is the most distinguished artist who has taught at the Academy. It owns an impressive collection of work by American artists.