General Information

Established in 1818, the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, or Kraków Academy of Fine Arts, is the oldest Polish fine arts academy. It is a state-run university that offers 5- and 6-year Master’s degree programmes. The main building following a neoclassical design by architect Maciej Moraczewski was erected in today’s Matejko Square in 1879.

History: Highlights

The Academy was originally a subdivision of the Jagiellonian University’s Department of Literature and was initially called School of Drawing and Painting. It received the status of an independent higher learning institution in 1873 under the name School of Fine Arts. In 1979, it was named after painter Jan Matejko, its founder and first rector.

History: Explained

Following the death of Jan Matejko in 1893, the next rector was Julian Fałat, who remained at his post until 1909. Fałat gave the Academy a new direction, hiring new art instructors associated with contemporary Western art philosophies; painters such as Teodor Axentowicz, Jacek Malczewski, Jan Stanisławski, Leon Wyczółkowski, Konstanty Laszczka, Józef Mehoffer, Stanisław Wyspiański, Wojciech Weiss and Józef Pankiewicz.

In 1900, the university received the title of the Academy of Fine Arts and new subjects, namely graphics and architecture, were introduced. In 2008 the Academy joined Icograda (the International Council of Graphic Design Associations) and became that organisation’s first educational member in Poland.