Art Term

Académie Julian

The Académie Julian was a major alternative school to the official Ecole des Beaux Arts, especially for women who were not admitted to the Beaux Arts until 1897

Pierre Bonnard
Bathing Woman, Seen from the Back (c.1919)
Tate

Established in Paris, France in 1868 by Rodolphe Julian, the Académie Julian became a major alternative training centre to the official Ecole des Beaux Arts. Not only were women admitted as students to the Julian, but they were also permitted to draw from the nude male model.

In 1888–9 Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard were students there and together with some others formed the symbolist group the Nabis. The Académie Julian was popular with foreign art students and many leading modern artists spent time there.

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Related terms and concepts

  • École des Beaux-Arts

    École des Beaux-Arts is a French term meaning school of fine arts

  • Symbolism

    Late nineteenth-century movement that advocated the expression of an idea over the realistic description of the natural world

  • Nabis

    Les Nabis were a group of post-impressionist French painters active from 1888–1900 whose work is characterised by flat patches of colour, bold contours and simplified drawing

Selected artists in the Collection

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