Nurturing free spirits
Young people from all over the world develop into mature artist-personalities at German art academies.
The very first art academy was inaugurated in Florence in 1563; the first German artists’ academy opened its doors in Nuremberg in 1662. Today, anyone who feels called to art is simply spoilt for choice. Germany alone has some two dozen art academies and colleges. The names of their illustrious artist-professors attract students from all over the world. Thomas Demand and Wim Wenders, for example, teach at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg, Katharina Grosse, Andreas Gursky, Peter Doig and Rosemarie Trockel at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. The latter was often the focal point of important social and art movements – for example, the political rebellion of 1968 and the Fluxus art movement. What these academies all have in common is the challenge involved in training ever new generations of strong artist-personalities.
