The idea of founding an art academy in Prague appeared already in the High Baroque period, when a group of Prague artists unsuccessfully tried to establish it in 1709-1711. It was not until the end of the century, in the atmosphere of Enlightenment support for art and education, that the Society of Patriotic Friends of Art was established in 1796, first founding the Picture Gallery with a copyist school (which later developed into today's National Gallery in Prague) and soon afterwards a drawing academy. It was established by an imperial decree of 10 September 1799 and started its activities in 1800 as the oldest art school in the Czech lands. Its profile soon expanded to include a school of landscape painting and a graphic workshop. From the middle of the century, the teaching at the Academy was enriched by lectures on theoretical subjects and, temporarily, by the teaching of architecture. A major reform of the institution was brought about by Julius Mařák, who initiated a significant strengthening of the professorial staff with personalities such as Vojtěch Hynais and Václav Brožík, established the first sculpture school headed by Josef Myslbek and eventually achieved nationalisation of the school in 1896. The spectrum of teaching was expanded in 1910 by Max Švabinský's graphic school and Jan Kotěra's architectural specialty. At that time, after years of provisional use, the Academy was already permanently established in a new building on Letná Street, built according to a project by the architect Václav Roštlapil in 1897-1903, the general reconstruction of which was completed in 1998. In its neighbourhood, a building of the School of Architecture was built according to the project of Jan Kotěra and Josef Gočár in 1922-1924. As early as 1892, and permanently from 1945 onwards, the Academy also acquired the premises of the so-called Modern Gallery, built in the grounds of the Exhibition Centre as part of the Provincial Jubilee Exhibition in 1891 by the architect Antonín Wiehl. In 1926, the Academy was the first in Czechoslovakia to obtain the status of a higher art school. In 1945, Bohuslav Slánský founded a school of restoration of paintings at the Academy.


In addition to the aforementioned personalities, other important Czech artists such as Karel Postl, Antonín Mánes, Jan Preisler, Jan Štursa, František Kupka, Wili Nowak, Vratislav Nechleba, Otakar Nejedlý, Otakar Španiel, Bohumil Kafka, T. F. Šimon, Antonín Matějček, V. V. Štech, Jaroslav Fragner, Vladimír Sychra, Vincenc Makovský, Jan Lauda, Karel Pokorný, Karel Hladík, František Cubr, Karel Souček, Jiří John, Jan Smetana and many others. Artists who shaped Czech art culture over the centuries passed through the Academy of Fine Arts as students. Despite the traditionally conservative nature of its teaching, the Academy introduced values to which the emerging artistic generations defined themselves. Periods of progressive development were interspersed with periods of ideological dictation and loss of contact with contemporary artistic development. The fundamental reform, prepared and not implemented in 1968, did not take place until 1990, when the Academy under the leadership of the newly elected rector Milan Knížák completely changed its concept, structure and teaching staff.


The spectrum of teaching was expanded by new studios such as intermedia, conceptual, sculpture-installation, drawing. At the same time, the existence of classically oriented studios has been consistently maintained and strengthened, respecting the need to maintain an offer that includes both traditional and experimental approaches. On this total differentiation of views and support for the widest possible range of artistic means considered, the revived Academy was founded, the principles of which were put into practice by a completely newly constituted teaching staff, which included, for example, Karel Malich, Stanislav Kolíbal, Hugo Demartini, Ladislav Čepelák and Bedřich Dlouhý. In 1990, a school of restoration of sculpture works of art was established, and finally in 1991 the youngest school of new media was founded, oriented mainly on video art and computer animation. Further changes naturally occurred with the transformation of the teaching staff, for example, the creation of the Monumental Art Studio, the Visual Communication Studio and the Medal Art Department. At the same time, the orientation of lectures in art history and architecture towards the problems of contemporary art, the strengthening of a qualified corps of external teachers and consultants, and the development of scientific departments in the fields of art theory and restoration of works of art.


Since 1 January 1999 the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague has been operating as a public university-type higher education institution in the spirit of Act No. 111/1998 Coll. on Higher Education. It offers master's and doctoral programmes in the field of fine arts, new media, restoration of works of art and architecture and, in connection with this, scientific and artistic creative activity. In the domestic and international context, it plays the role of an important cultural institution, guarantees the development of selected disciplines and participates in lifelong learning and civilisational development. As an elite and selective school, it provides exceptionally talented individuals with conditions for their creative development. In addition to artistic creative activity, mainly in the form of individual studio teaching, it also develops theoretical reflection on artistic creation in contact with current contemporary trends. In doing so, it seeks to encompass the entire spectrum of contemporary artistic activity and to enable its students to find themselves within the pervasive structure of the school, between individual studios, disciplines and personalities. The Academy of Fine Arts in Prague develops an open, pluralistic and flexible internal structure, based on the principles of independence and creative freedom enshrined in the self-government of the Academic Community.