Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague

The Academy was founded in 1885 as the School of Applied Arts in Prague (UPŠ). At the time of its establishment it was the first and only state art school in Bohemia. Its mission, according to the founding charter, was "to nurture manpower skillful in the arts for the artistic industry and to train educational staff for applied arts teaching and for teaching drawing at secondary schools." It was divided into a three-year general education school and follow-up three- to five-year vocational and special schools with the disciplines of architecture, sculpture, drawing, painting, film & TV graphics, metal working, wood carving, floral painting and textiles.

The faculty staff was chosen from among the leading personalities of Czech culture. The first director of the school was the architect František Schmoranz Jr. and the teaching staff included František Ženíšek (1885–1896), Josef Václav Myslbek (1885–1896), Jakub Schikaneder (1885–1923), Celda Klouček (1887–1917), Felix Jenewein (1890–1902), Otakar Hostinsky (1847–1910), and Friedrich Ohmann (1888–1898).

Among the first graduates were Jan Preisler, Stanislav Sucharda, Josef Mařatka, Vojtěch Preissig, František Kobliha, Bohumil Kafka, Miloš Slovák and Julius Mařák.

In 1896, the position of the Academy of Fine Arts (AVU) was reinforced by its nationalization. Some of the teaching staff left UPŠ and the school focused primarily on applied arts. The architect Jiří Stibral (1886–1920) became the new director. The faculty staff comprised Stanislav Sucharda, Jan Preisler, Karel Vítězslav Mašek, Alois Dryák, Ladislav Šaloun and Jan Kotěra. They were later joined by Karel Boromejský Mádl, who worked as art professor and library administrator. Kotěra advocated "unity of visual culture and the creation of a modern style."