Académie Colarossi

Académie Colarossi was an art school founded in 1815 and some years later bought by the Italian sculptor Filippo Colarossi. First located on the Île de la Cité, Paris it relocated in the 1870's to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in Montparnasse, the 6th arrondissement of the French capital. The Academy was established in the 19th century as an alternative to the government approved École des Beaux-Arts that had, in the eyes of many young avant-garde artists of the day, become far too unadventurous. Along with its equal the Académie Julian, the Colarossi school accepted female students and allowed them to draw from the nude male model. Among the female attendees were Jeanne Hébuterne, Modigliani's muse and often-depicted model, and the woman who would become Rodin's source of inspiration, model, confidante and lover, Camille Claudel. Noted also for its classes in life sculpting, the school attracted many foreign students, including a large number from Britain and the United States.

In 1910, the forward looking Academy appointed the New Zealand born artist Frances Hodgkins as its first female teacher. In 1922, Henry Moore attended, although not as a student. Moore took life-drawing classes which were open to the general public. The school closed in the 1930's, and Madame Colarossi burned the priceless school archives in retaliation for her husband's philandering. Other notable Academy attendees included Jules Pascin, Canadian painter Emily Carr, Alfons Mucha, Paul Gauguin, Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen, George Grosz, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Amedeo Modigliani, Jacques Lipchitz and from Great Britain, Lamorna Birch, John Duncan Fergusson, Cedric Morris, Samuel Peploe and Dod Procter. The American contingency included Charles Demuth and Lyonel Feininger. Although it was located in rue de la Grande-Chaumière, it should not be confused with the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in the same street, a few doors away, but an entirely separate establishment.