Trustees Academy School of Art

In 1760 the Board of Trustees for Fisheries, Manufacturers and Improvements in Scotland established the Trustees Drawing Academy]], the forerunner of Edinburgh College of Art.

The aim was to provide instruction for people involved in design for manufacture. In particular, it promoted the art of drawing for use in designing patterns for the wool and linen industries. The Master of the School was always a fine artist, the first being French painter William Delacour, d. 1767. Subsequent masters included Alexander Runciman (1736-1785) and David Allan (1744-1796). The Academy rapidly developed into a notable school for both design and painting, producing such important Scottish artists as John Brown, Alexander Nasmyth and Andrew Wilson.

In 1903 the School amalgamated with the School of Applied Art. In 1907 the Scottish Education Department took over the responsibility for the School and it became Edinburgh College of Art. lasses were originally situated at Picardy Place, but moved to the Royal Institution Building on The Mound in 1826.

In 1858 the school was affiliated to the Science and Art Department in London. This became known as the 'South Kensington System'. Under this system it became the Government School of Art for the city of Edinburgh. As a result it was required to give up the old school methods of teaching. This affiliation led to the creation of the School of Applied Art.

In 1903 the School amalgamated with the School of Applied Art. Practical instruction in art and design was made available from about 1820, through the school attached to the Watt Institute. In 1907 the Scottish Education Department took over responsibility for the School and it became the Edinburgh College of Art.

Scope and Content

Records of the Trustees Academy School of Art, 1869-1908. Administrative / Biographical History

The Board of Trustees for Fisheries, Manufactures and Improvements in Scotland was established by an Act of Parliament in 1726. In 1760 the Board established the Trustees Drawing Academy (later known as the School of Design, then the School of Art) in order to provide instruction for people involved in design for manufacture. It was also known as the Royal Institution because in 1826 classes moved from their original situation at Picardy Place to the Royal Institution building on the Mound (now the Royal Scottish Academy). The Trustees Academy was founded to promote the art of drawing for the use of manufacture, especially for designing patterns for the linen and woollen industries. The Master of the School was always a fine artist, the first being French painter William Delacour, and subsequent masters included Alexander Runciman and David Allan. The Academy developed into a notable school of painting and design in which a number of eminent Scottish artists received training, for example John Brown, Alexander Nasmyth and Andrew Wilson. In 1858 the school affiliated to the Science and Art Department in London, known as the 'South Kensington system', under which system it became the Government School of Art for the city of Edinburgh. As a result it was required to modify its teaching methods and its distinctive character was lost as it became one of a series of schools managed on similar lines. In response to this development, critics established an alternative body, the School of Applied Art, in 1892. However, in 1903 the School amalgamated with the Trustees Academy School of Art to become its Architecture Section. In 1906 the Scotch Education Department approved a major reorganisation of Edinburgh higher art education, which would be combined in one college run by the Town Council. In 1907 the functions of the Trustees Academy School of Art were taken over by the Provisional Committee responsible for Edinburgh College of Art, which opened in the following year.

Sources

• Trustees Academy of Arts, Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [accessed 24 Jul 2014]
• Trustees Academy School of Art, Archives Hub [accessed 24 July 2014]
• Trustees Academy School of Art, Edinburgh, GASHE [accessed 24 July 2014]