The New International Encyclopædia/Beaux-Arts, Académie des

BEAUX-ARTS, bō̇′-zär′, Académie des. One of the five academies of the Institut de France. Its origin is traced to an unofficial association of artists in the Fourteenth Century, which received royal recognition in 1648, and was united in 1795 with the Academy of Architecture. Its membership numbers 41, besides 10 honorary and 10 foreign associates, and 40 corresponding members. Its publications embrace transactions, memoirs, and the Dictionnaire Général des Beaux Arts.