Mid-1800s In 1869, in response to the ever-increasing need for professional artists,
Maria Raevska-Ivanova opened a drawing school in Kharkiv as an independent specialized educational institution. The student body included several painters and architects of note, including artist
Serhiy Vasylkivskyi, painter
Mykhailo Tkachenko, architect-academician
Alexi Beketov, and many others. In 1925–1927, he was followed by famed landscape painter
Mykola Burachek. The fourth rector, A. Komashko, was another of Ilya Repin's students. He served between 1927–1932. A victim of the
Executed Renaissance, he was murdered in 1937. In 1932–1934, the new rector was artist and party functionary, P. Kryven, known for his uncompromising attitude to avant-garde trends in Ukrainian art, and to the "
Boichukist" school, in particular. From 1934 to 1941, the school was managed by the art critic I. August, who died during World War II. taught at KSADA from 1925 to 1934. One of the
Executed Renaissance, Padalka was murdered in 1937. He drew the
Derzhprom Building in 1927. Now a UNESCO heritage building, it was a symbol of modernity then. The Academy resumed its activities after the liberation of Kharkiv from Nazi invaders in 1943. Slowly, former students who had been mobilized to the front or evacuated to
Samarkand (Uzbekistan) began to return to the school.
1950–2000 Post-war, the Academy was successively headed by: Professor S. Besedin (1943–1948), Associate Professor M. Shaposhnikov (1948–1972), Professor Ye. Yegorov (1972–1985), Professor V. Torkatyuk (1985–1998); Academician V. Danylenko (1999–2020). Professor Oleksandr Sobolev has served as rector since 2021. In 1963, Kharkiv State Art Institute was reorganized into the Kharkiv Art and Industrial Institute and reoriented to train art and industrial specialists. Artists M. Shaposhnikov, Ye. Yegorov, V. Seleznyov, V. Bilyk, L. Vynokurov, V. Konstantinov, V. Listrovyi, Z. Yudkevich, Yu. Starostenko and others made significant contributions to the reorganization of the institute and the provision of training in new specialties. At the same time, new departments were created, including the Design and Interior Decoration of Buildings, and Industrial Graphics and Packaging, which was later acclaimed for its innovation. In 2001, KSADA earned the 4th level accreditation for excellence on the basis of the Kharkiv Art and Industrial Institute. == Notable alumni ==