The Palace School of Architecture goes back to the classes of
Dmitry Ukhtomsky that operated in 1749–1764. Twenty years, the classes were reinstated by
Matvey Kazakov, and in 1804 acquired the title of Kremlin College, later Palace School of Architecture. Graduates were awarded the title of Architect's Assistant and had to earn their own licenses through later work. The private art college was established in 1832 by
Egor Makovsky and
A.S. Yastrebilov as Classes of Nature, and renamed Art Classes in 1833. In 1843, the classes were incorporated as the School of Painting and Sculpture of the Moscow Art Society. In 1865, the Palace School was incorporated into School of Painting and Sculpture; next year, the expanded institution was renamed Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The School was unique in
Imperial Russia, being a private college in a country were education was primarily state-managed. Its diplomas (excluding the few highest-ranking graduates) were ranked inferior to those of the Academy of Arts; probably unimportant in fine arts, this division was a serious burden for graduates in architecture. The School tried to close the gap through acquiring a state charter in 1896, but failed. After the
October Revolution of 1917, the school was transformed in 1918 into the Second Free State Art Workshop (
Svomas). Art workshops eventually disintegrated. In 1939,
Igor Grabar launched the new college of fine arts, which acquired the name of
Surikov Institute in 1948. Architectural education initially concentrated around
VKhUTEMAS and
MVTU and was organized into the Moscow Architectural Institute in 1933. ==Fine arts school==