L’Académie Vitti-Montparnasse

Successful entrepreneurial reality founded in 1893 by Italian immigrant models in Paris, the Vitti-Montpar- nasse Academy is one of the private institutes for artistic training of the late 19th century, open to foreigners and women who, until 1896, were not allowed access to French public academies. Serving as a meeting place for the American community in Paris, the academy educates young American women studying in Europe, offering an alternative education path to the official one. The story of the Académie Vitti-Montparnasse in- tertwines with the history of Swiss artists in Montparnasse, expressionists, and protagonists of the Parisian subculture, later mythologized in the 20th century, such as Paul Gauguin and members of the Rose-Cross. Gabriele Romani’s book reconstructs the origins, developments, and history of the academy’s protagonists providing a precise chronology up to 1913.