[3][4] The Académie was established in the 19th century as an alternative to the government-sanctioned École des Beaux Arts that had, in the eyes of many promising young artists at the time, become far too conservative.

Along with its equivalent Académie Julian, and unlike the official École des Beaux Arts, the Colarossi school accepted female students and allowed them to draw from the nude male model.

[1] In 1893, the progressive Académie appointed the American artist Wilhelmina Douglas Hawley (1860–1958) as its first female teacher.

At Académie Colarossi among the female attendees were german painter Thea Schleusner, Amedeo Modigliani's muse, Jeanne Hébuterne; Scottish Impressionist Bessie MacNicol; Canadian Impressionist Emily Carr; and French sculptor Camille Claudel, who was also a student of Rodin's.

Noted also for its classes in life sculpting, the school attracted many foreign students, including a large number from the United States.