The art academy was first established in 1775 by prince-bishop François-Charles de Velbrück, and was led initially by Guillaume Évrard and later by Léonard Defrance.
[1] The prince-bishop's academy was closed in the French period, and under the United Kingdom of the Netherlands the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp was given a monopoly on certifying art teachers.
[2]: 243 By 1890 there were 650 students enrolled, with another 400 studying at the École Saint-Luc, making Liège a significant centre of art education.
[2]: 269 The academy was originally established in a former beguinage, the Hospice Saint-Abraham, but in 1895 moved to a purpose-built Renaissance Revival structure on Rue des Anglais, designed by Joseph Lousberg.
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