The Académie des beaux-arts is represented on external bodies by its Secrétaire perpétuel (Permanent Secretary), and is administered by the Bureau, the Administrative Commission and special commissions. The Secrétaire perpétuel summarizes the work of the Académie, authorizes expenditure and represents the Académie in all circumstances. The Bureau is composed of the President and the Vice-President, the latter being elected at the first plenary session in January and becoming President the following year subject to a confirmation vote. At the same session, the assembly elects two of its members, who may be re-elected, to form, with the Bureau, the Administrative Commission responsible for managing the Académie's properties.
The Académie des beaux-arts is governed by the statutes published in the Journal Officiel on 12 October 2022.
Plenary sessions
From September to July, the Académie des beaux-arts holds plenary sessions every Wednesday. During these sessions which are held behind closed doors, the Académie reflects on artistic topics, often linked to current events, and regularly invites personalities from the world of culture. These sessions will result in reports, debates, presentations and publications on specific topics on the agenda. The Académie also organizes an annual cycle of public communications. In addition, numerous prizes and competitions organized by the Académie are the subject of specific sessions of the academicians throughout the year.
Prizes and competitions
Each year, the Académie awards around 600,000 euros in prizes to artists of all disciplines and all ages. These prizes are either funded by the Académie itself, financed by the Institut de France, or by individual patrons or foundations. The main prizes include the Prix artistiques de la Fondation Simone et Cino Del Duca de l’Institut de France, the Grand Prix d’Architecture, the Prix de Dessin Pierre David-Weill (drawing), the Prix de Photographie Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière – Académie des beaux-arts (photography), the Prix de Gravure Mario Avati – Académie des beaux-arts (engrawing), the Prix de Photographie de l’Académie des beaux-arts – William Klein created with the support of the Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum (photography), the Prix Liliane Bettencourt in partnership with the Fondation Bettencourt-Schueller, the Prix du Cercle Montherlant (art book prize), the Prix Pierre Cardin (awarded by the artistic sections of the Académie des beaux-arts), and the Grand Prix d'Orgue Jean-Louis Florentz (organised by the Association des Orgues du Maine et Loire).
The Académie also allocates a substantial budget (400,000 euros) each year in the form of personalised grants to artists in difficulty.
Ceremonies under the Cupola
In November, under the Cupola of the Institut de France, the Académie des beaux-arts opens its sessions with a séance solennelle (solemn session). At this special event, all the prizes given during the year are officially awarded to the artists.
Throughout the year, new members of the Académie des beaux-arts are officially installed under the Cupola. The installation ceremony takes place approximately one year after the member's election. On this occasion, one of the members of the Compagnie makes an inaugural speech to the new member, to which the latter responds with a traditional tribute to his predecessor. The new member wears for the first time the “habit vert” and, if he or she so wishes, receives his or her sword.
Publishing
"La Lettre de l'Académie" is a quarterly publication that reports on all the activities of the Académie des beaux-arts and its members; each issue is structured around an artistic theme.
Each year, the Académie publishes a volume containing a selection of the papers delivered at its sessions during the year. The inaugural speeches of the newly elected members and the speech given by the Secrétaire perpétuel at the séance solennelle are published in separate volumes.
Exhibitions
The Académie des beaux-arts regularly organizes exhibitions at the Musée Marmottan Monet, which it owns, and in the Pavillon Comtesse de Caen in the Palais de l’Institut de France (27, quai de Conti), which it has used exclusively since 1872.
Every year, the Pavillon Comtesse de Caen presents the works of the winners of the various competitions organised by the Académie des beaux-arts, as well as exhibitions specially created for this space.