With decree 585 of 1882, the Colombian government expressed for the first time its project for modern public education in the fine arts. The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (INBA) would bring together the main areas of art teaching at the time: drawing and printmaking, architecture, painting, and music. While this project never came to fruition as such, it did lay the foundations for the professionalization and modernization of university-level instruction in art in Colombia.
According to this project, classes in drawing and printmaking, which would be based on copying models, were independent fields of study, not tied to areas like painting and architecture. In keeping with the European tradition, the topics that recurred in the proposed curriculum—specifically in courses on art history, and the rendering of anatomy, landscape, solid masses, and perspectives—would attempt to impart a canon of beauty. The only course that, in the end, was actually given was instruction in gouache. That class, which had been proposed by draftsman, painter, and journalist Alberto Urdaneta (1845−1887), was taught at night under a light that provided stark contrasts. The ambitious instruction in architecture proposed as part of this project was based on the idea of a national architecture. Classes were divided by level of complexity, from basic architectural elements and orders to applications and specific problems that varied from building to building. Instruction in painting would be based on perspective and on the mastery of oil painting technique. The method would entail copying masterpieces. It was proposed that the title of painting teacher be granted pursuant to a public exam before a jury appointed by the Colombian government. The Escuela de Música would provide instruction in music theory, singing and solfeggio, violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, horn, trumpet, and trombone. The curriculum would be of European origin. The institution would have an orchestra at the service of the national government. A few years later, the general principles and areas of study contained in this document would form the basis for university instruction in the fine arts at the Universidad Nacional of Colombia.