Formally abolished in 1918 after the Russian Revolution, the academy was renamed several times. It introduced free tuition; students from across the country competed fiercely for its few places annually. In 1947 the national institution was moved to Moscow, and much of its art collection was moved to the Hermitage. The building in Leningrad was devoted to the Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, named in honor of one of Russia's foremost realist artists. Since 1991 it has been called the St. Petersburg Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

In its 250-year history, the Academy of Arts has trained such renowned artists as Karl Bryullov, Valentin Serov, and Ilya Repin, as well as the architect Leonty Benois and the Ukrainian nationalist poet and painter Taras Shevchenko.