The predecessor of the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, the Hungarian Royal National School of Arts and Crafts, was founded in 1880 and operated under this name until 1944. Like other European Art Colleges, it evolved from a handicraft industry school, the Model Drawing School. Its founder and first director, Gusztáv Kelety declared the ‘educational support of a more artistic wood and furniture industry’ the aim of the new institution. The spirit of the school was fundamentally influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement of Britain, as well as by Hungarian folklore. In the beginning there was only one department, in which architectural drawing and design were taught. Goldsmithery and xylography classes started in 1883, while decorative painting and copperplate engraving classes began in 1884.