Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
During the Renaissance, the first European fine art academies were established in Italy and would guide the style and standards of visual culture in the following centuries. Academic art became dominant across the continent in the 17th century, with artists coming together to offer instruction in this style of painting and sculpture.
The academic art period represented a significant change from the previous era when painters, sculptors and other artists were part of guilds and seen more as artisans than purveyors of culture. While patronage from the elite and the church remained pivotal, young artists were able to support themselves for the first time through academic exhibitions and an independent marketplace. The leading academies included the French Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture founded in Paris in 1648 (which became the Académie des Beaux-Arts after the French Revolution) and the London Royal Academy of Arts formed in 1768 under the inaugural leadership of painter Joshua Reynolds.
Academy students sketched drawings based on prints, sculptures and, finally, live models. Movements including neoclassicism and romanticism were particularly popular in these art schools and institutions where the influence of Raphael and Nicolas Poussin was prominent. Beaux Arts architecture and furniture design drew on these movements, too, and, as they also originated at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, the disciplines share common ground with academic painting and sculpture.
Although academic art was a major shift for artistic status when it began, by the middle of the 19th century it was viewed as stodgy and resistant to new ideas, with the subject matter of artists such as William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Jean-Léon Gérôme generally limited to allegorical or mythological themes. Impressionism, realism and the other movements that engaged with contemporary issues that followed were direct reactions to the academic tradition, although it continued to inform the avant-garde as artists like Gustav Klimt and Pablo Picasso started their practices as academic realists.
Find a collection of academic paintings, sculptures, prints and more art on 1stDibs.
1780s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache, Paper, Chalk, Graphite, Watercolor
1880s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Watercolor
20th Century Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache, Pen, Ink
Early 2000s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Conté
Late 20th Century Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Mixed Media, Charcoal, Paper
1910s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Color Pencil, India Ink
1910s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1910s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
India Ink
1910s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Ink, Carbon Pencil
Late 20th Century Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Mixed Media, Charcoal, Watercolor, Paper
Late 20th Century Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal
Late 20th Century Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Mixed Media, Charcoal, Paper
1910s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pencil
Late 20th Century Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Paper
1910s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pencil
Early 2000s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel, Charcoal
2010s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Charcoal
Late 20th Century Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1910s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
India Ink
1830s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal, Gouache
Late 20th Century Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Mixed Media, Charcoal, Watercolor
1910s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
India Ink, Pencil
1960s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal
1910s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Carbon Pencil, Color Pencil
Early 2000s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Pastel
1910s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
India Ink, Color Pencil
1960s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1940s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
1930s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Crayon, Pencil
1830s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal
1920s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Watercolor, Archival Tape, Ink, Paper, Plexiglass, Rag P...
1920s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Archival Paper, Archival Tape, Paper, Plexiglass, Rag Paper,...
1810s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
1810s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor, Ink, Gouache
1920s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Rag Paper, Archival Paper, Archival Tape, Ink, Paper, Pen, Plexiglass
1910s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Cardboard, Watercolor, Gouache
1860s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Graphite, Watercolor
1990s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
Mid-20th Century Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pen, Ink
1920s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pen, Plexiglass, Rag Paper, Archival Paper, Silk, Archival Tape, Waterco...
1930s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pencil
1820s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Paper
1920s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Silk, Archival Paper, Archival Tape, Ink, Paper, Pen, Plexiglass, Rag Pa...
1890s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
1920s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Paper, Pen, Plexiglass, Rag Paper, Archival Paper, Archival Tape
1910s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1920s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Rag Paper, Archival Paper, Archival Tape, Ink, Paper, Pen, Plexiglass
1920s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Rag Paper, Archival Paper, Archival Tape, Ink, Paper, Pen, Plexiglass
1920s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Silver
1920s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Plexiglass, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Archival Tape, Ink, Paper
1880s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink
19th Century Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pencil, Paper
1830s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Gouache
1820s Academic Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor, Graphite