Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
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.
1840s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Charcoal, Pencil
1840s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Charcoal, Pencil
1880s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink
1920s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Watercolor, Gouache
1980s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Pastel
1970s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper
1890s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gold Leaf
1870s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink, Gouache
1920s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel
Mid-20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Graphite
19th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Gouache
1850s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
Late 20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pastel
Late 20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pastel
Late 20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pastel
1950s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pastel
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1880s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil, Watercolor
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pen
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil, Pen
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pen
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil, Watercolor
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pen, Acrylic, Pencil
Early 19th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Charcoal, Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil, Pen, Color Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel, Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil, Color Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pen
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil, Pen
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil, Oil Pastel
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pen, Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gel Pen, Color Pencil
2010s Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Pencil, Graphite
Mid-19th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Charcoal, Carbon Pencil
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal
20th Century Academic Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor