Academic Figurative Paintings
ACADEMIC STYLE
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.
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Style: Academic
Solothman on the Aase, Switzerland
By Eugene Schmidt
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist: Eugene Schmidt (German/American, 1919-2007)
Title: Solothman on the Aase, Switzerland
Year: Circa 1970
Medium: Oil on canvas board
Board size: 10 x 8 inches
Signature...
Category
Late 20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Forest Nymph - Figurative Nude Oil Painting Colors Brown Grey Pale Blue Green
By Lyubena Fox
Located in Sofia, BG
"Forrest Nymph" (2016)
Oil on canvas
80 x 100 cm unframed
Painting was started in 2015, most of it was finished by 2016, the last touches done in 2019. Inspired by the 19th century French painter Bouguereau, she wanted to depict a nymph that inhibits the forest, wearing a flower crown made from Hepatica flowers, wild forest flowers.
The Painting’s Qualities
Lyubena Fox...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
French Contemporary Art by Kyna de Schouël - Eau Calme
Located in Paris, IDF
Kyna de Schouel is a French artist born in 1939 who lives & works in Cholet, France. She uses charcoal, sanguine & washing but above all oil, especially for abstract compositions. Sh...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
French Contemporary Art by Kyna de Schouël - Coup de Tabac
Located in Paris, IDF
Kyna de Schouel is a French artist born in 1939 who lives & works in Cholet, France. She uses charcoal, sanguine & washing but above all oil, especially for abstract compositions. She is Chevalier du Mérite du Dévouement Français & awarded of Mérite de l’Académie Leonard de Vinci...
Category
Early 2000s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
A Pair of Wall Decoration 'En Grisaille' by Dufour, Paris, France, 19th Century
Located in Rome, IT
A fine Pair papiers peints 'En Grisaille' from the psyche´ series manufactured by Dufour, Paris, after designs by Merry-Joseph Blondel and Louis Lafitte.
-'Psyche´ about to stab the ...
Category
1820s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Watercolour painting by Henry Ryland
By Henry Ryland
Located in London, GB
This watercolour painting is by the English artist Henry Ryland, celebrated in his day and since for his Neoclassical pictures. Ryland was a contemporary of Lawrence Alma-Tadema and ...
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Board, Laid Paper
Magnificent early 20th Century Oil Painting of Race horses - At the Gallops
Located in London, GB
Julius von Blaas (1845-1923)
At The Gallops
circa 1905
Oil on canvas
Signed and dated “Julius von Blass / 1905” (lower left)
110 x 200 cm (140 x 230 cms framed ish)
This enormous and grand depiction of horses exercising is an iconic image not only of the edwardien era but also of today’s racing elite.
Julius von Blaas was taught by his father Carl von Blaas (1815-1994) and trained in Venice, Florence and Rome. He was also influenced by his celebrated brother Eugen von Blaas...
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Greek / Roman Naturalistic Allegory Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Stormy landscape scene in which a Cupid-like figure seen in the clouds appearing to have shot a number of wounded and dying men in the foreground. The men have a number of women and ...
Category
19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Five Gymnasts in Training (Large Academic Style Figurative Painting of Athletes)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
Large Academic style figurative painting of five male athletes
Painted by Mark Beard aka "Bruce Sargeant" for New York City's flagship Abercrombie and Fitch store on 5th Avenue
oil...
Category
Early 2000s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Brother Sister
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist: Pierre Lavarenne (French, born 1928)
Title: Brother Sister
Year: Circa 1975
Medium: Oil on canvas
Canvas size: 15 x 18.25 inches
Signat...
Category
Late 20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
La Danse des Sirènes
Located in Paris, FR
Adolphe LA LYRE
1850-1935 French
"La danse des Sirènes"
Oil on canvas
Signed and dated lower left
Painted in 1909
Canvas: 59" high x 78 3/4" wide
Frame: 64"high x 84 5/8" wide
...
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Faistenau
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Plein-air landscape painting of Faistenau, in Austria. A snow covered foreground meets a structure filled horizon, a church tower reaches upward, dissecting the blue sky.
Frame opt...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Panel, Oil
Figures at a mill
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
English school, 18th Century
Figures at a mill
Gouache on paper
4.5/8 x 7.1/2 in. (11.8 x 19 cm.)
Category
19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Gouache, Paper
Portrait of a Redhead in Profile
By Leon Kroll
Located in Miami, FL
Beautifully rendered in Krolls signature academic style. Unframed - Signed lower right, unframed
Category
1930s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood
Napoléon and his Marshals
Located in Paris, FR
Emile Chepfer,
1876-1944, French
Napoléon and his Marshals,
Signed lower left
Oil on board
Emile CHEPFER: french painter, he was born in Nancy in 1876...
Category
20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
“Tipos”
Located in Southampton, NY
Oil paint on heavy illustration board by the Spanish artist, Cecilio Pla. Signed lower right. Titled and signed verso. “Tipos” means types; different type...
Category
Early 1900s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Illustration Board
“Puerta Bisagra, Toledo”
Located in Southampton, NY
Oil on artist board painting of the historic city of Toledo by the Australian artist, Robert Camm. Signed lower left and titled and dated verso, 1931. Th...
Category
1930s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Lady in Middle-Age Suits, Pastel 19th Century
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
FANTIN LATOUR Theodore (1805 – 1875)
« Young Lady dressed with middle-age suit »
Pastel on card signed low right
Old original frame gilded with leaves
Dim pastel : 80 X 63 cm
Dim fr...
Category
Mid-19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Pastel
A Pair of Wall Decoration 'En Grisaille' by Dufour, Paris, France, 19th Century
Located in Rome, IT
A fine Pair papiers peints 'En Grisaille' from the psyche´ series manufactured by Dufour, Paris, after designs by Merry-Joseph Blondel and Louis Lafitte.
-'Psyche´ about to stab the ...
Category
1820s Academic Figurative Paintings
After Paolo Uccello's "Battle of San Romano" Painted in 1438
Located in Houston, TX
After Paolo Uchello's set of three paints titled "The Battle of San Romano." Originally painted around 1438 to 1440. Uccello depicts events that took place ...
Category
20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Landscape, Paysage aux Bories
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist: Pierre Lavarenne (French, born 1928)
Title: Landscape, Paysage aux Bories
Year: Circa 1975
Medium: Oil on canvas
Canvas size: 15 x 18.25 inches
Signature: Signed lo...
Category
Late 20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
"The Working Man"
By R.V. Rowe
Located in Southampton, NY
34 x 28 overall
Canvas laid down on artist board
Signed lower right
Overall in gold leaf frame 30x24 inches
R.W. Rowe
Circa 1970’s
Category
1970s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Transmutations: A Study of Systems Substitution, Painting by Mary Fish
By Mary Fish
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Mary Fish
Title: Transmutations: A Study of Systems Substitution
Year: 1980
Medium: Ink and Tempera on Paper, signed
Size: 33.5 x 56 in. (85.09 x 142.24 cm)
Category
1980s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Tempera, Ink
The Flight of Sodom and Gomorrah - Entourage of Monsu-Desiderio
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Italian School 17th Century
Close to Monsu Desiderio
The Flight of Sodom and Gomorrah
Oil on canvas
Framed with Black wood and golden ornementation
Di...
Category
Mid-17th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Le Soir sur la Terrasse
Located in Paris, FR
Delphin Enjorlas
1857-1945 French
"Le Soir sur la Terrasse"
Oil on canvas
Signed lower left
Canvas: 28 3/4" high x 23 5/8" wide
Frame: 37 3/4" high x 42 7...
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"The Battle of Ptolemais, 1191"
By Adam Springfield
Located in Southampton, NY
This large oil on canvas painting by Adam Springfield depicts the Battle of Ptolemais which took place in 1191. It is signed lower left and dated 1877. The verso of the painting contains the title of the painting. It has it's original period gold leaf frame and measures 44 x 63.75 inches. The siege of Ptolemais is unique in the history of the Crusades since the Frankish besiegers were themselves besieged, by Saladin's troops. It was not captured until July 1191 when the forces of the Third Crusade, led by King Richard I of England and King Philip II of France, came to King Guy's aid. Acre then served as the de facto capital of the remnant Kingdom of Jerusalem...
Category
Late 19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Prospector firing Rifle ( Happiness is a Warm Gun ) Gay Art
By Robert Riggs
Located in Miami, FL
Tempera mixed with gum arabic and alcohol on Renaissance Panel
Robert Riggs was a gay man. Being gay in American during the 1940's time was something not to flaunt in public. Rigg's had to communicate his underlying feelings in more symbolic ways.
Throughout Riggs oeuvre, one sees continuous references to strong hunked out manly men and vulnerable boys. It is a core element of is iconography and is described in a powerful graphic style.
In “Prospector firing Rifle” is a Dick Pic. Riggs is clearly making a sexual statement about the moment of climax. The long, straight rifle explodes and is captured at the peak moment of climax. Meanwhile, the bag two bags of gold clearly resemble the other part of the male anatomy. Riggs was a thoughtful and meticulous visual thinker and nothing in any of Riggs’s compositions were haphazardly placed. In tribute to the artist’s suppressed feelings, I have given this work a second title “Happiness is a Warm Gun...
Category
1940s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Tempera
Paintings 19th Century Flowers Still life
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
GODCHAUX Emile (1860)
Big Compositions of Flowers in Pair
Oil on canvas signed low right
Frames gilded with gold leaves
Dim canvas (each) : 90 X 129 cm
Dim frame (each) : 118 x 159 cm
Certificate of authenticity
GODCHAUX Emile (1860 - nc)
French School - XIXth century
Born in 1860
Painter of genre scenes, landscapes, waterscapes, marines, flowers, still lives. He sold his paintings on the public place, and sometimes in Lotteries. He is related to Alfred Godchaux...
Category
Late 19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
19th Century Painting Puppet theatre
By Paul Louis Martin des Amoignes
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
MARTIN DES AMOIGNES, Paul Louis (1850-1925)
Puppet theatre on the village square
Oil on canvas signed low right
Dated 14th of July 1884
Old original f...
Category
1880s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Portrait of Theresa Rogers
By Leon Kroll
Located in Miami, FL
Portrait of Theresa Rogers
Housed in a period hand carved wood frame. Some scatter minor paint loss and stretcher marks otherwise presents very well
Signature: Signed lower right
T...
Category
1930s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Lady Degas-Ga
Located in PARIS, FR
Original and unique painting by contemporary french artist Thierry Bruet.
Oil on canvas. Anachronistic artwork created by Thierry Bruet.
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Cotton Canvas
Women on the Beach
By Ruth Shively
Located in New York, NY
figurative, women, beach scene
Oil and Charcoal on Linen
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Charcoal, Oil
Corpus Christi II
Located in PARIS, FR
Original and unique painting by contemporary french artist Thierry Bruet.
Oil on canvas, 2024.
#arthistory
Reinterpretation of Titian's "The Entombment...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Cotton Canvas, Oil
Tableau de Chasse
Located in PARIS, FR
Original and unique painting by contemporary french artist Thierry Bruet.
Oil on canvas. Anachronistic artwork created by Thierry Bruet.
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Cotton Canvas, Oil
Bears Hunting
Located in PARIS, FR
Original and unique painting by contemporary french artist Thierry Bruet.
Oil on canvas.
Anachronistic artwork created by Thierry Bruet, inspired by a pa...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Cotton Canvas, Oil
Petite Mendiante By William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Located in New Orleans, LA
William Bouguereau
French 1825-1905
Petite Mendiante
(Little Beggar)
Signed “W. Bouguereau 1880” (center left)
Oil on canvas
William Bouguereau's faithful images of young women a...
Category
19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Au Bord Du Ruisseau By William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Located in New Orleans, LA
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
1825-1905 French
Au Bord du Ruisseau
Signed and dated “W-Bouguereau-1888” (upper left)
Oil on Canvas
“Bouguereau’s paintings of children allowed for th...
Category
19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Toutou
Located in PARIS, FR
Original and unique painting by contemporary french artist Thierry Bruet.
Oil on canvas.
Anachronistic artwork created by Thierry Bruet, inspired by a pa...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Cotton Canvas, Oil
Keith Acting
Located in PARIS, FR
Original and unique painting by contemporary french artist Thierry Bruet.
Oil on canvas.
This anachronistic work is inspired by a fusion of the works of the Venetian painter Giambattista Tiepolo...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Cotton Canvas
Red
Located in PARIS, FR
Original and unique painting by contemporary french artist Thierry Bruet.
Oil on canvas.
Anachronistic artwork created by Thierry Bruet, inspired by a pa...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Cotton Canvas
Double Portrait of King Frederik IV and Queen Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow of D
Located in New Orleans, LA
When viewed straight on, this "turning picture" by French artist Gaspar Antoine de Bois-Clair appears to be a disorganized collection of painted facial features and wooden slats. However, when viewed at an angle from either side, two separate images are revealed — portraits of Frederik IV and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, the King and Queen of Denmark. A wonder of both portraiture and trompe l'oeil, this work demonstrates the artist's skill in rendering intriguing visual effects.
An impressive exercise in representing depth and 3-dimensionality in painting, the work is executed on a series of triangularly-cut strips of wood to create an effect now known as lenticular imaging...
Category
16th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wood, Oil, Panel
Wrestler (Figurative Painting of Athlete by Mark Beard, Bruce Sargeant)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative painting of a young athlete, wrestler in training
"Wrestler in Training", Painted by Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant (pseudonym in h...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
La Danse pyrrhique (Pyrrhic Dance)
Located in New Orleans, LA
This painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme entitled La Danse pyrrhique is among the most fascinating compositions ever composed by the Academic master’s hand. Gérôme’s iconic scenes of the East captivated a generation, and this work showcases all of the artist’s unparalleled talents. Set in the Ptolemaic period of Ancient Egypt, its depiction of the ritual Pyrrhic dance is vivid and striking. Beautifully painted and rich with detail, it represents the best of Gérôme’s famed Orientalist scenes.
In La Danse pyrrhique, Gérôme gives us a dramatic rendering of this ancient war dance. Greek in origin, it was performed by costumed dancers armed with swords who completed a series of movements set to music pantomiming combat. Homer wrote that Achilles performed this dance in a show of respect and grief at the funeral of his friend, Patroclus. When Julius Caesar introduced it to the Roman Games, its popularity spread across the Roman Empire to include Egypt, where Gérôme’s composition is set.
Gérôme visited Egypt for the first time in 1856, and he returned throughout the late 19th century when this work was created. Gérôme’s first-hand familiarity with this setting is evident in this piece, and his visual narrative is unlike any other. His paintings combine the rationalist style of historical paintings and the theatrical...
Category
19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Baigneuses (Bathers)
By Louis-Joseph Courtat
Located in New Orleans, LA
French Academic painter Louis-Joseph Courtat displays his mastery of composition and the female form in this entrancing oil on canvas. Entitled Baigneuses, the work was painted for and exhibited at the 1885 Paris Salon, the foremost exhibition of painters in the Western world. Large in size, it captures two nude bathers within a tranquil beach scene. While the artist's skill for landscape painting is on display, it is his command of form, light and color that bring this canvas to life. The artist specialized in paintings that glorified the nude, and his skill is clear in the luminosity of his models' skin and the classical beauty of their form and proportions.
With their soft, undulating curves and flowing hair, Courtat's models reflect the two key influences on the young painter, that of the great Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres as well as his teacher Alexandre Cabanel. Like these two greats who came before him, Courtat similarly follows in the artistic tradition of the female nude that is traceable to classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance.
Born in Paris in 1847, Courtat studied at the famed École des Beaux-Arts under Cabanel. He was one of the Academic master's first students at the school, where he began to teach in 1864. Displaying considerable skill at an early age, Courtat won the Prix de Rome around 1870, and subsequently studied in Rome for a number of years. He returned to Paris in 1873 to make his debut at the Salon, where he was met with immediate success, receiving a third class medal. He received medals again in 1874 and 1875, a remarkable achievement for a painter of his age. In addition to the monumental nudes...
Category
19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
In the Boudoir
Located in Missouri, MO
Delphin Enjolras
"In the Boudoir"
Oil on Canvas
Signed Lower Left
Canvas: approx 29 x 22 inches
Framed: approx. 37 x 30 inches
Renowned as a portraitist of the upper echelons of s...
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Consolation, Collier's magazine illustration
Located in Miami, FL
Signed upper left
Category
1940s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Gouache
Academic figurative paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Academic figurative paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add figurative paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, red, purple and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Mark Beard, Kyna de Schouël, Elizabeth Zanzinger, and Delphin Enjolras. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Academic figurative paintings, so small editions measuring 4.93 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative paintings made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $280 and tops out at $595,000, while the average work sells for $7,158.