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.
French Academic Oil Painting – Classical Garden with Female Figures and Swans
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated low-right. This important French academic oil painting by Paul Jean Gervais, one of the leading figures of late 19th-century academic art, depicts an idealized clas...
Oil, Canvas
$1,500Sale Price|50% Off
PASSION #3 - nude male painting by Paula Craioveanu oil on canvas
Located in Forest Hills, NY
"Passion #3" . Composition with Two Male Nudes, oil on canvas, 35.5x19.5in / 90x50cm Part of "Wings of Gods" solo show, April 2024. see pictures from the show. Shipped as it is, stre...
Canvas, Oil
$22,712
Large British turn of the 20th Century oil painting of boys at the rockpool
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
A stunning, large scale, oil painting by British artist Harry Watson of bathers at a rockpool. HARRY WATSON RWS ROI (BRITISH, 1871-1936) BATHERS AT A ROCKPOOL oil on canvas signed ...
Canvas, Oil
Young Mother Contemplating Two Embracing Children by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Located in New Orleans, LA
William-Adolphe Bouguereau 1825-1905 French Jeune mère contemplant deux enfants qui s'embrassent (Young Mother Contemplating Two Embracing Children) Signed “W-Bouguereau” (bottom ...
Canvas, Oil
$10,000
Nude Boy Found in Barn, Academic Gouache on Board, Circa 1910-1919
Located in Miami, FL
Norman Mills Price depicts a handsome, nude blond boy with classical good looks. He is lying on his stomach in straw in the loft of a barn with his buttocks exposed. The artist captu...
Board, Gouache, Pencil
Nymphs Dancing
By Henri-Pierre Picou
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
PICOU Henri Pierre (1824-1895) Nymphs Dancing Oil on canvas signed and dated 1881 low left Old frame regilded with leaves Dim canvas : 62 X 82 cm Dim frame : 80 X 100 cm PICOU Henri Pierre (1824-1895) French Painter 19th century Born on February 27th, 1824 in Nantes - Died on July 17th, 1895 in Nantes Painter of History, allegorical subjects, genre paintings, Symbolist. Pupil of Paul Delaroche...
Oil
$16,000Sale Price|20% Off
Brothel, Groovy Harem with Courtesan, Concubine, Paramour, Playboy Magazine
Located in Miami, FL
George Hirsch - He gets his inspiration from the prototype of neo-classic painting for this groovy 1970s brothel. This is a complex figural work with m...
Gouache, Illustration Board
$28,450Sale Price|36% Off
Pair 19th Century French Whimsical Oil on Canvas "Cherubs and Putti Children"
Located in LA, CA
Charles Joshua Chaplin (French, 1825-1891) A Very Fine and Charming Pair of 19th Century French Whimsical Oils on Canvas of Cherubs and Putti, after François Boucher (French, 1703–17...
Canvas, Oil
$4,720Sale Price|20% Off
Female Nude in a Studio
By Bertalan Karlovszky
Located in Houston, TX
"Female Nude in a Studio" circa 1910. 19 X 13 1/2 inches, oil on wood panel. Etched signature lower right. Well listed Hungarian artist. Spent his student years under the guidance o...
Oil
Girl with Books 1, Acrylic Painting, 39x23in, Contemporary Art
Located in Forest Hills, NY
"Girl with Books 1", 39x23in / 100x60cm. Shipping from artist's studio from Bucharest, Romania, Europe, by DHL or FedEx. Free shipping with 1stDibs code FREESHIP This particular pi...
Canvas, Acrylic
Solitude
Located in New Orleans, LA
French Academic painter Guillaume Seignac was renowned for his masterful treatment of the idealized nude. His languishing female subjects based on Greco-Roman prototypes were and rem...
Oil, Canvas
Young Lady and Cupid in The Park
By Hans Zatzka
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Hans Zatzka (8 March 1859 – 17 December 1945 Young Lady With Cupid in The Park Oil on canvas circa 1880 signed low with pseudonym C.BRIAND Old Frame gilded with leaves Size canvas : ...
Oil
Lady with Books 3, Framed Acrylic Painting, 39x23in, Contemporary Art in Florida
Located in Forest Hills, NY
"Lady with Books 3", 39x23in / 100x60cm. Shipped as it is, stretched, framed from Florida. Framed size 41.5x25.7in Free shipping with 1stDibs code This particular piece is in my s...
Canvas, Acrylic
Cherubs Musicians in pair
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Mathilde LEHAUT (1816- nc) Cherubs Musicians in oval pair Two Oils on wood signed low Framed by Gault (Paris) - Gold leaves Dim wood panel (each) : 27 ...
Oil
Classical Naturalistic Style Italian Allegory Study
Located in Houston, TX
Classical style allegorical painting with puti and monarchy type figures floating within the clouds. The canvas is framed in a decorative gold frame. Dimensions Without Frame: H 43.5...
Oil
The gift of flowers / - The depth of allegory -
Located in Berlin, DE
Conrad Kiesel (1846-1921), The gift of flowers. Oil on wood, 43 x 35 cm, 69 x 61 cm (frame), signed at lower left "Conrad Kiesel pxt [pinxit]", about 1900. In a magnificent gilt stuc...
Oil
Solitude
Located in New Orleans, LA
Signed “G-Seignac” (lower right) Oil on canvas French Academic painter Guillaume Seignac was renowned for his masterful treatment of the idealized nude. His languishing female subje...
Oil, Canvas
$12,500
Sexy Woman in a Swamp Storm - Pulp Magazine, Hispanic Artist, Mid Century
Located in Miami, FL
Rafael Maria de Soto y Hernandez was born February 18, 1904 in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It's high drama in the swamp. Woman in the Swamp is a masterfully executed example of Pulp Art and showcases Rafael DeSoto's full command of academic painting. DeSoto did pulp covers up until the industry's demise in the 1950s for such magazines as Adventure, Argosy, Black Mask, Captain Zero, Crack Detective, Fantastic Novels, 15-Story Detective, Fifteen Western Tales, New Detective, Smashing Detective, and Walt Coburn's Western Magazine. He also painted many covers and interior story illustrations for men's adventure magazines, such as Action For Men, Adventure, Battle Cry, For Men Only...
Oil, Board
$2,500
H 26.13 in W 14.13 in D 0.88 in
Nude with Tree at El Capitan - Yosemite Mid Century Figurative Landscape
Located in Soquel, CA
Mid century figurative landscape of a nude female figure with tree at El Capitan, Yosemite, California by Margaret Wherry Ziegler (American, 1909-1989). Signed "M. Ziegler" lower right. Displayed in a rustic new silver gilt frame. Image, 24"H x 12"W. Margaret Wherry Ziegler was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on November 27, 1909. At a young age she traveled with her parents to the Philippines, Japan, India, Italy, Greece, and Europe. She studied art at the Cincinnati Art Academy, Minneapolis Art Institute, the University of the Philippines, and the California College of Arts and Crafts. While in Japan she studied Japanese brush painting...
Oil, Illustration Board, Canvas
Classical Naturalistic Style Italian Allegory Study
Located in Houston, TX
Classical style allegorical painting with puti and monarchy type figures floating within the clouds. The canvas is framed in a decorative gold frame. Dimensions Without Frame: H 43.5...
Oil
A New Way Forward
By Wes Hempel
Located in Fairfield, CT
A walk through any major museum will reveal paintings that depict or legitimate only certain kinds of experience. Despite the good intentions of critical theorists questioning the va...
Oil, Canvas
Unexpected Blessing II
By Wes Hempel
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --A walk through any major museum will reveal paintings that depict or legitimate only certain kinds of experience. Despite the good in...
Oil, Canvas
$8,500
H 17.24 in W 21.5 in
Surreal Landscape Nudes among Greek Columns. like de Chirico
Located in Miami, FL
Klett was an in-demand illustrator in the post-war period of the late 1940's and 1950's. and . His work appeared in many of the newsstand magazines at the time. This work is a pers...
Oil, Masonite
$2,550
H 14.1 in W 26.3 in D 0.5 in
Late 19th Century European Academic Romanticism Nude Bather Oil Canvas Signed
Located in Stockholm, SE
This captivating late 19th-century oil painting on canvas, signed with the enigmatic name Gayling, is a magnificent example of European academic romanticism. The canvas depicts a gra...
Canvas, Wood, Oil
$32,000
H 52 in W 32 in
The Dance 19th-century Large Antique Nude Oil Painting on Canvas, Signed & Dated
Located in Jacksonville, FL
Exhibited at the Paris Salon, exhibition label on reverse. Description: Édouard François Zier (1837-1924) was a French painter known for his captiva...
Oil, Canvas
$5,000
H 39 in W 23 in D 1 in
Lady with Books 3, Framed Acrylic Painting, 39x23in, Contemporary Art in Florida
Located in Forest Hills, NY
"Lady with Books 3", 39x23in / 100x60cm. Shipped as it is, stretched, framed from Florida. Framed size 41.5x25.7in Free shipping with 1stDibs code This particular piece is in my s...
Canvas, Acrylic
Late 19th Century Reclining Nude California School
Located in Soquel, CA
Late 19th century California School reclining nude female figure by anonymous 19th Century artist. In the style of William-Adolphe Bouguereau. ...
Oil, Canvas
$1,000
H 25 in W 15 in
Antique Oil Painting, Nude Portrait, Romantic Naked Female Playing a Flute
Located in AIGNAN, FR
Antique oil on card of the back of a female nude playing a double ancient flute (aulos) to charm the bird in the tree at the top of the painting. This painting is after a famous pa...
Oil
$9,000
H 36 in W 48 in D 0.75 in
"Two Young Women on Couch" - Intimate Nude Women on Earth Tone Couch
By Shana Wilson
Located in Carmel, CA
Shana Wilson (Canadian, born 1966) "Two Young Women on Couch" 2012 Oil Paint, Canvas, Stretcher Bars The artist signed the back of the painting. "Two Young Women on Couch" by renown...
Oil, Canvas, Stretcher Bars
$1,000
H 7.5 in W 6.5 in
Simka Simkhovitch WPA W/C Painting Gouache American Modernist Beach Scene Nude
Located in Surfside, FL
Simka Simkhovitch (Russian/American 1893 - 1949) This came with a small grouping from the artist's family, some were hand signed some were not. These were studies for larger paintin...
Watercolor, Gouache, Board
Sold
H 18.12 in W 14.97 in
Yves Fournier (1917-2016) Académie, Young man posing, oil on canvas
Located in Paris, FR
Yves Fournier (1917-2016) Académie, Young man posing, oil on canvas 46 x 38 cm Inscribed "Y Fournier" on the back of the canvas Framed 50 x 42 cm Provenance : Estate of the artist ...
Oil
Sold
H 49 in W 45.5 in
La Baigneuse - Academic Nude Figure in Landscape Oil by Paul Emile Chabas
By Paul Emile Chabas
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed oil on canvas nude figure in landscape circa 1910 by French academic painter Paul Emile Chabas. The piece depicts a nude woman bathing under a tree in a lake. The sky above th...
Canvas, Oil
Psyché by Jules-Joseph Lefebvre
Located in New Orleans, LA
Jules-Joseph Lefebvre 1836-1912 French Psyché Signed: “Jules Lefebvre” (lower right) Oil on panel Jules-Joseph Lefebvre was an accomplished French Academic painter renowned for h...
Oil, Panel
Sold
H 41.5 in W 52.5 in
The Apparition - Large, Fine 1884 French Oil Painting - MAKE OFFER
Located in New Orleans, LA
A stunningly dramatic and well-rendered oil on canvas painted by French artist Antoine Marie Roucole in 1884. With the ornate antique gilt plaster frame, and with its size, it has t...
Oil
Sold
H 9 in W 7.5 in D 1 in
19th Century British oil of a nude by water by William Edward Frost
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
William Edward Frost (British, 1810-1877) A bather at the water’s edge Oil on board Signed `W.E. Frost’ (lower right) 9 x 7.1/2 in. (22.7 x 19 cm.)
Oil, Board
Sold
H 25 in W 19.5 in
Leda and the Swan - French Academic Oil, Nude in Landscape by Tony Robert-Fleury
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed nude in landscape oil on canvas circa 1880 by French academic painter Tony Robert-Fleury. The work depicts Leda and the swan. The subject comes from a story in Greek mythology in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces Leda. According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces, children of Zeus, while at the same time bearing Castor and Clytemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus, the King of Sparta. Signature: Signed lower left Dimensions: Framed: 25"x19.5" Unframed: 16"x10.5" Provenance: Private French collection Tony Robert-Fleury was the son of Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury, and a pupil of Paul Delaroche and Léon Cogniet. He first exhibited in Paris at the Salon in 1864, receiving medals in 1866 and 1867 and a medal of honour in 1870. He was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur in 1873 and received a medal of honour in 1878 for the Exposition Universelle. He continued to exhibit at the Salon, known by then as Salon des Artistes Français, of which he became a member in 1882. In 1884, he was made an Officier de la Légion d'Honneur. He won a gold medal at the Exposition Universelle in 1889 and in 1900 became a jury member and was declared hors-concours, able to show his work without jury approval, at the Exposition Universelle. In 1907 he was made Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur. For many years he taught at the Académie Julian in Paris, where he had a great many pupils. His considerable official career brought him honours, purchases and commissions. He painted mural compositions in the Palais du Luxembourg, and the Hôtel de Ville in Paris. Museum and Gallery Holdings: Arras: Leda Bayonne (Mus. Bonnat): Young Roman Girl; Charlotte Corday...
Canvas, Oil
Venus and the Cherubs
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
John Alfred MOHLTE (1865-1952) Venus and The Cherubs Oil on wood signed low right - oval format Old original frame gilded with leaves Dim wood : 41 X 47 cm Dim frmar : 53 X 59 cm John Alfred MOHLTE (1865-1952) Birth place: Gothenberg, Sweden Death place: Utica, NY - USA Addresses: NYC Profession: Portrait painter, muralist, ecclesiastical painting...
Oil
Nude Woman
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Beautiful female nude in profile. European, ca. 1920-30. Oil on canvas, 31.5 x 35.75 inches; 35.5 x 39.75 inches framed. Sign indistinctly upper right. A few areas of paint loss (v...
Oil
Sold
H 30 in W 18 in D 1.5 in
Drying Off (Figurative Nude Painting by Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative paintings of a nude male model with a white towel on a grey background Painted by Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant (pseudonym in homage to the fashion photogra...
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 26 in W 22 in D 1.5 in
Justin with Towel (Figurative Nude Painting by Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative paintings of a nude male model with a white towel on a grey background Painted by Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant (pseudonym in homage to the fashion photogra...
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 26 in W 22 in D 1.5 in
Charlie in Suspenders (Figurative Painting & Nude Study by Mark Beard)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative oil painting of a muscular male model by Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant "Study of Charlie in Suspenders" painted by Mark Beard as B...
Canvas, Oil
Judith
By Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant 1
Located in New Orleans, LA
French Orientalist painter Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant reveals himself as a master of detail and texture in this skillfully executed oil on canvas. In it, the beautiful and exotic...
Canvas, Oil