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 Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Je Vole
Located in Paris, IDF
Franck Bailleul is a French painter born in 1964 who lives & works in Abbeville, Normandy, France. He has exhibited nationally as well as in the Unite...
Oil, Panel
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Droit au Coeur
Located in Paris, IDF
Franck Bailleul is a French painter born in 1964 who lives & works in Abbeville, Normandy, France. He has exhibited nationally as well as in the United States and China. His works e...
Oil, Panel
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Avant l'Orage
Located in Paris, IDF
Franck Bailleul is a French painter born in 1964 who lives & works in Abbeville, Normandy, France. He has exhibited nationally as well as in the United States and China. His works e...
Oil, Panel
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Songe d'une Nuit d'Été
Located in Paris, IDF
Artwork located in Los Angeles, USA. Franck Bailleul is a French painter born in 1964 who lives & works in Abbeville, Normandy, France. He has exhibited nationally as well as in th...
Oil, Panel
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Colleville sur Mer en Hiver
Located in Paris, IDF
Franck Bailleul is a French painter born in 1964 who lives & works in Abbeville, Normandy, France. He has exhibited nationally as well as in the United States and China. His works e...
Canvas, Oil
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Éclaircie
Located in Paris, IDF
Franck Bailleul is a French painter born in 1964 who lives & works in Abbeville, Normandy, France. He has exhibited nationally as well as in the Unite...
Oil, Panel
Venice Laguna with Gondola
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
ADAM-LAURENS Suzanne Adrienne, aka Nanny (1861-1915) Venice, Lagoon with gondolier Oil on canvas signed lower left Frame gilded with leaf canvas size: 55 X 42 cm Frame size: 64 X 77 cm French painter born in Crest (Drôme ) February 20, 1861 Died in 1915 Landscape...
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...
Oil
Landscape With Washerwoman
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
LEVIGNE Théodore (1848-1912) Landscape With Washerwoman Oil on canvas signed low right Old Frame regilded with leaves Dimensions canvas : 55 X 73 cm Dimensions frame : 70 X 85 cm LE...
Oil
GRISAILLE 19th Century - Cherubs Are Playing Music
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
GRISAILLE 19th Century (anonymous) Cherubs asleep Part of "Rococo Style" made famous by François Boucher (1703 - 1770) Oil on canvas Circa 1850 Frame re-gilded Dim canvas : 50 X 70 c...
Oil
Asian Love Story - The Good Earth - Golden Age of Illustration
Located in Miami, FL
Magazine Story Illustration most likely for Cosmopolitan or Woman's Home Companion. Caption: "'I will not heed these old ones,' said the maid. 'Let us flee together somewhere and ...
Adhesive, Oil
The Musical Performance oil on panel by Antonio Ermolao Paoletti
Located in New York, NY
The Musical Performance by Antonio Ermolao Paoletti An italian genre painting showcasing two boys playing a trumpet and a guitar for their sist...
Oil, Wood Panel, Board
Young Lady With Parasol in The garden
By Eugène Charles Picou
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
PICOU Eugène Charles (1831–1914) - "Young Girl with parasol" - Oil on canvas signed lower left - Old frame gilded with leaf - Canvas size: 61 X 50 cm...
Oil
$25,000
Indian Ritual Walking on Fire, Firewalking Ceremony, Mythology and Religion
By Robert Riggs
Located in Miami, FL
Narrative artist Robert Riggs captures a highly-charged scene of an Indian firewalking ceremony. Firewalking is part of a religious ritual and is associated with the mystical powers...
Varnish, Pigment
Painting 19th Century - Portrait of Young Lady
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
ERNEST BLANC-GARIN (1843-1916) Portrait of a Young Lady around 1880 Oil on wood panel signed low Old Original frame gilded with leaves Dimensions wood : 40 X 30 cm Dimensions frame : 62 X 53 cm ERNEST BLANC-GARIN (1843-1916) Belgian Painter 19th Century Born 8 October 1843 in Givet (France) Died 1916 in Brussels (Belgium) Painter of Portraits and Urbanscapes. In Brusssels he was taught by Jan Portaëls (1818-1895); then in Paris by Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889) He took part in the Salon de Paris from 1868. After a trip to Italy in 1870, he came back to Brussels for creating a private Art Academy providing a very liberal teaching. His portraits are made with a lot of freedom and gracefulness. Bibliography : Dictionary of Artists E. Benezit Book II / 373 Gérald SHURR : Les petits Maîtres de la Peinture 1820- 1920 Book V
Oil
Portrait of a Lady With Hat
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
WATELET, Charles Joseph (1867 - 1954) Portrait of a Lady with Hat Oil on oval canvas signed up right and dated 1909 Old frame gilded with leaves Dim canv...
Oil
Rochefort Harbour in early 19th Century
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Richard FAXON (1816 - 1875) Rochefort Harbour with Galleons Oil on canvas signed low right New golden frame Size canvas 73 X 50 cm Size frame 69 X 95 cm FAXON Richard (1816-1875) ...
Oil
Yesterday's Love, Love can Be True. The Heart can Betray
Located in Miami, FL
Classic illustration for a romanace novel from the 1950's in England. Recently these charming works have been the source of interest and even parody. Unsigned, unframed. Vale Studi...
Gouache, Pencil
Landscape of Mountains
By MOSNY Henry
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
MOSNY Henry (19th Century) Landscape of Mountains Oil on canvas signed below and dated 1882 Black and Golden wood Frame Dim canvas : 73 X 92 cm Dim Frame : 92 X 112 cm MOSNY Henry (...
Oil
Winter Landscape by the River
By Jean Eugene Clary
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
CLARY Jean Eugène (1856-1930) Winter Landscape by the River Oil on canvas signed low right Frame gilded with leaves Dim canvas : 46 X 80 cm Dim frame : 68 X 103 cm CLARY Jean Eugèn...
Oil
Portrait of a boy 1865
By Carl Gutsch
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Carl GUTSCH (19th Century) Portrait of a young Boy Oil on canvas signed low right and dated 1865 Old Original frame gilded with Leaves Dim canvas : 127 X 84 cm Dim Frame : 157 X 114 ...
Oil
Price Upon Request
The Twelve Princesses
Located in New Orleans, LA
The greatest triumph of the artist’s career, this extraordinary and monumental oil on canvas by Gustave-Max Stevens perfectly represents the highly detailed compositions and richly h...
Canvas, Oil
Price Upon Request
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...
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...
Canvas, Oil
Price Upon Request
Young girl from Tetouan, Morocco
Located in New Orleans, LA
Young girl from Tetouan, Morocco Signed (center right) Oil on canvas In this important oil on canvas, French Orientalist painter Charles Landelle captures the engaging visage of a young Moroccan woman in a moment of tranquil contemplation. Seated on the floor of what is almost certainly an opulent riad, the young woman wears an intricately embroidered Moroccan kaftan and headdress. The sumptuous patterns on the floor and in the background lend an additional warmth to the strikingly vivid red hues which dominate the composition and are a hallmark of Landelle’s work. The symbols behind the young woman may represent either the Jewish Star of David or the Islamic Seal...
Canvas, Oil
Price Upon Request
Rosetta
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas Signed This painting is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. “Tohu-bohu” is a series of paintings by French-American painter John Bailly that explores the o...
Canvas, Oil
Price Upon Request
Los Hermanos Islets
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas Signed This painting is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. “When two worlds collide, mayhem or genius can ensue. Consider the freestyle fellowship that ha...
Canvas, Oil