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Old Masters Paintings

OLD MASTERS

Encompassing centuries of change in Europe between 1300 and 1800, from booms of prosperity to bloody revolutions, Old Masters describes a wide range of artists. The informal term was derived from the title of an artist who trained in a guild long enough to become a master, such as Leonardo da Vinci, who studied in a Florence painters’ guild. However, Old Masters paintings, prints and other art is now used to refer to work made by any artist with a high level of skill in painting, drawing, sculpture or printmaking who worked during this era.

The 15th century’s expansive trade and commerce spread culture across borders. A vibrant period of art emerged, bolstered by studies of anatomy and nature that influenced a new visual realism. From Raphael and Michelangelo in the Renaissance to Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer in the Dutch Golden Age, artists expressed emotion, naturalism, color and light in new ways. El Greco and Paolo Veronese were leaders in the dramatic style of Mannerism, while Caravaggio and Peter Paul Rubens demonstrated the movement and meticulous detail of Baroque art.

Historically, most attention was concentrated on male artists, but recent research and exhibitions have elevated the impactful work of women such as Rachel Ruysch and Artemisia Gentileschi. In late-18th-century France, female artists like Adélaïde Labille-Guiard and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun were prominent names. Nevertheless, access to the academies and guilds was highly restricted for women, and even those able to establish practices were expected to adhere to portraits and still lifes rather than the grand history paintings being created by men.

Find a collection of Old Masters prints, paintings, drawings and watercolors and other art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Old Masters
La Anunciación
Located in Miami, FL
Anonymous Artist "La Anunciación" from the 18th Century. Oil on Copper 21.5 x 15.7 inches Perfect Condition It represents the moment when Mary accepts the divine designs transmitted by the archangel Saint...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Copper

Self-Portrait - Royal Academy Founding Member, 18th Century
Located in London, GB
Francis Hayman RA 1708–1776 Self-Portrait Oil on oak panel Image size: 8 x 6¼ inches Contemporary gilt frame This newly discovered work is the earliest known self portrait by Francis Hayman, dated to the mid to late 1720’s. The small scale of the portrait gives it a strong sense of intimacy. Whereas clients would often dress themselves in their best clothes for a sitting, Hayman has portrayed himself in informal attire, with his shirt unbuttoned and a wig cap. Born in 1708 to a respectable Devonshire family, his training began at the tender age of ten under the tutelage of the historical painter Robert Brown, who was probably an uncle. By the 1730’s he is known to have been engaged in painting scenery for the popular theatres on Goodman’s Fields and Drury Lane. He established a studio on St Martin’s Lane, and demonstrated his versatility as one of the most important painters of his time in portraits, illustration and history painting. Indeed, he was one of the first English painters deemed to have the skill and proficiency to rival that of the foreign masters, such as Holbein and Kneller, who were brought in by the court to make up for the perceived shortcomings of the native artists. Led by William Hogarth, Hayman and other artists began to create a new movement in the English art world. Thomas Gainsborough was one of his pupils, whom he is said to have introduced to the more lascivious and debauched underbelly of London life. After mostly making his living as an illustrator, in the 1740’s Hayman was commissioned by the proprietor of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, Jonathan Tyers, to produce a series of four large celebratory canvases depicting British victories from the Seven Years War. His association with Tyers continued, and over the next ten years he produced a number of large decorative paintings...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Oak, Oil Pastel

Abraham Grapheus
Located in North Clarendon, VT
Incredible study of Abraham Grapheus likely painted by a student of Jacob Jordaens in the early 17th century. Abraham Grapheus here he is depicted aged about 65 years old was admini...
Category

1620s Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Oil

Madonna Holy family Tisi 16/17th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master Italy
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Benvenuto Tisi, il Garofalo (Garofalo, Rovigo 1476 - Ferrara 1559) workshop/follower Madonna with Child and Saint Joseph Oil on canvas 125 x 90 cm - In frame 143 x 109 cm. I...
Category

16th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Oil

Bedouin at Prayer, Orientalist Oil Painting on Panel by Rudolf Ernst
Located in Long Island City, NY
This painting by Orientalist artist Rudolf Ernst depicts a Muslim man in quiet contemplation during prayer. He kneels in solitude in the vast desert as the light fades around him. Ma...
Category

1890s Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Diana
Located in London, GB
Studio of Sir Peter Lely Diana Oil on canvas Image Size: 38 x 50 inches (96.5 x 127 cm)  Ornate auricular frame Provenance The collection of Mr Campbell Private Estate Mary II (16...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Still Life With Flowers By Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer
Located in New Orleans, LA
Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer 1636-1699 French Still Life with Flowers on a Carved Stone Ledge Oil on canvas Impeccable detail and luminous color breathe life into this floral still lif...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Leda And The Swan By Workshop Of Bartholomaeus Spranger
Located in New Orleans, LA
Workshop of Bartholomaeus Spranger 16th Century Flemish Leda and the Swan Oil on panel Retelling one of the most legendary Greco-Roman mythological tales, this exceptional oil on...
Category

16th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Portrait Of A Gentleman By Frans Hals
Located in New Orleans, LA
Frans Hals 1582-1666 Dutch Portrait of a Gentleman (possibly Theodore Blevet) Oil on panel “Frans Hals is a colourist among the colourists...Frans Hals must have had twenty-seven blacks...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Study of a dog
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Study of a dog Oil on paper laid down on panel, 17.5 x 25.5 cm Provenance Private collection, the Netherlands Note: We are grateful to Mr Fred Meijer for his attribution to Ludolf de Jongh Ludolf de Jongh was the son of a shoemaker. When his father moved to Rotterdam, the young Ludolf decided to learn art rather than shoemaking and became a pupil of Cornelis Saftleven. Later he studied under Anthony Palamedes in Delft and still later with Jan van Bijlert in Utrecht. In 1635 he travelled to France with Francis Bacon. Seven years later, in 1642, he returned to the Netherlands when he heard that his mother had fallen ill. He set up a shop in Rotterdam, and his earliest signed paintings date from that year. According to Houbraken, his travels had caused him to speak French so fluently, that his parents had to learn French in order to speak with him. De Jongh’s work shows a strong influence from the Utrecht school of Caravaggio admirers, especially Jacob Duck...
Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil, Wood Panel

Study of a dog
Study of a dog
Price Upon Request
The Inappetent Owl - Grotesque Scene with Owl and Swan - Late 17th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Two masterpieces by the Master of the Fertility of the Egg, nearly impossible to find in homogeneous pairs on the private market, both in terms of style and dimensions. They represen...
Category

Late 17th Century Old Masters Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Old Masters paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Old Masters 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 paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of orange, blue, yellow and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Antonio Savisio, Pietro Colonna, Goyo Dominguez, and Nicolaes Maes. 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 Old Masters paintings, so small editions measuring 4.5 inches across are also available. Prices for 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 $338 and tops out at $1,495,000, while the average work sells for $7,505.

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