Academic Figurative Prints
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.
1970s Academic Figurative Prints
Color
1890s Academic Figurative Prints
Archival Paper, Etching
1930s Academic Figurative Prints
Etching
1860s Academic Figurative Prints
Archival Paper, Engraving
1910s Academic Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1890s Academic Figurative Prints
Etching
Early 1900s Academic Figurative Prints
Archival Paper, Photogravure
1970s Academic Figurative Prints
Archival Paper, Etching
Early 1900s Academic Figurative Prints
Archival Paper, Photogravure
2010s Academic Figurative Prints
Canvas
1890s Academic Figurative Prints
Etching, Paper, Ink, Laid Paper
Mid-17th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
1910s Academic Figurative Prints
Lithograph
19th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving, Etching
19th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1790s Academic Figurative Prints
Etching, Archival Paper
1980s Academic Figurative Prints
Drypoint
1970s Academic Figurative Prints
Lithograph, Paper
19th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Paper, Engraving
Early 18th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
1930s Academic Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1930s Academic Figurative Prints
Etching, Drypoint
1790s Academic Figurative Prints
Aquatint
1640s Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
1640s Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
Early 18th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
Early 1700s Academic Figurative Prints
Paper, Ink, Black and White, Engraving
Early 20th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Early 1800s Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving, Laid Paper
1970s Academic Figurative Prints
Screen
1870s Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
Early 20th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Early 19th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
Early 19th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Aquatint
Early 18th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
1970s Academic Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Early 1900s Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
1930s Academic Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1710s Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
Late 19th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Etching
1640s Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
1640s Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
Early 19th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Aquatint
Late 19th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
Early 18th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
Early 20th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1770s Academic Figurative Prints
Etching, Paper, Ink
Early 18th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
Early 18th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Engraving
1910s Academic Figurative Prints
Etching, Pencil
1890s Academic Figurative Prints
Etching
Early 1900s Academic Figurative Prints
Watercolor, Woodcut
1970s Academic Figurative Prints
Gold Leaf
19th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Etching
Early 19th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Early 1900s Academic Figurative Prints
Woodcut
1770s Academic Figurative Prints
Etching
1890s Academic Figurative Prints
Black and White