Academic Prints and Multiples
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.
1640s Academic Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1910s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1790s Academic Prints and Multiples
Etching, Archival Paper
Early 19th Century Academic Prints and Multiples
Aquatint
19th Century Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Mid-20th Century Academic Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 19th Century Academic Prints and Multiples
Aquatint
Early 18th Century Academic Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1920s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
2010s Academic Prints and Multiples
Canvas
Early 1900s Academic Prints and Multiples
Archival Paper, Photogravure
1870s Academic Prints and Multiples
Laid Paper, Etching
Early 20th Century Academic Prints and Multiples
Crayon, Engraving
1970s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1990s Academic Prints and Multiples
Etching
1830s Academic Prints and Multiples
Watercolor, Etching
1990s Academic Prints and Multiples
Etching
1970s Academic Prints and Multiples
Etching, Engraving
Early 20th Century Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Early 1800s Academic Prints and Multiples
Engraving, Laid Paper
1930s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
19th Century Academic Prints and Multiples
Etching
Early 20th Century Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1830s Academic Prints and Multiples
Watercolor, Etching
1740s Academic Prints and Multiples
Engraving, Watercolor
1830s Academic Prints and Multiples
Watercolor, Etching
1880s Academic Prints and Multiples
Etching
Early 1700s Academic Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1790s Academic Prints and Multiples
Aquatint
Early 19th Century Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1970s Academic Prints and Multiples
Screen
Early 1900s Academic Prints and Multiples
Paper, Lithograph
1830s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
19th Century Academic Prints and Multiples
Paper
17th Century Academic Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1970s Academic Prints and Multiples
Screen
1910s Academic Prints and Multiples
Pencil, Etching
2010s Academic Prints and Multiples
Paper, Etching, Aquatint
1980s Academic Prints and Multiples
Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Silver Gelatin
1870s Academic Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1890s Academic Prints and Multiples
Etching, Paper, Ink, Laid Paper
1970s Academic Prints and Multiples
Gold Leaf
1840s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1770s Academic Prints and Multiples
Etching, Paper, Ink
17th Century Academic Prints and Multiples
ABS, Woodcut
1830s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1880s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1890s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1890s Academic Prints and Multiples
Black and White
1770s Academic Prints and Multiples
Etching
1890s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1990s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Early 2000s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1990s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1990s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1990s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Early 2000s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1990s Academic Prints and Multiples
Lithograph