Academic Art
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.
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Pastel, Crayon
20th Century Academic Art
Watercolor, Paper, Pencil
1970s Academic Art
Pastel
Mid-20th Century Academic Art
Crayon
20th Century Academic Art
Crayon
20th Century Academic Art
Crayon
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Crayon, Engraving
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Pastel
1950s Academic Art
Varnish, Pigment
20th Century Academic Art
Crayon, Charcoal
20th Century Academic Art
Crayon
20th Century Academic Art
Charcoal, Crayon, Watercolor, Pencil, Color Pencil
Early 19th Century Academic Art
Crayon
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Chalk, Color Pencil
20th Century Academic Art
Charcoal, Crayon, Watercolor, Pencil, Color Pencil
Early 19th Century Academic Art
Crayon
1880s Academic Art
Gouache
1910s Academic Art
Crayon
1910s Academic Art
Crayon, Graphite
1880s Academic Art
Oil
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Charcoal
20th Century Academic Art
Limestone
Mid-20th Century Academic Art
Charcoal, Pastel
Early 2000s Academic Art
Paper, Charcoal
2010s Academic Art
Linen, Oil
20th Century Academic Art
Ink, Paper, Gouache
20th Century Academic Art
Crayon
17th Century Academic Art
Engraving
1910s Academic Art
Pastel
Early 18th Century Academic Art
Engraving
1910s Academic Art
Oil
Early 1900s Academic Art
Bronze
1890s Academic Art
Canvas, Oil
1930s Academic Art
Oil, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Academic Art
Oil, Canvas
19th Century Academic Art
Canvas, Paper, Oil
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Pencil, Charcoal
1860s Academic Art
Pastel
1960s Academic Art
Etching
1930s Academic Art
Oil, Board
1980s Academic Art
Etching, Archival Paper
Early 19th Century Academic Art
Aquatint
Mid-20th Century Academic Art
Pencil
2010s Academic Art
Oil, Panel
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Engraving
20th Century Academic Art
Charcoal, Color Pencil, Pencil, Watercolor, Crayon
1920s Academic Art
Oil, Canvas
1930s Academic Art
Archival Paper, Watercolor, Graphite
1940s Academic Art
Ink, Board
1930s Academic Art
Lithograph
2010s Academic Art
Canvas, Oil
1870s Academic Art
Canvas
2010s Academic Art
Archival Pigment
2010s Academic Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-19th Century Academic Art
Oil
1880s Academic Art
Ink
Mid-19th Century Academic Art
Charcoal
19th Century Academic Art
Oil