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.
1940s Academic Art
Watercolor, Archival Paper, Graphite
Late 20th Century Academic Art
Pastel
1940s Academic Art
Watercolor, Archival Paper, Graphite
2010s Academic Art
Paper, Conté
Mid-20th Century Academic Art
Ink
Late 20th Century Academic Art
Paper, Watercolor
1880s Academic Art
Gouache, Archival Paper
1930s Academic Art
Pencil
Early 2000s Academic Art
Paper, Watercolor, Graphite
1980s Academic Art
Archival Paper, Etching
Mid-20th Century Academic Art
Carbon Pencil
20th Century Academic Art
Paper, Watercolor
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Watercolor
1910s Academic Art
India Ink, Color Pencil
1990s Academic Art
Etching
2010s Academic Art
Oil, Panel
Early 19th Century Academic Art
Aquatint
2010s Academic Art
Canvas, Oil
19th Century Academic Art
Lithograph
1810s Academic Art
Paper, Watercolor, Ink, Gouache
1880s Academic Art
Canvas, Oil
1840s Academic Art
Wax
1860s Academic Art
Wood Panel, Oil
1850s Academic Art
Oil, Fiberboard
1910s Academic Art
Pencil
1870s Academic Art
Engraving
Late 20th Century Academic Art
Pastel
Mid-19th Century Academic Art
Paper, Charcoal
1870s Academic Art
Watercolor, Archival Paper
19th Century Academic Art
Watercolor
1960s Academic Art
Bronze
1950s Academic Art
Bronze
1910s Academic Art
India Ink, Pencil
1970s Academic Art
Engraving, Etching
Early 19th Century Academic Art
Aquatint
1930s Academic Art
Canvas, Oil, Board
1910s Academic Art
Carbon Pencil, Color Pencil
1850s Academic Art
Pencil
Late 19th Century Academic Art
Oil
2010s Academic Art
Cardboard, Oil
1890s Academic Art
Paper, Watercolor
Late 20th Century Academic Art
Oil
1780s Academic Art
Laid Paper, Engraving
Late 19th Century Academic Art
Ceramic, Paint
Late 19th Century Academic Art
Paper, Pencil
1740s Academic Art
Engraving
1830s Academic Art
Watercolor, Etching
1830s Academic Art
Watercolor, Etching
1910s Academic Art
Carbon Pencil, Color Pencil
Early 1900s Academic Art
Canvas, Oil
1890s Academic Art
Etching
1910s Academic Art
Pencil
Late 20th Century Academic Art
Pastel
1910s Academic Art
India Ink, Color Pencil
1910s Academic Art
India Ink
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Oil
Otto PilnyA Very Fine Orientalist Oil on Canvas "The Slave Market" a North African Scene, Circa 1910
1890s Academic Art
Paper, Watercolor
1820s Academic Art
Paper, Watercolor
Early 1900s Academic Art
Oil
1950s Academic Art
Mixed Media, Gouache, Pencil




