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.
Ernest Howard Shepard, illustration of Punch magazine, signed, inkpen
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Ernest Howard Shepard (British, 1879–1976) Laying Breaks on a London Street, an Illustration for Punch Magazine Inkpen and body colour Signed ‘Ernest H. Shepard’ (lower left) 8 1/8 x...
Paper, Ink
Stanley Spencer drawing 'Clasped hands' from estate of the artist, British
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Stanley Spencer (British, 1891 – 1959) Clasped hands Not signed Pencil on paper 16.3/4 x 11.3/8 in. (42.5 x 29 cm.) Provenance: From the estate of Sir Stanley Spencer Clasped Hands ...
Pencil
19th Century Lithograph of the Declaration of Independence
Located in Milwaukee, WI
This print, entitled "Declaration of Independence," is an original color lithograph by the publishing firm Kurz & Allison, produced in celebration of the centennial of the United...
Lithograph
Stanley Spencer drawing 'Study of a boy' from estate of the artist, British
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Stanley Spencer (British, 1891 – 1959) Study of a boy Pencil on paper 16.3/8 x 10.1/8 in. (41.6 x 25.8 cm.) Provenance: From the estate of Sir Stanley Spencer Study of a Boy is a fi...
Pencil
$5,200Sale Price|38% Off
“The Harem Girl”
By Konrad Filip
Located in Southampton, NY
Here for your consideration is an intriguing portrait of a young harem girl in costume by the German artist, Konrad Filip. Signed by the artist top right, Munich. Condition is very ...
Canvas, Oil
La nina a la cadira - Técnica mixta y collage sobre papel
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
JAUME QUERALT (Tarragona, 1949). “Raquel”. Técnica mixta y collage sobre papel. Firmado y titulado en el ángulo inferior izquierdo. Fechado en el ángulo inferior derecho. Medidas:...
Pastel
British 19th Century drawing of a nude by Edward Stott
By Edward Stott
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Edward Stott, ARA (British, 1859 - 1918) Reclining nude Pastel and black crayon 8.1/2 x 12.1/4 in. (21.7 x 31.2 cm.) Provenance: Abbott and Holder, London A few years after its foundation in 1886, a critic referred to the New English Art Club as that Steery, Starry, Stotty. Stotty referred to William Stott of Oldham and Edward William Stott. The four men had in common the love French plein air painting...
Crayon, Pastel
$1,440Sale Price|20% Off
“Hayingen, Germany”
Located in Southampton, NY
Very fine graphite on archival paper drawing of a typical mountain side house in the town of Hayingen, Germany by the prominent artist, Johannes Kleinschmidt. Signed in ink lower le...
Archival Paper, Graphite
$297Sale Price|30% Off
“The Hunter”
Located in Southampton, NY
Original watercolor with graphite tracings of a solitary hunter in the field by the British artist, George Anderson Short. Signed bottom right. ...
Watercolor, Archival Paper, Graphite
$1,920Sale Price|20% Off
Black-Headed Gull
By John Duncan
Located in Southampton, NY
In original gold leaf pierced frame Signed and dated lower left 1902 Sight size 6 x 8 in
Paper, Watercolor
$1,440Sale Price|20% Off
“Portrait of a Head”
Located in Southampton, NY
Late 18th century mixed media portrait of the head of an old man, perhaps the biblical figure Moses. Italian school . Composed of graphite, colored chalk, watercolor and gouache on ...
Chalk, Graphite, Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
$2,200Sale Price|21% Off
“House by the Lake”
Located in Southampton, NY
Finely executed watercolor and gouache landscape with figures by the Swiss artist, Louise Clauseau (Swiss). Signed under the mat by the artist and dated June, 1852. The watercolor ...
Watercolor, Gouache, Archival Paper
Balmoral Winter Scene - Signed Lithograph, Royal Art, Scotland, king charles III
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
Balmoral Winter Scene by His Majesty King Charles III (created when he was HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales) - Hand Signed Limited...
Lithograph
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Coup de Vent
Located in Paris, IDF
Franck Bailleul is a French painter born in 1964 who lives & works in Abbeville, Normandy, France. He has exhibited nationally as well as in the United States and China. His wor...
Canvas, Oil
$39,996Sale Price|20% Off
Sans titre (1881), James Drummond, R.S.A., F.S.A.
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: James Drummond, R.S.A., F.S.A. (1816-1877) Title: Sans titre (1881) Year: 1881 Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 37 x 29 inches Inscription: Hand signed and dated, recto Provenance...
Oil
$3,316Sale Price|20% Off
Painting Belgian 19th animal painter VERBOECKHOVEN woodLandscape cow sheperdess
Located in PARIS, FR
Eugène VERBOECKHOVEN Warneton, 1798 – Schaerbeek, 1881 Oil on wood panel 42 x 33.5 cm (58 x 50 cm with the frame) Signed, dated and located lower right “EJ Verboeckhoven / 1826 / à G...
Oil
$1,205Sale Price|20% Off
Shooting Engraving After George Stubbs, Late 18th Century Style
Located in GB
William Woollett (1735–1785) William Woollett was one of the most accomplished British engravers of the 18th century, renowned for his precision and his ability to capture the paint...
Engraving
$1,760Sale Price|20% Off
“Dutch Harbor”
By Anthony Andreas de Meijier
Located in Southampton, NY
Watercolor on paper by the Dutch artist, Anthony Andreas Meijiers. Signed lower right. Condition: Excellent. Unframed. Anthony Andreas de Meijiers or Meyer was a Dutch active in...
Watercolor, Archival Paper
$1,360Sale Price|20% Off
“Cottage”
Located in Southampton, NY
Graphite and watercolor on paper stock drawing by the Russian Federation artist, Carl Ivanovitch Kollmann. Circa 1830. Condition: Good. Actual drawing diameter is 6.5 inches. Impr...
Paper, Watercolor, Graphite
$1,480Sale Price|20% Off
“Home Life”
Located in Southampton, NY
Watercolor on paper by the Swiss artist, Simon Daniel Lafond. Signed and dated lower right, 1820. In very good condition, wth minor toning. Colors are strong with incredible detail ...
Paper, Watercolor
$520Sale Price|20% Off
“Mallards at Salthouse”
By Alan Farrell
Located in Southampton, NY
Miniature watercolor painting on arches paper of three mallards at Salthouse (Norfolk, UK) done by the very well known miniature artist, Alan Farrell. Exhibited at the Royal Miniatur...
Archival Paper, Watercolor
$1,800Sale Price|36% Off
“Child in White Dress”
Located in Southampton, NY
Circa 1890 Signed verso on stretcher bar Original period gold leaf frame Overall size framed 21 x 18 in
Canvas, Oil
$28,450Sale Price|36% Off
Pair 19th Century French Whimsical Oil on Canvas "Cherubs and Putti Children"
Located in LA, CA
Charles Joshua Chaplin (French, 1825-1891) A Very Fine and Charming Pair of 19th Century French Whimsical Oils on Canvas of Cherubs and Putti, after François Boucher (French, 1703–17...
Canvas, Oil
$787Sale Price|30% Off
On a Ferris wheel - Archival fine art print, Black white, graphical photo
Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
An archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Baryta 315 g/m² paper of a photograph by Harry Sutcliffe (1878- 1942) entitled ' On a Ferris wheel ' Graphic scene taken on a Fer...
Black and White, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment
“Waiting for his Arrival” Oil on panel, Signed
By Ferdinand Victor Leon Roybet
Located in Jacksonville, FL
The painting is signed and dated 1872 in Algiers Description: Ferdinand Victor Léon Roybet (1840-1920) was a French painter renowned for...
Oil, Panel
$1,800Sale Price|25% Off
"Stil life with Lobster"
By Martha A. Brockway
Located in Southampton, NY
Oil on canvas still life painting of a wine bottle along with a lobster. Signed lower left. Circa 1880. The painting is housed in its original monumental wood gesso and gilt Victoria...
Canvas, Oil
Sueño entre flores - Dibujo a pastel
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
Firmado en la parte inferior por el artista Se presenta sin enmarcar la obra Medidas obra: 59 cm. de altura x 50 cm. de ancho Buen estado de conservación el de la obra ::::::::::...
Pastel
"Still Life with Figure"
Located in Southampton, NY
This painting is an oil on canvas mounted to a wood panel. It is signed with his monogram signature JTA lower right. The work is unframed. Axton was born in Fort Leavenworth, Kan...
Oil, Canvas
$5,685
Study of Dogs, Graphite and White Chalk Drawing, Signed and Dated 1929
Located in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, FR
This drawing is a lively and refined study by the French animal painter Georges-Frédéric Rötig (1873–1961), an artist renowned for his depictions of animals. With confident graphite ...
Graphite
"Royal Mail Steam Packet Thames"
Located in Southampton, NY
Circa 1880 Unsigned Thames was commissioned in 1842 Overall size with frame 8 x 11 in.
Watercolor, Paper
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Humeurs Éthérisées
Located in Paris, IDF
Franck Bailleul is a French painter born in 1964 who lives & works in Abbeville, Normandy, France. He has exhibited nationally as well as in the United States and China. His wor...
Canvas, Oil
$1,300
19th century color lithograph beetles nature forest tree leaves animal signed
By Louis Prang
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Stag Beetle & Longicorn Beetle" is an original color lithograph by Louis Prang. It depicts two forest-dwelling beetles. The artist signed the piece in the stone lower left. It was published by Selmar Hess in New York. 8" x 5" art 19 3/8" x 16" framed Louis Prang (March 12, 1824 – September 14, 1909) was an American printer, lithographer, publisher, and Georgist. He is sometimes known as the "father of the American Christmas card". Prang's early activities in the US publishing architectural books and making leather goods were not very successful, and he began to make wood engravings for illustrations in books. In 1851 he worked for Frank Leslie, art director for Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, and later with John Andrew. In 1851, he married Rosa Gerber, a Swiss woman he had met in Paris in 1846. In 1856, Prang and a partner created a firm, Prang and Mayer, to produce lithographs. The company specialized in prints of buildings...
Lithograph
"Frawg Hollow, Virginia" Corwin Knapp Linson, Southern Country Landscape
Located in New York, NY
Corwin Knapp Linson Frawg Hollow, West Virginia Signed and titled lower left Oil on canvas 24 x 28 inches Provenance The artist Artist's family by descent Corwin Knapp Linson was ...
Canvas, Oil
$994Sale Price|30% Off
Benoit Fils - Archival fine art print, Black white, Montreal, Clydesdale truck
Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
An archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Baryta 315 g/m² paper, a photography of a delivery of foodstuffs from a shop of seeds, flour and provisions in Montreal cerca 1920 ...
Black and White, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment
"Portrait of a Woman" Edward Percy Moran, Early American Portrait, Bucolic
Located in New York, NY
Edward Percy Moran Portrait of a Woman Signed lower right Oil on canvas 30 x 20 inches Provenance: The Madison Gallery, Atlanta Percy Moran was the son of marine painter Edward Mo...
Canvas, Oil
Exceptional Italian Neoclassical Sphinx Carrara Marble Statue
Located in Rome, IT
Outstanding Italian Neoclassical Sphinx Carrara Marble sculpture designed as entrance guardian, this mythical lady sphinx statuary display the head and chest of a neoclassical woma...
Marble
$1,450Sale Price|30% Off
Dr Decarie - Archival fine art print, Black white, Montreal, Phillips square
Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
An archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Baryta 315 g/m² paper of a photograph of a street corner in Montreal cerca Valentin's day 1925 entitled ' Dr Decarie ' Unframed ...
Black and White, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment
Fossils, Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Elizabeth Zanzinger's (US based) "Fossils" is an oil painting that depicts nude forms suspended in air between highway and underpass. Elizabeth Z...
Oil
Bashi-Bazouk - Dibujo a pastel
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
Firmado en la parte inferior por el artista Se presenta sin enmarcar la obra Medidas obra: 61 cm. de altura x 50 cm. de ancho Buen estado de conservación el de la obra ::::::::::...
Pastel
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Omaha
Located in Paris, IDF
Franck Bailleul is a French painter born in 1964 who lives & works in Abbeville, Normandy, France. He has exhibited nationally as well as in the United States and China. His works e...
Oil, Panel
$710Sale Price|20% Off
Boulevard parisino - Dibujo a pastel
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
Firmado por el artista en la parte inferior Se presenta bien enmarcada la obra (no hay cristal para evitar posibles roturas del cristal en el transporte) y comentar que el marco pre...
Pastel
Young Peasants at Rest, Oil on Board, Academic Style, Signed, 1890s
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Title: Young Peasants at Rest Artist: Adrián de Unzueta (Mexico, 1865 – first half of the 20th century) Medium: Oil on panel Dimensions: 35 x 26 cm (13.8 x 10.2 in) Framed dimens...
Oil, Board
$8,500
"Harvest" Samuel S. Carr, American Pastoral Scene, Child in Wheat Field
By Samuel S. Carr
Located in New York, NY
Samuel S. Carr Harvest Signed lower left Oil on canvas 16 x 12 inches Samuel S. Carr was an American pastoral and landscape painter. Originally from England, he trained at the Roy...
Canvas, Oil
19th Century French oil painting of a nymph playing pipes, a female nude
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Charles Cres (French, 1850-1907) A Wood Nymph playing the pipes signed and dated `Ch. Crès/ 1884’ (lower right) oil on canvas 25.7/8 x 15.1/2 in. (65.8 x 39.4 cm.) Charles Cres was born in Briare in the province of Loiret. As early as 1875 he exhibited at the annual Paris Salon and was subsequently awarded...
Canvas, Oil
"Echo" Oscar Lenz, Lyrical Early American Allegorical Female Nude Sculpture
Located in New York, NY
Oscar Lenz Echo, 1904 Signed and dated on base: Oscar L Lenz 1904 Bronze 70 1/4 x 25 x 25 1/4 inches Oscar Lenz was an American sculptor born at Providence, Rhode Island. He receiv...
Bronze
$9,500
"John Van Schaick Lansing Pruyn" Eastman Johnson, Prominent Gentleman Portrait
Located in New York, NY
Eastman Johnson John Van Schaick Lansing Pruyn, 1883 Initialed and dated lower left Oil on canvas 28 x 18 inches For many years the foremost genre painter in the United States, Eas...
Canvas, Oil
$331Sale Price|20% Off
French school 19th Sketch costume canopy holder church pictorial decoration
Located in PARIS, FR
French school of the 19th century Watercolor Annotations "Porte Dais / Costume for for the church of Saint Denis" 24 x 16.5 cm
Watercolor
$10,681
Pair of Kate Greenaway original watercolour artworks 'Under the Window', 1879
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Kate Greenaway (British, 1846 – 1901) ‘Prince Finikin and his Mamma sat sipping their bohea..’; and ‘You see, merry Phyllis, that dear little maid, Has invited Belinda to tea..’ Penc...
Watercolor, Pencil
Alonso PEREZ - Painting Genre Scene in Paris
By Alonso Perez
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
ALONSO PEREZ (1881 - 1914) Lady and Napoleon Soldier in the Street Oil on canvas signed and dated 1906 low right Dedication : Au sympathique maître et...
Oil
Greek / Roman Naturalistic Allegory Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Stormy landscape scene in which a Cupid-like figure seen in the clouds appearing to have shot a number of wounded and dying men in the foreground. The men have a number of women and ...
Oil
Antoni Costa Woman original Figurative Academician drawing painting
By A. Costa
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
woman. original figurative academician drawing painting Barcelona, 1904 - Barcelona, 1965 It was formed in Buenos Aires, in the Circle of San Lucas of Barcelona and the FAD. He was ...
Pencil
Studies of Goats and Sheep, Cairo (c. 1871)
Located in Stockholm, SE
Swedish artist Egron Lundgren sketched a small herd of goats and sheep resting together in this scene. Two goats recline quietly at the center while another stands nearby, creating a...
Paper, Watercolor
$568Sale Price|20% Off
Óleo sobre tela - Retrato de dama con tocado floral
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
La obra no va firmada Se presenta sin enmarcar la pintura El estado de la pintura se puede ver, está bastante craquelada y está reentelada Medidas de la obra: 59 x 45 cm.
Oil
"Port. Batumi"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
The painting "Port of Batumi" by Oleksandr Khrapachov is full of legends about the life of the corners of the Black Sea, where the sea ridges and mountain ridges grow together. Paint...
Canvas, Oil
$11,800
Young Beauty
Located in Mc Lean, VA
An Orientalist figurative or genre painting by Conrad Kiesel.
Oil, Wood Panel
Madonna del Dito - Heavenly beauty down to the fingertip -
Located in Berlin, DE
KPM, Madonna del Dito, oval, slightly curved porcelain picture plate by KPM Berlin in fine polychrome onglaze painting, 27 x 22 cm (plate size), 33 x 28.5 cm (frame), unsigned, press...
Porcelain, Oil
$795Sale Price|25% Off
Edouard Detaille (1848 1912), The Young Paperboy, signed watercolor
By Jean Baptiste Édouard Detaille
Located in Paris, FR
Edouard Detaille (1848-1912) The Young Paperboy 16.5 x 20.5 cm Watercolor and brown ink on paper Signed lower right In good condition, the paper is slightly yellowed by time, some o...
Ink, Watercolor
$4,263Sale Price|20% Off
PLAUZEAU Painting Oil canvas French Academic Portrait of boy Early 20th century
Located in PARIS, FR
Alfred PLAUZEAU Avanton-Paché (Vienna), 1875 - Hendaye, 1918 Oil on oil 61 x 38 cm (75.5 x 52.5 cm with frame) Signed lower right "A. Plauzeau" Good condition (sevreal restoration, w...
Oil
"Sakura is blooming"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
The painting "Sakura Blooms" is a true ode to spring, created outdoors in the heart of Transcarpathia. Oleksandr Khrapachov skillfully conveys all the beauty of cherry blossoms, whic...
Canvas, Oil
$24,000
North African Orientalist Scene, Original Watercolor on Paper by Giulio Rosati
Located in Long Island City, NY
North African Orientalist Scene (Horseman and Nomadic Traders) Giulio Rosati, Italian (1857–1917) Date: circa 1880 Watercolor on Paper, signed lower righ...
Watercolor