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.
Wensleydale from Moorcock - Signed Lithograph, Royal Art, Yorkshire, Landscape
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
Wensleydale from Moorcock by His Majesty King Charles III (created when he was HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales) - Hand Signed Lim...
Lithograph
Glengairn, Aberdeenshire - Signed Lithograph, Royal Art, Scotland, British
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
Glengairn, Aberdeenshire, January by His Majesty King Charles III - Hand Signed Limited Edition Lithograph. Belgravia Gallery has been ...
Lithograph
$481Sale Price|45% Off
“Moonlight Sail”
Located in Southampton, NY
Beautiful, serene sepia watercolor of a moonlight sail on archival paper attributed to Robert Montgomery. Signed lower left. Condition is excellent. Re...
Watercolor, Archival Paper
Biblioteca di Michelozzo a S.Marco, Firenze
Located in New York, NY
Biblioteca di Michelozzo a S.Marco, Firenze, 2009 C-print Signed, titled, dated and numbered edition of 5 on artist's label on verso. The photographer is based in Florence, and is f...
C Print
"The Temptation of Saint Anthony " Etching, Signed
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"The Temptation of Saint Anthony" is an original etching by Fernand Cormon. This piece has the artist's stamp. The piece is signed in pencil by the artis...
Etching, Paper, Ink, Laid Paper
Venus Cast - Figurative Painting Colors Black Purple White Yellow Grey
By Lyubena Fox
Located in Sofia, BG
"Venus cast" Oil on canvas (The painting is unframed 70 x 50 cm.) The Painting’s Qualities Lyubena Fox’s paintings are painted in several layers, using both the transparent and opaque qualities of oil paint. Each layer is applied after the previous has dried which makes the painting withstand time. It also creates a glowing, three-dimensional effect, which is due to the different layers showing though each other. These paintings are painted following the logic of how the eye perceives: seeing the details in the context of the form. To create a fulfilling experience, the images are composed of places, full of detail for the eye to explore and places where the eye can rest. “The impressions of Lyubena's paintings on the viewer is so mighty, mesmerizing, grand, that it paralyzes the imagination with its realistic perfection. Her paintings bring emotion of drama, mystery, love, desire and energy, represented by the vast creative power of her talent.” Bio Lyubena Fox was born in 1994 in Sofia, Bulgaria. 2013 she graduated from the National school of fine arts Bulgaria, specializing in illustration. The same year she moved to Florence, Italy to study painting with John M. Angel and in 2016 graduated from Angel Academy of Art Florence, after which she studied with Alessandro Dari. 2017 she has two solo exhibitions in Sofia. 2018 Lyubena has three of her paintings qualified as ARC finalists and later in May studies painting with her favorite contemporary painter Roberto Ferri...
Canvas, Oil
$600Sale Price|20% Off
'Le Louvre et La Seine, ' by Phillipe Benoist, Four-color Lithograph
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
This is a beautiful four-color lithograph of the Louvre by the Seine by Philippe Benoist. It is double-matted in light blue with a gold tone wooden frame. Phillip Benoist was a p...
Lithograph
Mystery Signed Pen and Ink Floral
Located in San Francisco, CA
Up for sale another mystery piece. This wonderfully executed pen and ink is signed lower right but I cannot decipher it. Obviously drawn by a very well trained artist. This floral pi...
Ink
$2,880Sale Price|20% Off
“Floral Bouquet with Mandolin”
Located in Southampton, NY
Beautiful floral watercolor and gouache on paper with musical instruments by the German artist, Friedrich (Frederick) Jungling. Signed lower right and dated 1908. Excellent condition...
Watercolor, Gouache, Archival Paper
Relaxing - people walking , Panoramic Archival fine art print, Black white 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 ' Relaxing ' Scene of a riverside stroll near a po...
Black and White, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment
Marine at twilight from Nederland
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
VAN KOPP (19th Century) Dutch School Marine at twilight from Nederland Oil on canvas signed low right Old frame re-gilded with gold leaves Dim canvas : 50 X 100 cm Dim Frame : 72 X 1...
Oil
$520Sale Price|20% Off
“Mallards 2”
By Alan Farrell
Located in Southampton, NY
Miniature watercolor painting on arches paper of a pair of mallards done by the very well known miniature artist, Allan Farrell. Exhibited at the Royal Miniature Society exhibition i...
Watercolor, Archival Paper
A Sylvan Toilette -- ca. 1898
Located in Mc Lean, VA
Exhibited: Society of American Artists, New York, 1898 Intimate Revelations: The Art of Carroll Beckwith, Berry-Hill Galleries, New York, 1 December 1999-15 January 2000, no. 49 Li...
Canvas, Oil
Walhalla - Ratisbona 2003
Located in New York, NY
Walhalla - Ratisbona 2003 C-print Signed, titled, dated and numbered edition of 5 on artist's label on verso. 39.5 x 47.5 inches edition of 5 47.5 x 59 inches edition of 5 71 x ...
C Print
The Letter By Georges Croegaert
Located in New Orleans, LA
Georges Croegaert 1848-1923 Belgian The Letter Signed "Georges Croegaert Paris" (lower right) Oil on panel A cardinal pauses while composing a letter in this oil on panel by Belg...
Oil, Panel
Young Lady With Parasol in The garden
By Eugène Charles Picou
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
PICOU Eugène Charles (1831–1914) - "Young Girl with parasol" - Oil on canvas signed lower left - Old frame gilded with leaf - Canvas size: 61 X 50 cm...
Oil
19th century color lithograph portraits patriotic American stars flags
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"The Presidents of the U.S." is an original hand-colored lithograph by Nathaniel Currier. It features the first eleven presidents of the United States. 14" x 10" art 23" x 19 1/8" frame Nathaniel Currier was born March 27, 1813 to Nathaniel and Hannah Currier in Roxbury, Massachusetts. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to William S. and John Pendleton of Boston who had set up the first lithographic establishment in America. His apprenticeship served him well as he went on to be the largest publisher of lithographs. Mr. Maurer described Nat Currier as being very gentlemanly and liberal. As is evident to the success of the firm of Currier & Ives he was very devoted to his business. Nat Currier had many friends including Horace Greely and P.T. Barnum. He was well known for his sense of humor and Harry T. Peters tells one story about P. T. Barnum. "Currier had heard that one day his friend, the great showman, had rushed into the barber shop of the old Park Hotel, at Beekman and Nassau Streets, to get a shave. Barnum had hurried up to Tom Higginson, the barber, and said, 'Tom, I'm in a hurry.' 'Sorry for it,' said Tom, 'but it's that gentleman's turn next.' 'That gentleman' was an unshaven irshman waiting for a ten-cent shave. Barnum turned to him and said, 'My friend, if you will let me have your turn, I'll pay for what you have done.' The gentleman consented, and, as Barnum found out later, had a full job done - absolutely everything the house had. The check was for a dollar and sixty cents. When Currier heard this story he found the very Irishman and had him pose. The result was the famous cartoon, "The Man that Gave Barnum 'His Turn.'" Nathaniel was married twice; his first wife was Miss Eliza West of Boston. He had one son with Eliza, Edward West Currier. In 1847 he married Miss Laura Ormsbee of Vermont. Laura and Nathaniel are memorialized in the famous N. Currier lithograph The Road Winter...
Lithograph
Pierce Arrow - Archival fine art print, Black white, Car dealer's shop window
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 former car dealer's shop window of the brand Pierce Arrow cerca 1925 entitled ' Pierce A...
Black and White, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment
Girl with Bouquet
Located in Mc Lean, VA
Monogrammed lower right
Canvas, Oil
Being Married to a Book Reviewer is Exciting - First Black Cartoonist
Located in Miami, FL
Elmer Simms Campbell was a brilliant illustrator and cartoon artist and was also the first African American cartoonist to be nationally syndicated in major newsstand magazines such a...
Paper, Ink, Pen
Formal Portrait of a Chinese Man in Traditional Dress
Located in Miami, FL
Dressed in traditional clothing, a handsome Chinese man is depicted as he sits resolutely with one hand on his leg and the other holding a baton. Female Artist Joyce Ballantyne...
Canvas, Oil
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Swing des Oranges
Located in Paris, IDF
Artwork located in Los Angeles, USA. Franck Bailleul is a French painter born in 1964 who lives & works in Abbeville, Normandy, France. He has exhibited nationally as well as in th...
Oil, Panel
"Caravansary at Shiraz" Antique orientalist Black & White Oil Painting on Board
Located in Jacksonville, FL
The "Caravansary at Shiraz," is accompanied by the book "From The Black Sea Through Persia and India" by Weeks. In his book, on page 115, Weeks provides an insightful explanation abo...
Oil, Board
Pasture with Cows
By Rémy Cogghe
Located in Atlanta, GA
Born in Mouscron in the Belgian province of Hainaut, Cogghe attended the Academy of Roubaix where he studied under Constantin Mils. In 1876, Cogghe was admitted to the École Nation...
Canvas, Oil
Two Arches, Prospect Park Brooklyn, sunlight architectural urban landscape
Retrato de un Militar - Dibujo a pastel
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
Firmado en la parte inferior por el artista Se presenta sin enmarcar la obra Medidas obra: 55 cm. de altura x 46 cm. de ancho Buen estado de conservación el de la obra ::::::::::...
Pastel
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Go Bang
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...
Panel
Musei Vaticani XIV, Scala Simonetti
Located in New York, NY
Musei Vaticani XIV, Scala Simonetti 2011 Massimo Listri is based in Florence, and is fascinated how his architectural subject matter allows him to control the composition of his ima...
C Print
19th century color lithograph scientific bird animal print hawk tree leaves egg
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Sparrow Hawk" is an original color lithograph by an unknown American artist. It depicts a bird perching on the limb of a tree, its young poking out of th...
Lithograph
Pair of Miner Bookends
By Max Kalish
Located in New York, NY
Max Kalish was an important and highly collected American sculptor desired for his depictions of the working man. Here we see a miner taking a break. Kalish was adept at conveying ...
Bronze
"Faistenau" oil painting of snow covered landscape Salzkammergut steeple
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Plein-air landscape painting of Faistenau, in Austria. A snow covered foreground meets a structure filled horizon, a church tower reaches upward, dissecting the blue sky. Frame opt...
Oil, Panel
$1,500
18th century etching figurative neoclassical mythology scene dynamic
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Cormar Attacking a Spirit on the Waters" is an etching by eighteenth-century Scottish artist Alexander Runciman, signed in plate on the lower edge of the etching, "ARunciman inv. & ...
Etching, Paper, Ink
$10,200
19th century ink portrait drawing male subject realism black and white
By Oscar Gustave Rejlander
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Portrait of Baron Mayer de Rothschild, Rothschild Collection" by Oscar Gustave Rejlander is done in ink wash on paper. It is framed and matted. The portrait is a bust of Baron Mayer de Rothschild of the Rothschild banking dynasty, who lived 1813-1874. Art size: 11 3/4" x 8 3/4" Frame size: 20" x 17" "Rejlander, Oscar Gustav (1813-75), Swedish-born photographer, active in England and often known as ‘the father of art photography’, having pioneered practices such as combination printing and promoted photography's capacity to tackle subjects conventionally associated with painting. After studying lithography and painting in Rome, Rejlander arrived in England in the early 1840s and settled in Wolverhampton. A day's instruction with Nicolaas Henneman was apparently his only training before he turned to photography in 1853. Throughout his professional career, Rejlander combined studio portrait work and other commissions with particular artistic projects, importing ideas and inspiration from such sources as Flemish and late Renaissance art, 18th-century English narrative works, or contemporary cartoons from papers like Punch. His famous moral allegory The Two Ways of Life (1857) combines sophisticated combination printing with elaborately staged photographs. Although widely condemned as indecent—in Scotland only the ‘virtuous’ side of the picture could be shown—it was bought by Queen Victoria for Prince Albert. Rejlander vigorously defended photography's narrative capability, emphasizing artifice as a way to truth and creative expression, and works like Hard Times and The Dream (both 1860) convey unconscious states hauntingly and in a precociously modern way. In 1862 he left Wolverhampton for a London studio, where judiciously placed windows enabled him to create subtle lighting effects for portraiture. Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) and Alfred...
Ink
French Contemporary Art by Pascal Plazanet - Place des Vosges
Located in Paris, IDF
Rapidography & ink on paper Pascal Plazanet is a French artist born in 1963 who lives and works in Paris, France. For more 30 years, he constantly uses rapidograph pens in his artworks on paper or onto canvas. The rapidograph is a special pen with a capillary tubular tip in which flows a black pigment, an ancient drawing...
Paper, Ink
Fournier Hippolyte (1853-1926)+ Promenade de Dimanche (The Walk on Sunday)
By Hippolyte Fournier
Located in Gent, VOV
This exquisite oil on canvas painting, "The Walk on Sunday," by Hippolyte Fournier is a captivating depiction of 19th-century leisure. The artist's meticulous brushstrokes bring to l...
Oil
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - L'Espoir en Rose
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, Canvas
Homecoming Of The Sea
Located in Naples, Florida
This coastal scene depicts a young child standing by the sea, holding a small spade and gazing toward the horizon. Soft light and delicate color convey innocence, quiet anticipation,...
Oil, Canvas
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Amour Celeste
Located in Paris, IDF
Artwork located in Los Angeles, USA. Franck Bailleul is a French painter born in 1964 who lives & works in Abbeville, Normandy, France. He has exhibited nationally as well as i...
Canvas, Oil
French Contemporary Art by Pascal Plazanet - Ansouis en Luberon
Located in Paris, IDF
Rapidography & oil onto canvas Pascal Plazanet is a French artist born in 1963 who lives and works in Paris, France. For more 30 years, he constantly uses rapidograph pens in his artworks on paper or onto canvas. The rapidograph is a special pen with a capillary tubular tip in which flows a black pigment, an ancient drawing tool...
Canvas, Oil
Cute Koala Bear Australia, Photorealism
By John Ruthven
Located in Miami, FL
John Ruthven is recognized as the “20th-century Audubon. In this very detailed and meticulously rendered work the artist depicts a Koala in an iconic and proud pose and a Photoreali...
Watercolor, Gouache
French Contemporary Art by Pascal Plazanet - Provencale No. 6
Located in Paris, IDF
Rapidography & acrylic on paper + white frame Pascal Plazanet is a French artist born in 1963 who lives and works in Paris, France. For more 30 years, he constantly uses rapidograph pens in his artworks on paper or onto canvas. The rapidograph is a special pen with a capillary tubular tip in which flows a black pigment, an ancient drawing tool...
Paper, Acrylic
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - L'Envolée Légère
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...
Canvas, Oil
French Contemporary Art by Pascal Plazanet - Provencale No. 12
Located in Paris, IDF
Rapidography & acrylic on paper + white frame Pascal Plazanet is a French artist born in 1963 who lives and works in Paris, France. For more 30 years, he constantly uses rapidograph pens in his artworks on paper or onto canvas. The rapidograph is a special pen with a capillary tubular tip in which flows a black pigment, an ancient drawing...
Paper, Acrylic
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Humeurs Brouillonnes
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 U...
Oil, Canvas
"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
"The ribbons bent"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
The picture "Stozhki nakhilis" transports the viewer to the winter fairy tale of Transcarpathia, where a sunny day envelops the snow-covered slopes of the mountains with warm rays. O...
Canvas, Oil
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Droit au Coeur
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
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Éclaircie
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 Unite...
Oil, Panel
The New Pet
By Edmund Adler
Located in Naples, Florida
This genre scene depicts children gathered in a quiet courtyard, rendered with soft light and gentle color to evoke warmth and everyday life. Edmund Adler was an Austrian painter ...
Oil
Edgard CUGNOTET - Painting 19th Century - Portrait of Two Children
By Edouard Ferdinand Ludovic Cugnotet
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
CUGNOTET Edgard (19th Century) Portrait of two Children Oil on canvas signed low left and dated 1884 Frame gilded with leaves Dim canvas : 138 X 100 cm Dim Frame : 162 X 122 cm CUGNOTET Edgard Ferdinand Ludovic (19th Century) French painter 19th Century born in Dijon Figures, Portraits, Landscapes He was taught by François Édouard PICOT (1786-1868) royal Academy of Anvers. He exhibited at the Salon de Paris between 1868 and 1884. Museum : Langres « the hurdy gurdy...
Oil
Pueblo Mailboxes
Located in East Hampton, NY
Title: Pueblo Mailboxes, NM Size: 21” x 14” Edition: 1/5 Medium: Archival Pigment Print Price: $550 Also available in 20"x30" Edition of 10 $725 Printed to Order Gerry Giliberti is...
Archival Pigment
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Douce France
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 Unite...
Canvas, Oil
$450
Plate 25: "Vienna, Palais Erzherzog Friedrich, Anteroom at the main staircase"
Located in New York, NY
This photogravure is twenty fifth plate presented in Josef Folnesics publication "Alte Innenräume österreichischer Schlösser, Paläste und Wohnhäuser" (Old interiors of Austrian Castl...
Photogravure
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - La Cathédrale Engloutie
Located in Paris, IDF
Artwork located in Los Angeles, USA. Franck Bailleul is a French painter born in 1964 who lives & works in Abbeville, Normandy, France. He has exhibited nationally as well as i...
Canvas, Oil
$10,000
Old Time Football in the 1920s - Football 1920s - Classic Football
Located in Miami, FL
You Got to be a Football Hero to Get Along with a Beautiful Girl. Masterfully composed and dynamic illustration that show a player getting punched in the jaw. During this period, there were no face...
Canvas, Oil
Ballroom Dancers II - Charcoal, Figurative, Fabric, Movement, Human Form
By Trudy Good
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
Ballroom Dancers II by Trudy Good. Original Charcoal & Pastel onto paper. Trudy Good is a British figurative painter who has exhibited in numerous pla...
Charcoal, Pastel
$6,100
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Mais où se cache le Soleil ?!
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, Canvas
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - De ma Fenêtre
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...
Canvas, Oil
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Coup de Vent sur Colleville
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
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Terre qui Saigne ?
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