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.
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
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
"Le Petit Cirque Prinder, " Original Etching signd by Auguste Brouet
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Le Petit Cirque Prinder" is an original etching by Auguste Brouet. This piece depicts a variety of circus performers surrounded by small children. The artist signed the piece in the...
Pencil, Etching
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
Portrait of Theresa Rogers
By Leon Kroll
Located in Miami, FL
Portrait of Theresa Rogers Housed in a period hand carved wood frame. Some scatter minor paint loss and stretcher marks otherwise presents very well Signature: Signed lower right T...
Oil
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Il Fait Beau Là-Bas ?
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
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
A. LEONARD - Flower Girl and her Dog
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
A. LEONARD (19th-20th) Flower Girl and Her Dog Oil on canvas signed low left Old Frame regilded with Leaves Dim canvas : 46 X 38 cm Dim Frame : 55 X 46 cm
Oil
$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
$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
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
18th century etching figurative royalty wedding scene print black and white
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"The Marriage of Saint Margaret and King Malcolm" is an etching by Scottish artist Alexander Runciman. There is an engraved signature with the artist's monogram followed by "pinxit et fecit," indicating that Runciman both designed the original drawing and likely executed the etching on the metal plate. On the left, a young woman with a halo in fine dress stoops slightly and gathers her skirts as she leans over to accept the ring that the man on the right is reaching to place upon her finger. He is also young, dressed finely, and wearing a crown. Between them, a church official with a pointed hat and a long flowing beard recites the appropriate prayers for the occasion, while onlookers crowd in the background. The tiled floor demonstrates the use of one-point perspective, and the church appears to be in the Gothic style. Art size: 8 3/4" x 7 1/4" Frame size: 26 1/2" x 22 3/8" Alexander Runciman (Edinburgh 15 August 1736 – 4 October 1785 Edinburgh) was a Scottish painter of historical and mythological subjects. He was the elder brother of John Runciman, also a painter. He was born in Edinburgh, and studied at the Foulis Academy, Glasgow, and from 1750 to 1762 he was apprenticed to the landscape painter Robert Norie, later becoming a partner in the Norie family firm. He also worked as a stage painter for the Theatre Royal in Edinburgh. In 1767, he went to Rome, where he spent five years. His brother John accompanied him, but died in Naples in the winter of 1768–69. During Runciman's stay in Italy he became acquainted with other artists such as Henry Fuseli and the sculptor Johan Tobias Sergel...
Etching
$6,500
19th century landscape color lithograph seascape buildings cityscape houses
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Chicago in Early Days" is an original color lithograph by Kurz & Allison. This piece features multiple views of the city of Chicago. 16 3/4" x 23 1/4" art 28 1/8" x 33 7/8" frame ...
Lithograph
The Farm to the Donkey
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
GARAT Francis (1870 - NC) The Farm of The Donkey Oil on canvas signed and dated 1883 low right Frame guilded Size canvas : 50 X 76 cm - Size frame : 60 X 76 cm GARAT Francis (1870 -...
Oil
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
Teaching him a New Trick
Located in Mc Lean, VA
19th Century Dutch
Canvas, Oil
Klosters - Signed Lithograph, Royal Art, Switzerland, Mountains, Hüreli, Skiing
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
The Hüreli, Klosters, Switzerland by His Majesty King Charles III (created when he was HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales) - Hand Si...
Lithograph
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
Female Portrait Sketch #2
By Ben Fenske
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
A colorful sketch of a female bust, in the style of contemporary academic realism. Artist Bio Ben Fenske (b. 1978) although a native of Minnesota, a...
Paper, Conté, Crayon
"Wife of Lot"
By Robert Bodem
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Robert Christian Bodem is a sculptor of figurative work, primarily showing in bronze. He received both his Bachelors and Masters in Fine Arts in Sculpture at Boston University. Durin...
Bronze
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Au Feu!
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...
Canvas, Oil
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - 7eme Symphonie
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
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
Marines in Pair - Dutch Painting 19th Century
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
VAN WYK Henri (1833-NC) Marines in pair Oil on wood panel signed low left Old frame re-gilded with gold leaves Dim wood : 23 X 41 cm Dim frame : 40 X 58 cm Certificate of authenticit...
Oil
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
Ben Avon - Signed Lithograph, Royal Art, Scotland, British, Braemar, Mountains
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
Ben Avon, Near Braemar, January by His Majesty King Charles III (created when he was HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales) - Hand Sign...
Lithograph
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
$2,638
Ballroom Dancers - Charcoal, Figurative, Fabric, Movement, Human Form, British
By Trudy Good
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
Ballroom Dancers by Trudy Good. Original Charcoal & Pastel onto paper. Trudy Good is a British figurative painter who has exhibited in numerous plac...
Charcoal, Pastel
View of Venice - Painting 19th Century
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
KAUFMANN KARL (1843-1901) Pseudonym : CARNIER Venice view Oil on canvas signed CARNIER low right Framed by Gault (Paris) gilded with leaves Dim : canvas ...
Oil
Pretending (Lunch from the Café)
Located in Mc Lean, VA
Signed and dated '1910' lower right
Canvas, Oil
$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
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Au Fond l'Espoir
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
French Contemporary Art by Franck Bailleul - Instantané
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
"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
At the Stream
By Philip Hermogenes Calderon R.A.
Located in Mc Lean, VA
Signed and dated '1864' lower left
Canvas, Oil
Landscape With Washerwoman
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
LEVIGNE Théodore (1848-1912) Landscape With Washerwoman Oil on canvas signed low right Old Frame regilded with leaves Dimensions canvas : 55 X 73 cm Dimensions frame : 70 X 85 cm LE...
Oil
Across the River by Sir David Murray
Located in New Orleans, LA
Sir David Murray, R.A., H.R.S.A., R.S.W., R.I. 1849-1933 • Scottish Across the River Signed and dated D. Murray 1907 (lower left) Signed and inscribed “Across the River/by David M...
Canvas, Oil
In the diner
Located in Roma, RM
Antonio Maria Fabrés y Costa (Barcelona 1854 - Rome 1938), In the Restaurant (1880) Oil painting on panel 14 x 21 cm signed and dated on the right.
Oil, Board
$1,623
1974 oil painting still life of a mandolin and apple by British George Weissbort
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
George Weissbort (Belgian / British, 1928 – 2013) A MANDOLIN AND AN APPLE Oil on canvasboard 18.1/8 x 22 in. (46 x 55.7 cm.) George Weissbort was born in Brussels in 1928. Seven ...
Oil, Board
$866Sale Price|20% Off
Siblings Hugging Tondo Painting, Mid-19th Century, Framed Oil on Board
Located in GB
The painting is round in shape, a tondo, which was a style sometimes favoured in the 19th century for its intimacy and decorative appeal. It depicts two siblings: the older sister cr...
Oil, Board
A French 19th-20th Century Oil on Canvas "A Good Poker Hand Player Smoking Pipe"
Located in LA, CA
Émile Renard (French, 1850-1930) A Fine and Charming Oil on Canvas "A Good Poker Hand", depicting a joyous seated man, smoking a pipe, showing his Poker hand of cards. Within a carve...
Oil
Istambul View with characters
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Alfredo CALDINI (1917 - NC) View of Istambul with Characters Oil on canvas signed low left Old frame regilded with gold leaves Size canvas : 46 X 65 cm...
Oil
20th Century British watercolour of Cowdrey ruins, West Sussex by Muncaster
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Claude Muncaster (British, 1903-1974) Cowdray ruins, West Sussex Pencil and watercolour 12.1/2 x 9 in. (31.7 x 22.8 cm.) Provenance: Garton & Cooke, New Bond Street, London Exhibitio...
Watercolor, Pencil
Portrait of a Redhead in Profile
By Leon Kroll
Located in Miami, FL
Beautifully rendered in Krolls signature academic style. Unframed - Signed lower right, unframed
Wood, Oil
Painting 19th Century Landscape Antique Ruins
By Alfred August Felix Bachman
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
BACHMANN Alfred Félix August (1863-1956) Walking by the Antique Ruins Oil on canvas signed low right Frame gilded with gold leaves Dim canvas : 54 X 65 ...
Oil
Praying in the Desert by Rudolf Ernst, 19th Century Oil on Panel
By Rudolf Ernst
Located in Jacksonville, FL
Rudolph Ernst’s Praying in the Desert is a masterful example of Orientalist art, showcasing the artist's profound ability to blend intricate detail with an atmosphere of serene spiri...
Oil, Panel
Portrait at the Painter's workshop
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Francesco Brunery (1849–1926) Portrait at the Artist's Workshop Oil on wood panel Old frame gilded with leaves Dim panel : 30 X 24 cm Dim frame : 54 X 46 cm Francesco Brunery (1849...
Oil
Stony Brook Village
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Dalessio faithfully depicts a Long Island town, picturesque with a large white church in the background. Marc Dalessio was born in 1972 in Los Angeles, California. Even in his earlie...
Oil, Panel
Mountain Landscape with Animals and Figures
Located in Atlanta, GA
A student of Regnault and of Bertin, Jean-Charles Joseph Rémond exhibited at the Salon from 1814 to 1848. He was awarded his first grand prize in 1821 for "L'enlevement de Proserpi...
Canvas, Oil
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
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
$14,000Sale Price|20% Off
Portrait of Dorothy Thompson (The Wild Rose) - Female Artist
Located in Miami, FL
A charming portrait of a beautiful blue-eyed girl in a pink dress holding flowers in her hand. It's based on Renaissance portraits where the subject is pushed to the foreground and i...
Canvas, Oil
Plate 23: "Vienna, Palais Erzherzog Friedrich, Wedgwood Cabinet"
Located in New York, NY
This photogravure is twenty third plate presented in Josef Folnesics publication "Alte Innenräume österreichischer Schlösser, Paläste und Wohnhäuser" (Old interiors of Austrian Castl...
Photogravure
$2,000Sale Price|20% Off
Torah Scholar, Shimshon Holzman
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Shimshon Holzman (1907-1986) Title: Torah Scholar Year: 1962 Medium: Watercolor and graphite on wove paper Size: 13.75 x 19.75 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed...
Watercolor, Graphite
20th Century drawing of William Docker Drysdale by Gilbert Spencer
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Gilbert Spencer RA, RWS, NEAC (British, 1892-1959) Portrait of William Dockar Drysdale pencil Signed and dated `Gilbert Spencer/ 1949’ (lower right) 15...
Paper, Pencil