Academic Figurative Paintings
ACADEMIC STYLE
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.
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Style: Academic
Father and children in front of TV - Mid-Century
Located in Miami, FL
John Falter arranges figures and faces in a way that rival the old masters in their compositional perfection. And he makes it look easy. The expressions are captured so the emotions of the story come alive. This Golden Age of illustration artist depicts fathers and children watching...
Category
1950s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
$140,000 Sale Price
20% Off
Feedback Loop, Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Elizabeth Zanzinger's (US based) "Feedback Loop" is an oil painting that depicts peculiar machine with wiring and red in interior with white background
Elizabeth Zanzinger is an awa...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Lively conversation around a balustrade
Located in Genève, GE
Work on canvas
Dimensions with frame : 83 x 101.5 x 3.5 cm
This 19th-century painting depicts a genre scene, typical of the academic and romantic art of the period. It shows three fi...
Category
Late 19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Escalade Festival in Geneva
Located in Genève, GE
Work on canvas
This striking painting accurately and lavishly depicts the commemorative parade of the Fête de l'Escalade in Geneva, a historical celebration commemorating the victory...
Category
Mid-19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Prism, Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Elizabeth Zanzinger's (US based) "Prism" is an oil painting that depicts a woman in the foreground looking into the distance with an atmospheric su...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
After Paolo Uccello
s "Battle of San Romano" Painted in 1438
Located in Houston, TX
After Paolo Uchello's set of three paints titled "The Battle of San Romano." Originally painted around 1438 to 1440. Uccello depicts events that took place ...
Category
20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Leaves I, Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Elizabeth Zanzinger's (US based) "Leaves I" is an oil painting that depicts yellow Fall leaves with a cream colored background
Elizabeth Zanzinger...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
A Sideways Glance
Located in Mc Lean, VA
Signed with monogram lower right
Category
Late 19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
“Seaside Picnic”
Located in Southampton, NY
Original oil on canvas painting of a bucolic seaside picnic with a mother and her young children. Signed by the artist, F. G. Grust lower left. Condition is very good. The painting is housed in a period style gold leaf frame in fine condition. Overall framed measurements are 31.5 by 41.75 inches. Provenance: A California estate.
F. G. Grust was a Dutch painter born in 1889 who was best known for his domestic interior and exterior scenes of a mother with her young children. He is the son of artist Theordor Grust (1859 - 1909), who also painted Dutch genre...
Category
1920s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$2,500 Sale Price
21% Off
Young Beauty
Located in Mc Lean, VA
An Orientalist figurative or genre painting by Conrad Kiesel.
Category
Mid-19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
$11,800
Siblings hugging
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...
Category
Mid-19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
A Very Fine and Large Oil on Canvas "Ashura Rituals in Tangier, Morocco"
Located in LA, CA
Gordon B. Coutts (Scottish/American, 1868-1937) A very fine and large orientalist oil on canvas titled "Ashura Rituals, Tangier" (Arabic: عاشوراء ʻĀshūrā’ - Urdu: عاشورا - Persian:...
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
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...
Category
1890s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, 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...
Category
19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
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...
Category
1940s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
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...
Category
1990s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Paper, Acrylic
Lady in Middle-Age Suits, Pastel 19th Century
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
FANTIN LATOUR Theodore (1805 – 1875)
« Young Lady dressed with middle-age suit »
Pastel on card signed low right
Old original frame gilded with leaves
Dim pastel : 80 X 63 cm
Dim fr...
Category
Mid-19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Pastel
"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...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Summer
Located in Mc Lean, VA
Exhibited:
Royal Academy, London, 1880, no. 355 (as Summer)
Category
1880s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Miss Carolyn Edmunson
By Leon Kroll
Located in Miami, FL
The art world today does not value traditional academic skills in portrait painting. If it did, this portrait would replace the childlike student-level art that is now achieving two...
Category
1930s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Pretending (Lunch from the Café)
Located in Mc Lean, VA
Signed and dated '1910' lower right
Category
1910s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
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...
Category
1920s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$14,000 Sale Price
20% Off
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...
Category
1930s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Beautiful Woman, The Coy Look - like Bouguereau French painter
Located in Miami, FL
If Vogue magazine existed in the late 19th century, this sitter could be on the cover. The depth of her feminine beauty and sweetness is mesmerizing. She looks at you. You look ...
Category
1880s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Women with Resting Minotaur
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Oil Painting of a women with a sleeping Minotaur.
Light neutral white painting by Cuban Artist Jesus Nordarse.
18 x 18 inches.
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$2,800 Sale Price
20% Off
Courtship and The Shepherd
s Family (a pair)
Located in Mc Lean, VA
19th Century Dutch
Category
1860s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Nude Women with Resting Minotaur - Neutral White Oil Canvas
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Oil Painting of a women with a sleeping Minotaur.
Light neutral white painting by Cuban Artist Jesus Nordarse.
Oil on Canvas - 18 x 18 inches.
Oil Painting of a Love and Sacrafice...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$2,450 Sale Price
30% 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...
Category
1960s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Graphite
$2,000 Sale Price
20% Off
"Transmutations: A Study of Systems Substitution, Painting by Mary Fish
By Mary Fish
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Mary Fish
Title: Transmutations: A Study of Systems Substitution
Year: 1980
Medium: Ink and Tempera on Paper, signed
Size: 33.5 x 56 in. (85.09 x 142.24 cm)
Category
1980s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Ink, Tempera
Yesterday
s Love, Love can Be True. The Heart can Betray
Located in Miami, FL
Classic illustration for a romanace novel from the 1950's in England. Recently these charming works have been the source of interest and even parody. Unsigned, unframed. Vale Studi...
Category
1950s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Gouache, Pencil
Consolation, Collier
s magazine illustration
Located in Miami, FL
Signed upper left
Category
1940s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Gouache, Paper, Pencil
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...
Category
Early 1900s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Cleopatra Queen of Egypt 17
century Painting Oil on Canvas
Located in Rome, IT
Amazing painting of Cleopatra oil on canvas with a gilt wood frame.
Attributed to Giuseppe Diamantini (Fossombrone 1621-Venice 1705)
The dramatic subje...
Category
Late 17th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Girl with Bouquet
Located in Mc Lean, VA
Monogrammed lower right
Category
Mid-19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Cleopatra Queen of Egypt 17
century Painting Oil on Canvas
Located in Rome, IT
Amazing painting of Cleopatra oil on canvas with a gilt wood frame.
Attributed to Giuseppe Diamantini (Fossombrone 1621-Venice 1705)
The dramat...
Category
Late 17th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Le pont de Saint Gérmain de Couilly (sur le Grand Morin)
Located in Mc Lean, VA
Exhibited:
Salon, Société des Artistes Français, Paris, 1879 (no. 647)
Category
1870s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
“The Drunk ” 17th Century Dutch Oil Painting On Panel
Located in Jacksonville, FL
The Drunk" is an oil on panel painting created by Dutch school student. This artwork provides viewers with a captivating glimpse into the past, offering a detailed and vivid portraya...
Category
17th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Pretending (The Great Performance)
Located in Mc Lean, VA
Signed and dated '1890' lower right
Category
1890s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Leaves II, Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Elizabeth Zanzinger's (US based) "Leaves II" is an oil painting that depicts yellow Fall leaves with a cream colored background
Elizabeth Zanzinger is an award-winning painter with an enthusiastic international following. She developed her artistic voice through her studies at the Aristides Atelier and Gage Academy of Fine Art in Seattle. Elizabeth finished her education with a fellowship award (Grand Prize, 2nd Annual Utrecht Art...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Watercolour painting by Henry Ryland
By Henry Ryland
Located in London, GB
This watercolour painting is by the English artist Henry Ryland, celebrated in his day and since for his Neoclassical pictures. Ryland was a contemporary of Lawrence Alma-Tadema and ...
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Board, Laid Paper
"Rowboat in a Summer Landscape" George Bacon Wood, Pleine Air Landscape
Located in New York, NY
George Bacon Wood
Rowboat in a Summer Landscape
Signed lower left
Oil on wood panel
6 1/4 x 8 inches
Born in Philadelphia, landscape painter George Bacon Wood, Jr., studied at the ...
Category
Late 19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Cleopatra Queen of Egypt 17
century Painting Oil on Canvas
Located in Rome, IT
Amazing painting of Cleopatra oil on canvas with a gilt wood frame.
Attributed to Giuseppe Diamantini (Fossombrone 1621-Venice 1705)
The dramatic subje...
Category
Late 17th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Wheels of Industry Past and Present, Golden Age of Illustration - Standard Oil
Located in Miami, FL
This Golden Age of Illustration painting juxtaposes modern and ancient industrial practices. Giant eclectic generators from the current ti...
Category
Mid-20th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Gouache, Board
$12,000 Sale Price
20% Off
Beautiful Woman, The Coy Look - French Painting
Located in Miami, FL
If Vogue magazine existed in the late 19th century, this sitter could be on the cover. The depth of her feminine beauty and sweetness is mesmerizing. She looks at you. You look ...
Category
1880s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
$36,000 Sale Price
20% Off
The Musical Performance oil on panel by Antonio Ermolao Paoletti
Located in New York, NY
The Musical Performance by Antonio Ermolao Paoletti
An italian genre painting showcasing two boys playing a trumpet and a guitar for their sist...
Category
19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel, Board
Georgian Contemporary Art by Ramaz Chantladze - Untitled 12
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas
Ramaz Chantladze is a Georgian artist was born in 1960 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. He studied at Jacob Nikoladze School of Art. In 1979-1985 he studied at...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Neoclassical Two Seated Women One Holding A Dragonfly
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Two Seated Women One Holding A Dragonfly
Unsigned, oil on wood panel 14"x10"5 antique frame 20x16.5
European School, possibly Italian early 19th Century painting of two seated women ...
Category
19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Passeggiata a cavallo a Trieste
Located in Roma, RM
Alfredo Tominz (Trieste 1854 – 1936), Passeggiata a cavallo a Trieste
Dipinto ad olio su tela di cm 69 x 110 firmato e datato 1890 in basso a destra.
Provenienza: Asta Stadion Trie...
Category
Late 19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
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.
Category
Late 19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Cleopatra Queen of Egypt 17
century Painting Oil on Canvas
Located in Rome, IT
Amazing painting of Cleopatra oil on canvas with a gilt wood frame.
Attributed to Giuseppe Diamantini (Fossombrone 1621-Venice 1705)
The dramatic subje...
Category
Late 17th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Boy in a squero in Venice
Located in Roma, RM
Domenico Bresolin (Padua 1813 - Venice 1890), Boy in a squero in Venice
Oil on canvas applied to cardboard 27 x 16 cm initialed (DB) lower left.
Publications
D. Ritter, Venedig in...
Category
Mid-19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
Prospector firing Rifle ( Happiness is a Warm Gun ) Gay Art
By Robert Riggs
Located in Miami, FL
Tempera mixed with gum arabic and alcohol on Renaissance Panel ( composite wood panel )
Robert Riggs was a gay man. Being gay in American during the 1940's time was something not to flaunt in public. Rigg's had to communicate his underlying feelings in more symbolic ways.
Throughout Riggs' oeuvre, one sees continuous references to strong hunked out manly men and vulnerable boys. It is a core element of is iconography and is described in a powerful graphic style.
In “Prospector firing Rifle,” there is a Dick Pic. Riggs is clearly making a sexual statement about the moment of climax. The long, straight rifle explodes and is captured at the moment of its peak climax. Meanwhile, the two bags of gold clearly resemble the other part of the male anatomy. Riggs was a thoughtful and meticulous visual thinker, and nothing in any of Riggs’s compositions was haphazardly placed. In tribute to the artist’s suppressed feelings, I have given this work a second title “Happiness is a Warm Gun...
Category
1940s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Tempera
Asian Love Story - The Good Earth - Golden Age of Illustration
Located in Miami, FL
Magazine Story Illustration most likely for Cosmopolitan or Woman's Home Companion.
Caption: "'I will not heed these old ones,' said the maid. 'Let us flee together somewhere and ...
Category
1920s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Adhesive, Oil
Mid-Century Americana "Good House Keeping Magazine", 1948
Located in Miami, FL
When the Wood Grows Dry "Good House Keeping Magazine" illustration
Surreal depiction of a young mid-century girls social life Good House Keeping Magazi...
Category
1940s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Gouache, Board
Indian Ritual Walking on Fire, Firewalking Ceremony, Mythology and Religion
By Robert Riggs
Located in Miami, FL
Narrative artist Robert Riggs captures a highly-charged scene of an Indian firewalking ceremony. Firewalking is part of a religious ritual and is associated with the mystical powers...
Category
1950s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Varnish, Pigment
19th Century Painting Puppet theatre
By Paul Louis Martin des Amoignes
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
MARTIN DES AMOIGNES, Paul Louis (1850-1925)
Puppet theatre on the village square
Oil on canvas signed low right
Dated 14th of July 1884
Old original f...
Category
1880s Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
The Twelve Princesses
Located in New Orleans, LA
The greatest triumph of the artist’s career, this extraordinary and monumental oil on canvas by Gustave-Max Stevens perfectly represents the highly detailed compositions and richly h...
Category
Late 19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Price Upon Request
Petite Mendiante By William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Located in New Orleans, LA
William Bouguereau
French 1825-1905
Petite Mendiante
(Little Beggar)
Signed “W. Bouguereau 1880” (center left)
Oil on canvas
William Bouguereau's faithful images of young women a...
Category
19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Au Bord Du Ruisseau By William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Located in New Orleans, LA
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
1825-1905 French
Au Bord du Ruisseau
Signed and dated “W-Bouguereau-1888” (upper left)
Oil on Canvas
“Bouguereau’s paintings of children allowed for th...
Category
19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Young girl from Tetouan, Morocco
Located in New Orleans, LA
Young girl from Tetouan, Morocco
Signed (center right)
Oil on canvas
In this important oil on canvas, French Orientalist painter Charles Landelle captures the engaging visage of a young Moroccan woman in a moment of tranquil contemplation. Seated on the floor of what is almost certainly an opulent riad, the young woman wears an intricately embroidered Moroccan kaftan and headdress. The sumptuous patterns on the floor and in the background lend an additional warmth to the strikingly vivid red hues which dominate the composition and are a hallmark of Landelle’s work.
The symbols behind the young woman may represent either the Jewish Star of David or the Islamic Seal...
Category
Late 19th Century Academic Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Academic figurative paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Academic figurative paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add figurative paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, red, purple and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Mark Beard, Kyna de Schouël, Elizabeth Zanzinger, and Delphin Enjolras. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Academic figurative paintings, so small editions measuring 4.93 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative paintings made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $280 and tops out at $595,000, while the average work sells for $7,158.
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