Academic Art
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
Mrs John Torcapel by Alexandre Blanchet - Sketch 35x47 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper
Total dimension with the passe-partout: 63 x 48 cm
Category
Mid-20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Crayon
$440 Sale Price
20% Off
France early 20th century View of the Grosbois castle and head study, watercolor
Located in Paris, FR
French school early 20th century
View of the Grosbois castle and a portrait study.
Black ink, black ink wash and watercolor on paper
Signed lower right (indistinct, see photo)
27 x ...
Category
1910s Academic Art
Materials
Watercolor, Ink, Carbon Pencil
Anatomy Drawing of a Horse - Original French Artwork Equestrian Anatomy Study
By Robert Ladou
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Anatomy of a Horse
by Robert Ladou (French 1929-2014)
original drawing stuck on card in blue folder/ thick paper, unframed
drawing: 11.75 x 14.5...
Category
20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Charcoal, Crayon, Watercolor, Pencil, Color Pencil
"Serene Village"
By Samuel R. Chaffee
Located in Southampton, NY
Circa 1900
Signed lower right
Sight size 12 x 18 in
Overall size matted with period gold leaf frame 22 x 27.5 in
Category
Early 1900s Academic Art
Materials
Watercolor, Paper
Portrait of a woman by Stefanie Guerzoni - Charcoal on paper 50x65 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Charcoal
$288 Sale Price
56% Off
"White Vase"
By Margaret Fulton Spencer
Located in Southampton, NY
Oil on canvas painting of a still life with white vase by the American artist Margaret Fulton Spencer.Signed middle bottom. Titled verso. In original condition; unlined. The painting is housed in a art nouveau reproduction frame. Overall 27.25 by 23.25 inches.
Biography forMargaret Spencer
The niece of painters Thomas Alexander...
Category
1930s Academic Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$2,200 Sale Price
42% Off
Sketch woman portrait by Stephanie Guerzoni - Sketch on paper 26x37 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Crayon
$440 Sale Price
20% Off
Elegancia en París - 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 42 cm. de ancho
Buen estado de conservación el de la obra
::::::::::...
Category
Late 20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Pastel
Sketch of man by Otto Vautier - Pencil on paper 22x45 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper
Stamp of the workshop of O. Vautier
Dimension of the passe-partout framing 52.5 x 38 cm
Otto Vautier is a renowned Swiss painter, born in 1...
Category
Early 19th Century Academic Art
Materials
Crayon
$360 Sale Price
20% Off
Study of female nude and a couple - Pencil drawing - circa 1914
Located in Paris, IDF
Georges CONRAD (1874-1936)
Study of female nude and a couple
Original pencil drawing
Signed with the stamp of atelier
On paper 26.5 x 20 cm (c. 10,4 x 7.8 in)
Good condition, paper...
Category
1910s Academic Art
Materials
Pencil
Classical Naturalistic Style Italian Allegory Study
Located in Houston, TX
Classical style allegorical painting with puti and monarchy type figures floating within the clouds. The canvas is framed in a decorative gold frame.
Dimensions Without Frame: H 43.5...
Category
20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Oil
Fire
s Boat
Located in Dallas, TX
Eleanor Jones Harvey, Chief Curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, writes about Bob Stuth-Wade:
“Over the course of his career, Bob Stuth-Wade has examined his responses to...
Category
Early 2000s Academic Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Graphite
Amaranthus tricolor: A 17th-18th C. Besler Hand-colored Botanical Engraving
Located in Alamo, CA
This is a hand-colored copper plate engraving entitled "Amaranthus Tricolor", depicting a flowering Amaranthus Tricolor plant from Basilius Besler's landmark work, Hortus Eystettensis (Garden at Eichstatt), first published in 1613 in Eichstatt, Germany near Nuremberg and later in 1640 and 1713. Amaranthus tricolor, known as edible amaranth, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Amaranthus. The plant is often cultivated for ornamental and culinary purposes. Cultivars have a striking yellow, red, and green foliage. It is known as Joseph's coat in some areas, after the biblical figure Joseph, who is said to have worn a coat of many colors. Amaranthus tricolor is one of several species of amaranth cultivated in warm regions across the world.
This beautiful colorful engraving is printed on thin laid chain-linked paper with very wide margins. There is a short crease in the upper right corner, mild irregularity of the left, right and lower edges and some bleed-through of text from the verso. The print is otherwise in excellent condition with striking hand-coloring. The sheet measures 22.13" high and 17.13" wide.
Basilius Besler (1561–1629) was an apothecary and botanist. He was curator of the Willibaldsburg Castle garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, prince bishop...
Category
Early 18th Century Academic Art
Materials
Engraving
$2,540 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of a man by Hans Berger - Drawing 38x51 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper without frame
Category
20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Carbon Pencil
$200 Sale Price
66% Off
"Young Woman with Headdress"
Located in Southampton, NY
Here for your consideration is a late 19th century needlepoint, petitepoint and beaded portrait of a young woman. It is a highly detailed and meticulously crafted beaded portrait wi...
Category
19th Century Academic Art
Materials
Other Medium
$1,440 Sale Price
20% Off
Morning moments - Pencil drawing - circa 1914
Located in Paris, IDF
Georges CONRAD (1874-1936)
Morning moments
Original India ink drawing
Signed with the stamp of atelier
On paper 26.5 x 20 cm (c. 10,4 x 7.8 in)
Very good condition, paper lightly y...
Category
1910s Academic Art
Materials
India Ink
“Continental Landscape”
Located in Southampton, NY
Original oil on wooden oak panel of a traditional figural landscape of an incoming storm with figures fishing in the foreground. No visible signature. Condition is excellent. Wonder...
Category
1840s Academic Art
Materials
Oil, Board
$3,840 Sale Price
20% 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. ...
Category
1940s Academic Art
Materials
Watercolor, Archival Paper, Graphite
$297 Sale Price
30% Off
Set of 4 watercolours, mid 20th Century British by Harold Dearden, farm helpers
By Harold Dearden
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Harold Dearden (British, 1888 – 1962)
Farm helpers sorting a farm crop
Set of four watercolours
16.3/4 x 17.1/8in.
Category
20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
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...
Category
19th Century Academic Art
Materials
Lithograph
Sketch of woman by Stephanie Guerzoni - Drawing 31x48 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper with a white wooden frame and glass. The total size with frame is 45,5 x 54,5 cm
Stéphanie Guerzoni is a Swiss and Italian painter born April 15, 1887 in Vienna (Aust...
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Crayon
$528 Sale Price
20% Off
Stella Maris and Down Patrick Head
Located in Dallas, TX
Eleanor Jones Harvey, Chief Curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, writes about Bob Stuth-Wade:
“Over the course of his career, Bob Stuth-Wade has examined his responses to...
Category
Early 2000s Academic Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
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
::::::::::...
Category
Late 20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Pastel
Dancer by Henri Fehr - Drawing 50x35 cm
By Henri Fehr
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper
Category
20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Crayon
$200 Sale Price
20% Off
"Epesses, Switzerland" by Monique Monod - Pencil and watercolor
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper
Silver wood frame with glass pane
36 x 46 x 1,5 cm
Category
1960s Academic Art
Materials
Watercolor, Pencil
$448 Sale Price
20% Off
Beaty - Archival fine art print, Black white photo, Portrait of a young woman
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 ' Beaty '
Portrait of a young woman created cerca ...
Category
1910s Academic Art
Materials
Black and White, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment
Rider at Sunset
Equestrian and Horse Oil on Canvas Painting by Chris Brizzard
Located in Oklahoma City, OK
The rapid pace of the ride over a country landscape and the relationship between the rider and horse are felt in this oil on canvas painting by Chris Brizzard...
Category
2010s Academic Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Dressing" by Otto Vautier - Pencil on paper 19x12 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper
Stamp of the workshop of O. Vautier
Dimension of the "passe partout" frame 52.5 x 38 cm
Otto Vautier is a renowned Swiss painter, born in 1...
Category
1910s Academic Art
Materials
Crayon
$280 Sale Price
20% Off
Tribute to Degas Ballerina : Sitting female nude - Ink drawing - circa 1916
Located in Paris, IDF
Georges CONRAD (1874-1936)
Tribute to Degas Ballerina : Sitting female nude
Original India ink and pencil drawing
Signed with the stamp of atelier
On...
Category
1910s Academic Art
Materials
India Ink, Pencil
“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 ...
Category
Early 1900s Academic Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$5,200 Sale Price
38% 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
Category
19th Century Academic Art
Materials
Watercolor
$332 Sale Price
20% Off
Town Hall Square By Barthélémy Marc Bodmer - Engraving
Located in Geneva, CH
Engraving on paper
Brown wooden frame with glass pane
62 x 50 x 2 cm
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Engraving
$584 Sale Price
20% Off
"Red Bell II, " Oil painting
Located in Denver, CO
Thane Gorek's (US based) "Red Bell II" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a red bell pepper halved, so that it's seeds and core are exposed...
Category
2010s Academic Art
Materials
Oil, Board
Cowgirl
By Henri Fehr
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper
Category
20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Crayon, Charcoal
$288 Sale Price
47% Off
Still Life composition
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Jacques DELANOY (1820-1890)
Still Life Fruits and vegetables
Oil on canvas signed and dated 1890 low left
Old frame regilded with leaves
Dim canvas : 41 X 34 cm Dim frame : 53 X 44 ...
Category
1890s Academic Art
Materials
Oil
Still life with apples and channe by Georges Djakeli - Oil on wood 9x11 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Djakeli G. Officier de cavalerie
Work on wood
Gilded wood frame
13 x 15 x 2 cm
Category
Mid-20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Oil
Portrait of woman by Gustave François - Engraving 44x54 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper without frame
Category
Mid-20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Engraving
$184 Sale Price
44% Off
Studies of a tabby cat
, mixed media on paper by British artist John Sergeant
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
John Sargeant (British, 1937 – 2010)
Studies of a tabby cat
Mixed media
Signed and dated ‘John Sargeant 1974 (lower right)
8.7/8 x 12in. (22.6 x 30.5 cm.)
Category
20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Portrait of a lady by Stephanie Guerzoni - Pastel on paper 38x51 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper sold with frame (white wooden frame with glass). The total size with frame is 46,5 x 56,5 cm
Stéphanie Guerzoni is a Swiss and Italian painter born April 15, 1887 in ...
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Crayon, Pastel
$528 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait of a man by Hans Berger - Drawing 38x50 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Art
Materials
Crayon, Engraving
$352 Sale Price
20% Off
Pensive young woman by Emile Hornung - Pastel on paper 37x29 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper
Sketch on the back of the work
Category
1910s Academic Art
Materials
Pastel
Sketch of man in suit by Otto Vautier - Drawing on paper 12x20 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper
Stamp of the workshop of O. Vautier
Dimension of the passe-partout framing 52.5 x 38 cm
Otto Vautier is a renowned Swiss painter, born in 1...
Category
Early 19th Century Academic Art
Materials
Crayon
$264 Sale Price
20% Off
Portrait Head of a Woman
Located in New York, NY
A delightful and classic bust that celebrates women and figure in sculpture. It was common during this era for sculptors to do a bust like this and interestingly, even though it was...
Category
Early 1900s Academic Art
Materials
Bronze
"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...
Category
1980s Academic Art
Materials
Oil, Canvas
LAURENS French romantic Drawing 19th century pencil Departure children mountain
Located in PARIS, FR
Jules LAURENS Carpentras (Vaucluse), 1825 - Saint-Didier (Vaucluse), 1895 Pencil 29 x 23 cm (36 x 30 cm with frame) Signed and dated lower left "JL / 52" Modern frame Excellent condi...
Category
1850s Academic Art
Materials
Pencil
$427 Sale Price
20% Off
“Innocent Captivation Amusement Pastorale”
By Anthony Cardon
Located in Southampton, NY
Original stipple engraving on a verge type of hand laid paper. The overall size of the engraving is 15.75 inches by 12.75 inches The image size of the engraving is 14 inches by 12 i...
Category
Early 1800s Academic Art
Materials
Engraving, Laid Paper
$950 Sale Price
36% Off
VOLTO DI DONNA - Stampa riproduzione Emilio Greco, anni 70
By Emilio Greco
Located in Napoli, IT
Stampa riprodizione del disegno " Volto di Ragazza" realizzato dal disegnatore Emilio Greco.Firmato in basso a destra.
Scultore italiano (Catania 1913 - Roma 1995). Trasferitosi a Ro...
Category
1970s Academic Art
Materials
Color
“Nassau Harbor, Bahamas”
Located in Southampton, NY
Original watercolor and gouache on archival paper by the American artist, Martin Louis Lindsay. Signed, titled and dated top right. Done in 1944. Condi...
Category
1940s Academic Art
Materials
Watercolor, Gouache, Archival Paper
$1,440 Sale Price
20% 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
...
Category
1920s Academic Art
Materials
Black and White, Giclée, Pigment, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment
$1,454 Sale Price
30% Off
"Shooting" after George Stubbs
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...
Category
Late 18th Century Academic Art
Materials
Engraving
“Les Revers de la Fortune”
Located in Southampton, NY
Original stipple engraving with colors titled “Les Revers de la Fortune” (Reversal of Fortune) by the well known French engraver, Louis Marin Bonnet...
Category
1780s Academic Art
Materials
Laid Paper, Engraving
$760 Sale Price
20% Off
“Man with Magic Show”
Located in Southampton, NY
China Trade aquatint engraving. The plate was engraved by Dadley in London after drawings by Pu Qua of Canton and published in 1799 by W. Miller of Bond Street in London. Sight size 11.5 by 9.5 inches. Under glass. Silver leaf frame with wear consistent with age. Overall framed measurements are 13.5 by 11.5 inches. Not examined out of frame. Borghese label verso. Provenance: Sarasota collector.
Inscriptions read as follows:
Pu-Qua. Canton. Delin.
Dadley, London, Sculpt.
Published May 4, 1799, by W. Miller, Old Bond Street, London.
John Dadley...
Category
1790s Academic Art
Materials
Aquatint
$340 Sale Price
20% Off
“The Swordsman”
Located in Southampton, NY
Exquisite, vibrant original oil on canvas painting of a French swordsman in an interior. Very finely done with exacting detail. Circa 1880. Signed lower left “Jean Lamaire”. Conditi...
Category
1880s Academic Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$2,560 Sale Price
20% Off
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...
Category
1880s Academic Art
Materials
Watercolor
Departure of the infantrymen for the war of 14, signed
Located in Genève, GE
Work on canvas signed lower right
Dimension with frame 70 x 80 x 6 cm
This striking work captures a group of French soldiers marching determinedly along a dusty road, with the distan...
Category
1910s Academic Art
Materials
Oil
November, Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Elizabeth Zanzinger's (US based) "November" is an oil painting that depicts trees in autumn with a rock foreground.
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 Competition) at the Grand Central Academy, New York City, in 2012. Since then she has completed a number of commissioned portraits of accomplished individuals, including former Chief Justice...
Category
2010s Academic Art
Materials
Oil, Panel
Plate 6: Vienna, Palais Erzherzog Friedrich, Second View
Located in New York, NY
This photogravure is the sixth plate presented in Josef Folnesics publication "Alte Innenräume österreichischer Schlösser, Paläste und Wohnhäuser" (Old interiors of Austrian Castles,...
Category
1920s Academic Art
Materials
Photogravure
"Anaheim, " Oil painting
Located in Denver, CO
Thane Gorek's (US based) "Anaheim" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a green Anaheim pepper halved, so that it's seeds and core are exposed, with an indigo blue back...
Category
2010s Academic Art
Materials
Oil, Board
“European Village”
Located in Southampton, NY
Original watercolor on archival paper laid down to heavy card stock by the American artist, Edward Loyal Field. The watercolor is of a European scene, perhaps Holland when the artist...
Category
1870s Academic Art
Materials
Watercolor, Archival Paper
$780 Sale Price
20% Off
"Nude" Marguerite Stuber Pearson, Female Nude, Outdoor Boston School, American
Located in New York, NY
Marguerite Stuber Pearson
Nude, circa 1940
Signed lower right
Oil on artist board
20 x 16 inches
Marguerite Stuber Pearson was an American painter best known for her elegant portra...
Category
1940s Academic Art
Materials
Oil, Board
Academic art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Academic art 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 art created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of purple, blue, orange, pink and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Karen Darbinyan, Owen Jones, Paul Jones b.1921, and Mark Beard. 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 art, so small editions measuring 1.5 inches across are also available. Prices for art 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 $11 and tops out at $700,000, while the average work sells for $1,444.
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