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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
Portrait of Young Boy, Oil on Canvas Signed Felix Bryk, circa 1910
Located in Paris, FR
Lovely portrait of a young Boy standing on an armchair. Oil on canvas signed Felix BRYK. Swedish School, circa 1900-1910 Portraitist and ethnologist of the early twentieth century. ...
Category

1910s Academic Art

Materials

Canvas

Classic Still Life with Fan and Flowers
Located in Larchmont, NY
Still Life, 20th Century Oil on board Sight: 16 1/4 x 19 in. Framed: 19 3/4 x 22 1/4 x 1 in.
Category

20th Century Academic Art

Materials

Oil, Board

“View of Bay of Naples 2”
Located in Southampton, NY
Very well executed original gouache on archival paper by the Italian artist, Maria Ada Gianni. Signed lower left. Condition is excellent. Circa 192...
Category

1920s Academic Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Gouache

Waterfall landscape signed Eugène Deterre, Bruges circa 1830
Located in Paris, FR
Painting, oil on panel depicting an animated landscape with river and waterfall. Signed Deterre Eugene (1810-1842) and located Brugges. Flemish School, circa 1830 Belgian. WithIn ...
Category

1830s Academic Art

Materials

Wood Panel

GOUY large pastel woman model nude breasts french painter Salon Paris 19th
Located in PARIS, FR
Jeanne GOUY (Active between 1890 and 1904) Pastel Signed lower right "Jeanne Gouy" 66 x 82 cm (83 x 100 cm with the frame) Jeanne Gouy studied with the academic painter Jules Machard...
Category

1890s Academic Art

Materials

Pastel

View of Capri, Italy
Located in PARIS, FR
August Wilhelm LEU (Munster, 1819 – Seelisberg, 1897) View of Capri Oil on canvas Signed and dated lower right 49 x 70 cm 1882 Born March 24, 1819 in Munster, Germany, Auguste Leu...
Category

Late 19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Oil

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...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Academic Art

Materials

C Print

Onward - The Norman Court by Montague Dawson
Located in New Orleans, LA
Montague Dawson 1890-1973 British Onward - The Norman Court Signed “Montague Dawson” (lower left) Oil on canvas The dynamism of the seas and the might of the clipper ships that brave their waters are captured with great accuracy and attention to detail in this monumental work by Montague Dawson. Here, the artist brings vividly to life the historic clipper ship Norman Court as it battles the waves on the open sea. Dawson, arguably the most important maritime painter of his generation, possessed an incomparable talent for rendering ships at sea with unparalleled energy and vitality. The speed and grace of these historic ships is perfectly realized in the present work, enhanced by Dawson's mastery over composition and the large scale of the painting. Built and launched in 1869 by A. & J. Inglis of Glasgow, Norman Court was a composite clipper ship that traveled between the United Kingdom and East Asia under the command of Andrew Shewan and his son, also named Andrew Shewan. While returning from Java to Glasgow carrying sugar, Norman Court's career was cut short in March of 1883 when a powerful gale caused the ship to be wrecked on the rocks of Cymyran Bay, between the villages of Rhoscolyn and Rhosneigr in Wales. Dawson's immersive composition captures the ship at full sail and the height of her glory, battling the white-capped waves on a brilliant day at sea. The son of a keen yachtsman and grandson of marine painter Henry Dawson, Montague Dawson spent much of his childhood on the Southampton Water, where he was able to indulge his interest in the study of ships. Naturally gifted at drawing and painting, the self-taught Dawson became a member of an art studio group in Bedford Row...
Category

Early 20th Century Academic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

British, 19th Century oil painting of harvest time in the English countryside
By David Hamilton
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
David Hamilton (British, circa 1888) Harvest time Oil on canvas Signed and dated `David Hamilton 1888’ (lower right) 20.1/8 x 16 in. (51.2 x 40.8 cm.)
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Chess Game By Georges Croegaert
Located in New Orleans, LA
Georges Croegaert 1848-1923 Belgian The Chess Game Signed "Georges Croegaert Paris" (lower right) Oil on panel This oil on panel by Belgian artist Georges Croegaert is a rich and...
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Peonies in a Blue Vase
Located in Washington, DC
One of three still-life paintings by the French flower painter Germain-Theodore Ribot.
Category

Late 19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Marlène Dietrich by Mario Napoli - Bronze 50x60x28 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Bronze sculpture by Mario Napoli, Swiss artist from XXth century. His works was sold 12 times in auctions since 2022. Work signed in the bronze. Edition 7/8
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Academic Art

Materials

Bronze

Arletty, Leonie Bathiat by Mario Napoli - Bronze 50x60x28 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Bronze sculpture by Mario Napoli, Swiss artist from XXth century. His works was sold 12 times in auctions since 2022. Work signed in the bronze. Edition 1/8
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Academic Art

Materials

Bronze

Landscape in Provence Watercolor Painting by Francois Pascal
Located in Atlanta, GA
This lovely watercolor painting on Arches paper features a landscape view in Provence. This typical Mediterranean country house in the south of France has a veranda and the Saint Vic...
Category

1940s Academic Art

Materials

Watercolor

Curt Ruger, Portrait Study Of A Girl, Oil Painting
Located in Cheltenham, GB
This late 19th-century oil painting by German artist Curt Ruger (1867-1930) depicts a young girl seated. It was completed during his time at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden. Gre...
Category

1880s Academic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Adirondac Grape
Located in Sydney, NSW
19th Century coloured engraving, Adirondac Grape
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Bacchanal scene with nymp and Satyrs, pencil on Paper signed and dated 1778
Located in Paris, FR
A Nymph and two Satyrs Signed lower right "................fecit" and dated 1778 Grey wash over charcoal and brown ink, on laid paper 27 x 40.5 cm / 10.5 X 16 inches Framed : 51 x...
Category

1770s Academic Art

Materials

Pencil

“Tsingtao, China 1912”
Located in Southampton, NY
Original watercolor and gouache on paper of a Tsingtao, China street scene in 1912 executed by the American illustrator, William Henry Drake. Copyrighted and signed and dated 1912 lower left. Condition is good. Recently professionally matted. Unframed. Overall mat size is 16 by 12 inches. Provenance: A Long Island, New York estate. William Henry Drake Born: 1856 New York Died: 1926 Los Angeles Nationality: American Education: Académie Julian, Art Students League of New York Known for: Painting, illustration Awards: National Academy Biography: Drake studied at the Académie Julian in Paris, with Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant and Henri Lucien Doucet. Back from Europe, he studied at the Cincinnati School of Design, and would often go to the zoo, where he could draw the animal...
Category

1910s Academic Art

Materials

Watercolor, Paper, Gouache

Feeding the Young
Located in Washington, DC
A rural interior scene by Austrian artist Edmund Adler. The scene is typical of Adler's paintings of Austrian culture and rural life. It is full of gemütlichkeit.
Category

1930s Academic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Eden Upton Eddis, Portrait of Muriel Paget Bowman, Drawing
Located in Cheltenham, GB
This charming late 19th-century portrait by British artist Eden Upton Eddis (1812-1901) depicts a young Muriel Paget Bowman (c.1876-1928), the daughter of Sir William Paget Bowman, a...
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Charcoal, Paper

Fishermen By The Lake, Oil On Canvas, Signed Dommersen, Dutch School, 1870
Located in Paris, FR
Oil on canvas depicting a scene of Fishermen by a lake, Dutch landscape. Signed on the lower left corner of Pieter Cornelis Dommersen. Painter of Dutch seas and landscapes, in Lond...
Category

Late 19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Oil

Goldcrest Antique Print
Located in Sydney, NSW
Chromolithograph of Goldcrest Antique Print Image Size 10.5cm x 17 cm
Category

1920s Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Untitled (Cafe Interior), Shimshon Holzman
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Shimshon Holzman (1907-1986) Title: Untitled (Cafe Interior) Year: 1962 Medium: Watercolor and graphite on wove paper Size: 27.75 x 19.75 inches ...
Category

1960s Academic Art

Materials

Graphite, Watercolor

English Springer Spaniel
Located in Florham Park, NJ
Diana Thorne’s Dogs: An Album of Drawings. Diana Thorne. Julian Messner, Inc. New York, 1944. 24 Drawings in Lithography. “In drawing them,” she writes, “I have tried to make the...
Category

1940s Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

The Paris Hotel de Ville , Watercolor signed Signed E. Galien Laloue, circa 1920
Located in Paris, FR
View of Paris: The Hotel de Ville banks and the statue of Etienne Marcel under Snow Watercolor Signed E. Galien Laloue, circa 1910-1920 Appraisal by Mr Noé Willer. (Will figurate in...
Category

Early 20th Century Academic Art

Materials

Watercolor

Family scene, children dog and pup, French painting by Delacroix' prodigy friend
Located in Norwich, GB
A sweet and intimate family scene by the rarest of artists: French early 19th Century child prodigy Henri-Louis-Hippolyte Poterlet (1804-1835). Poterlet was a close friend and confi...
Category

1820s Academic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

May Day
Located in Sydney, NSW
19th Century hand coloured engraving
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

The Catacombs
Located in Sydney, NSW
19th Century chromolithograph, 1822 Paris Catacombs
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Spanish painting Portrait man Trace signature Academic 19th oil on canvas
Located in PARIS, FR
Juan Pablo SALINAS (Attributed to) Madrid, 1871 – Rome, 1946 Oil on canvas on a panel 34 x 22 cm (43 x 31 cm with the frame) Trace of signature lower lef...
Category

Late 19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Oil

The United States
Located in Sydney, NSW
19th Century chromolithograph, The United States (Vanity Fair), under the pseudonym of Ape
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Portrait Painting Oil on Canvas by Joseph Badger
Located in Rome, IT
Joseph Badger (c. 1707–1765) was a portrait artist in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 18th century. This amazing painting depicting a young boy with a bi...
Category

18th Century Academic Art

Materials

Oil

Winged Genius - original painting by Paula Craioveanu Neo Mythology
Located in Forest Hills, NY
Winged Genius, oil on canvas, 70x110cm, 27.5×43.5in Winged Genius is a fantastic character, a mythological creature, a male figure with birds’ wings, a guardian spirit, a demigod. A ...
Category

2010s Academic Art

Materials

Oil

18th Century oil painting of a travellers rest, circle of George Morland
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Circle of George Morland (British, 1762/63-1804) A horse at an encampment With added signature `G Morland’ (lower left) Oil on board 12 x 16 in. (30.5 x 40.7...
Category

18th Century Academic Art

Materials

Oil, Board

'The Old Oak Tree, Bushey School of Art, British
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Laurence Bell' (British, died 1916) and painted circa 1910. Bell studied at the Bushey School of Art in Hertfordshire in England. His preferred subject was land...
Category

1890s Academic Art

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Untitled Portrait II (Modern, Academic Style Portrait Painting of a Young Man)
Located in Hudson, NY
Modern, academic style portrait painting on canvas of a young athletic male oil on canvas, 26 x 17 inches in antique wood frame This vertical, contemporary portrait painting of sin...
Category

2010s Academic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Whimbrel
Located in Sydney, NSW
Chromolithograph of Nuthatch Antique Print Image Size 10.5cm x 17 cm
Category

1920s Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Feeding the Kittens - Little cat mother -
Located in Berlin, DE
Ernst Albert Fischer-Cörlin (1853 Körlin - 1932 Persante). Feeding the Kittens, 1893. Pencil on painting cardboard, 38 x 29 cm. Signed and dated by the artist at lower left "E[rnst] A[lbert] Fischer=Cörlin 1893". - Lightly stained, somewhat dusty and minimally foxed. - Little cat mother - About the artwork Daughter, mother and grandmother gather in the sunlight to feed a litter of kittens. The mother and grandmother hold the lively, playful animals in their arms, while the young girl feeds two of the four kittens with cookies. There is also a small bucket of milk and a bowl of milk. The women and the girl watch as the cute, still blind animals eat. It is a scene taken from everyday life, but it also has an allegorical dimension, bringing maternal care into the representation. Three generations are represented, with the grandmother and the mother already mothers. They not only offer the kittens to the youngest, but also proudly observe the maternal care that the youngest gives to the kittens. Like the kittens, she will grow up and become a mother herself, so the image is also an allegory of life's ever-new beginnings. In keeping with this, the morning sun shines into the picture from the right. Fischer-Cörlin has masterfully worked out the quality of the light, with its light and dark areas, with the pencil used...
Category

1890s Academic Art

Materials

Cardboard, Carbon Pencil

Clouded Leopard
Located in Sydney, NSW
19th Century chromolithograph of a Clouded leopard
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Gallantry Scene in a Tavern, Oil on Canvas Signed Rigot and Dated 1874
Located in Paris, FR
Beautiful painting depicting a gallantry scene, an officer and a young lady sitting on a pool table inside a Tavern. Signed lower right Rigot and dated 1874. Austrian or German Sc...
Category

1870s Academic Art

Materials

Canvas

leopard
Located in Sydney, NSW
19th Century chromolithograph of a Leopard
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Pratincole Antique Print
Located in Sydney, NSW
Chromolithograph of a Snow Bunting Image Size 10.5cm x 17 cm
Category

1920s Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Vintage Large Albumen Photo Jerusalem Photograph American Colony Old City Market
Located in Surfside, FL
The mat measures 21 X 16 the images are around 12 X 9 inches. They bear the blindstamp of the American Colony Jerusalem. I am not sure if these are hand colored but they are from the period. The Original American Colony was a colony established in Jerusalem in 1881 by members of a utopian society led by Anna and Horatio Spafford. Now a hotel in East Jerusalem, it is still known by that name today. After suffering a series tragic losses following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 (see hymn "It is Well with My Soul"), Chicago residents Anna and Horatio Spafford led a small American contingent in 1881 to Jerusalem to form a utopian society. The "American Colony," as it became known, was later joined by Swedish Christians. The society engaged in philanthropic work amongst the people of Jerusalem regardless of religious affiliation, gaining the trust of the local Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities.During and immediately after World War I, the American Colony carried out philanthropic work to alleviate the suffering of the local inhabitants, opening soup kitchens, hospitals, orphanages and other charitable ventures. Towards the end of the 1950s, the society's communal residence was converted into the American Colony Hotel. The hotel is an integral part of the Jerusalem landscape where members of all communities in Jerusalem still meet. In 1992 representatives from the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel met in the hotel where they began talks that led to the historic 1993 Oslo Peace Accord. Panorama of Jerusalem, c. 1890-1920 The Colony moved to the large house of a wealthy Arab landowner, Rabbah Husseini, outside the city walls in Sheikh Jarrah on the road to Nablus. Part of the building was used as a hostel for visitors from Europe and America. A small farm developed with animals, a butchery, a dairy, a bakery, a carpenter's shop, and a smithy. The economy was supplemented by a shop selling photographs, craft items and archaeological artifacts. The American Colonists were embraced by the Jewish and Palestinian communities for their good works, among them, teaching in both Muslim and Jewish schools. Photography Around 1900, Elijah Meyers, a member of the American Colony, began taking photographs of places and events in and around the city of Jerusalem. Meyers's work eventually expanded into a full-fledged photographic division within the Colony, including Hol Lars (Lewis) Larsson and G. Eric Matson, who later renamed the effort as the Matson Photographic Service. Their interest in archeological artifacts (such as the Lion Tower in Tripoli pictured here), and the detail of their photographs, led to widespread interest in their work by archeologists. The collection was later donated to the Library of Congress. World War I When the Ottoman Empire entered World War I as an ally of Germany in November 1914, Jerusalem and Palestine became a battleground between the Allied and the Central powers. The Allied forces from Egypt, under the leadership of the British, engaged the German, Austrian and Turkish forces in fierce battles for control of Palestine. During this time the American Colony assumed a more crucial role in supporting the local populace through the deprivations and hardships of the war. Because the Turkish military...
Category

Early 20th Century Academic Art

Materials

Photographic Paper

James Dean by Mario Napoli - Bronze 60x50x28 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Bronze sculpture by Mario Napoli, Swiss artist from XXth century. His works was sold 12 times in auctions since 2022. Work signed in the bronze. Edition 1/8
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Academic Art

Materials

Bronze

Painting Belgian 19th animal painter VERBOECKHOVEN woodLandscape cow sheperdess
Located in PARIS, FR
Eugène VERBOECKHOVEN Warneton, 1798 – Schaerbeek, 1881 Oil on wood panel 42 x 33.5 cm (58 x 50 cm with the frame) Signed, dated and located lower right “EJ Verboeckhoven / 1826 / à G...
Category

1820s Academic Art

Materials

Oil

19th Century French Realist Oil Profile Portrait of Lady Beautiful Quality
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
French realist artist of the 19th century oil painting on board, unframed board: 12.5 x 10.5 inches provenance: private collection, France condition: ...
Category

Mid-19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Oil

Petite fille et sa poupée
Located in Washington, DC
Charming example of nineteenth-century genre painting depicting a young girl, her doll, and sewing.
Category

Late 19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Lion
Located in Sydney, NSW
19th Century chromolithograph of a lion
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Jean Cocteau by Mario Napoli - Bronze 60x50x28 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Bronze sculpture by Mario Napoli, Swiss artist from XXth century. His works was sold 12 times in auctions since 2022. Work signed in the bronze. Edition 1/8
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Academic Art

Materials

Bronze

Nice To Meet You
Located in Seoul, KR
Furry friends always stay around us and bring joy and happiness. A Young Lee uses powder pigments and Jangji (Korean Paper) that maximize the depiction of soft fur and a warm feelin...
Category

2010s Academic Art

Materials

Found Objects, Pigment, Mulberry Paper

Nuthatch Antique Print
Located in Sydney, NSW
Chromolithograph of Nuthatch Antique Print Image Size 10.5cm x 17 cm
Category

1920s Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Nutcracker
Located in Sydney, NSW
Chromolithograph of Nutcracker Antique Print Image Size 10.5cm x 17 cm
Category

1920s Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Reptiles
Located in Sydney, NSW
19th Century chromolithograph of reptiles
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Talpa Comune
Located in Sydney, NSW
19th Century chromolithograph, Talpa Comune
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

A Thames Barbell
Located in Sydney, NSW
19th Century chromolithograph, 1885 A Thames Barbell
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

La Morgue
Located in Sydney, NSW
19th Century chromolithograph, 1822 Paris, La Morgue
Category

19th Century Academic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Still-Life With Roses and China Jewel Box
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Hortense DURY-VASSELON (1860-1924) Still Life with Roses and China Jewel Box Oil on canvas signed and dated 1905 low left DIm canvas : 63 X 50 cm Di...
Category

Early 1900s Academic Art

Materials

Oil

“Sailing along the Coast”
Located in Southampton, NY
Very well executed original watercolor and gouache marine painting on archival paper by the well known American artist, Edmund Darch Lewis. Signed lower left and dated 1899. Conditio...
Category

1890s Academic Art

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache, Archival Paper

French official Navy painter BOURGAIN Late 19th Street view Cairo Egypt 1880s
Located in PARIS, FR
Gustave BOURGAIN Paris, 1856 - Paris, 1921 Oil on paper 33 x 24 cm (44 x 35cm with frame) Signed above right "G. Bourgain" Excellent condition Gustave studied with Jean-Léon Gérôme ...
Category

1880s Academic Art

Materials

Oil

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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