Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
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.
1840s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal, Pencil
Early 19th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal, Pencil
1840s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal, Pencil
2010s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Conté, Charcoal, Archival Paper, Graphite
Mid-19th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal
Mid-19th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal
Early 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Pencil
Early 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Pencil
Late 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
Early 19th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal, Pencil
19th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Carbon Pencil
1890s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Laid Paper
Mid-20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal, Conté
Early 1900s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor, Illustration Board
Early 19th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal
2010s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Chalk, Conté, Charcoal
21st Century and Contemporary Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal
Early 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Laid Paper, Canvas, Oil Pastel, Pastel
1980s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper
2010s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Conté, Graphite
1940s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Board, Ink
1980s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Conté, Archival Paper
Late 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Conté, Paper
19th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Steel
Late 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1930s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Pencil, Graphite
20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
2010s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Clay, Panel, Graphite
Late 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal, Mixed Media, Watercolor
1920s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Handmade Paper, Carbon Pencil
Early 19th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Crayon
Mid-20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Ink, Pen
Late 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor, Charcoal, Mixed Media
1960s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal
Late 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Paper
Late 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor, Charcoal, Mixed Media
Late 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor, Charcoal, Mixed Media
2010s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Conté
Late 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor, Charcoal, Mixed Media
1920s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Handmade Paper, Carbon Pencil
1980s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Conté, Archival Paper
2010s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Graphite
19th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel, Crayon
19th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Chalk
Late 20th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
19th Century Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Chalk
1930s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pen
1910s Academic Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Paper