Definition of academism painting

What is academic painting? Ideas, techniques, meanings, collected together or something more? Indeed, academic style is not just a list of instructions on how to correctly draw this or that element. This is a whole system of perception of beauty, even an algorithm for its creation. The rules of academic painting embodied an idealized view of art that was adopted in art academies. Priority was given to biblical, mythological and historical scenes or plots, later on, portraits of famous personalities. The technique of academic painting determined even the technique of applying paint, fixed the correct movements of the brush to create the necessary texture of the image or shades of colors. Because of this, the academic painting method preserved conservatism, a certain dogmatism that did not contribute to new creative searches. Due to ignoring the actual problems and conditions of reality, the concept of “academic realism” cannot be considered correct. Because the main feature of realism is not the accuracy of the transmitted image, but above all its correspondence to the “decorations of ordinary life”, which was unacceptable for academicism. But over time, academic characteristics were reduced to the definition of an impeccable painting technique for any, even every day, subject.

Academic painters

Representatives of academic painting studied drawing in special higher educational institutions, which affected the manner of their creativity. Visual characteristics of art of academicism may differ depending on the school, region or preferences of an individual artist, but, in general, are fairly standardized. The famous academic painter Guido Reni represented the Bologna school and was one of the first academicians, followers of the Carracci brothers. The works of Paul Baudry perfectly demonstrate the basic principles and canons within which painters created their paintings. The artist characteristics also apply to the subjects to which he addresses. Jean-Léon Gérôme became famous thanks to his paintings of the life of the ancient world and the Arab East. Charles Le Brun’s academic historical paintings show the author’s interest in depicting the ancient era, especially in the figure of Alexander the Great. Benjamin West and his academic art paintings, in addition to mythological and biblical subjects, on the contrary, touch on more chronologically close events related to the colonization of America.

Academic painting example

The definition of academicism has ceased to be too narrow and specific. Therefore, any picture or image made in the classical technique can be perceived as an academic painting. But there is nothing wrong with that. Style in art can be just conventional. In order to enjoy the beautiful, it is not necessary to distinguish academic painting − real and fake. It is enough to have a desire to participate in aesthetics. And our gallery will help you with this. On the Jose Art Gallery website, you can buy academic painting by famous painters from around the world who want to share their creativity. Academicism style is only one of the proposed options.

Academic Art Painting for Sale