Academic art facts for kids
Academic art was a popular style of art from the 1600s to the 1800s. It was taught in special art schools called academies. These schools had strict rules about what good art should look like. Artists who followed these rules created academic art. This style often showed things in a very realistic way.
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What is Academic Art?
Academic art was an important artistic style for about 300 years. It was based on rules set by art schools. These schools taught artists how to create beautiful and correct artworks. The main idea was to make art that looked very real, but also perfect.
Rules and Ideas in Academic Art
One big idea behind academic art came from a thinker named Aristotle. He believed that art should show a true, but carefully chosen, copy of reality. This idea is called mimesis, which means imitation. So, artists tried to copy the world around them, but they also made it look ideal.
Academic artists often painted subjects that were considered important. These included:
Famous Art Schools and Movements
The École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris was a very important art school for this style. Many famous artists studied there. At that time, two main art movements were popular at the school:
- Neoclassicism: This style looked back to ancient Greek and Roman art for inspiration. It focused on clear lines and calm scenes.
- Romanticism: This style focused more on feelings, drama, and exciting stories.
Why Academic Art Changed
Over time, new art styles became popular. One of these was Impressionism, which started in the late 1800s. Impressionist artists painted what they saw quickly, focusing on light and color. They did not follow the strict rules of academic art. Because of these new styles, academic art became less important.
Well-Known Academic Artists
Many artists created beautiful works in the academic style. Some famous ones include:
- William-Adolphe Bouguereau
- Alexandre Cabanel
- Eugene de Blaas
- Edward Poynter
- Wilhelm Bendz
- Alexander Ivanov
Images for kids
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Demosthenes at the Seashore, a Royal Academy prize winning drawing, 1888.
See also
In Spanish: Academicismo para niños
