User:Academia411/Academic Art

Academic Art, a style of painting and sculpture, particularly the style sanctioned by the French Académie des Beaux-Arts in the 19th century. Although the French Academy was then the dominant arbiter of artistic taste, it had influential counterparts in other nations, particularly the Royal Academy in England. The annual exhibitions, or salons, of the national academies featured the work of members and other work selected by a jury. Most salon art reflected the taste of the new bourgeoisie, which was often sentimental and literary, with cultural pretensions.

Academic art was characterized by a respect for classical antiquity, faithful transcription of nature, illusionistic space, minute detail, and eclectic borrowing from the past. It was basically retrogressive, with an emphasis on traditionalism, and usually lacked originality. It was against the canons of academic art that the progressive artists of the 19th century constantly battled, and their reaction against it led to the rise of styles that were diametrically opposed to the academic.

The birth of impressionism in the 1870s brought the dominance of academic art to an end. In the 20th century, when the intense opposition to academic art had diminished, some merits were found in it as a reflection of its time and for its sound technique.