Academic Art

The Academic style in art is a broad term which refers to the type of art which flourished in Europe's academies in particular throughout the 19th Century. The most important academy in this respect was Paris's Academie des Beaux-Arts, whose artists throughout the 19th Century attempted to synthesise the styles of Neoclassicism and Romanticism. It is for this reason that Academic art is also referred to as 'eclecticism', 'syncretism' and 'historicism'. 

Academic artists included William-Adolphe Bougeureau and Paul Delaroche. Important features of artwork in the Academic style included the use of abstraction and idealism: many of the pieces are allegorical, using figures to represent ideas and emotions, such as 'love', 'war' and 'psyche'. Consequently, history painting became especially important to the Academic style, as historical scenes and events were portrayed as arenas in which these abstract ideas and emotions played out. Genre painting also flourished within this style.