Sport

At school, we sometimes tend to oppose athletes and artists. However, sport and art often mix and sublimate each other. The meeting of these two disciplines is frequent in the history of art and more particularly in contemporary art. 

Already during Antiquity, the Greeks devoted an absolute cult to the perfect athletic body. On pots and vases, artists painted the exploits of the competitors of the first Olympic Games in the 8th century BC.

Whatever the medium (photography, painting, sculpture, collage...), the musculature and the psychological state of the sportsmen, the places of training or the competitions are inexhaustible sources of inspiration for the artists. Between the representation of reality and the hijacking of a symbol, sport is a recurring theme for young artists.

Discover with Artsper our Olympic podium of artworks!

Photography is probably the first medium that comes to mind when representing sports. It is the only medium that allows us to capture images of the athletes' prowess at full speed. Thus, the shots are taken on the spot to offer a better rendering of the movement and to manage to capture the palpable tension on the field, the team cohesion, the crucial moment...

A leader of the new wave, Gerry Cranham had a career in athletics before becoming a coach. Passionate about photography, he takes pictures of the young people he coaches in order to correct their position and analyze their stride. Very quickly, he decided to convert his hobby into a real job. He became a sports photographer and quickly built a reputation as one of the leading sports photographers in England and internationally. His pictures of rugby, soccer, tennis, wrestling and swimming were published all over the world in the most prestigious magazines such as Sport Illustrated or The Observer. 

But sport also inspired painters and it is found in all artistic movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1853, Gustave Courbet painted "The Wrestlers", a large oil on canvas depicting two men practicing French wrestling in the old hippodrome of the Champs Élysées. To the right, in the background, one can see the audience, cheering the athletes. Among the Impressionists, Claude Monet developed his technique with "Les Régates d'Argenteuil", an 1872 painting in which the boats are reflected in the water in a magnificent way. In modern art, Nicolas de Staël's "Les Footballeurs" represents a soccer field in the middle of a match, but in an abstract way. The players are discernible thanks to the flat colors that make up the team jerseys. 

You too can bring your passions to life through contemporary sports paintings, sculptures and photographs. Discover the work of well-known and emerging artists such as Victor Spahn, Isabelle Picarel, Michel Birot, Chiara Dazi and many others... 

Read more
Sculpture, Hit, Karen Akhikyan

Hit

Karen Akhikyan

Sculpture - 55 x 22 x 20 cm Sculpture - 21.7 x 8.7 x 7.9 inch

$1,800

Photography, By My Side 2, Antoine Rose

Antoine Rose

Photography - 35 x 35 x 0.5 cm Photography - 13.8 x 13.8 x 0.2 inch

$1,360

Sculpture, Athy, Sophie Inard

Sophie Inard

Sculpture - 64 x 6 x 6 cm Sculpture - 25.2 x 2.4 x 2.4 inch

$2,522

Photography, Ski Bus, Toni Frissell

Toni Frissell

Photography - 101 x 101 cm Photography - 39.8 x 39.8 inch

$3,091

Photography, Napoléon, Gerry Cranham

Gerry Cranham

Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch

$1,224

Sculpture, Giants, High jump in Rio, JR

JR

Sculpture - 99 x 55 x 20 cm Sculpture - 39 x 21.7 x 7.9 inch

$12,364

Painting, Speed Porsche, Edu Danesi

Edu Danesi

Painting - 153 x 122 x 4 cm Painting - 60.2 x 48 x 1.6 inch

$6,800

Painting, Victory, Agboola Oladapo

Agboola Oladapo

Painting - 182.9 x 146.3 x 2.5 cm Painting - 72 x 57.6 x 1 inch

$7,000

Photography, Polytechnique, Patrick Gripe

Patrick Gripe

Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch

$1,175

Photography, L'attente, Olivier Morin

Olivier Morin

Photography - 76 x 115 x 1 cm Photography - 29.9 x 45.3 x 0.4 inch

$1,175

Painting, Agia Anna, Antoine Renault

Antoine Renault

Painting - 70 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch

$5,440

Fine Art Drawings, Orange_1, Goddog

Goddog

Fine Art Drawings - 32 x 24 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 12.6 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch

$309

Photography, Lelo 1, Cristina Aldehuela

Cristina Aldehuela

Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch

$1,360

Painting, Ballerina. Black swan, MKate

MKate

Painting - 80 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch

$1,300 $1,105

Photography, Ensemble, Julien Poupart

Julien Poupart

Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch

$1,175

Print, Tennis, Gilles Aillaud

Gilles Aillaud

Print - 76 x 56 cm Print - 29.9 x 22 inch

$1,484

Photography, Sir Alex, Mark Leech

Mark Leech

Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch

$866

Painting, Greg, Nicolas Curmer

Nicolas Curmer

Painting - 65 x 81 x 4 cm Painting - 25.6 x 31.9 x 1.6 inch

$2,226

Painting, Yellow, Roberta Pinna

Roberta Pinna

Painting - 43.2 x 33 x 20.3 cm Painting - 17 x 13 x 8 inch

$1,800

Photography, Tracks V, Bruno Charoy

Bruno Charoy

Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch

$989 $890

Photography, Tchernobyl, Guillaume Herbaut

Guillaume Herbaut

Photography - 60 x 75 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 29.5 x 0 inch

$3,647

Sculpture, Guarani Ball, Romero Britto

Romero Britto

Sculpture - 28 x 23 x 23 cm Sculpture - 11 x 9.1 x 9.1 inch

$3,524

Photography, Frères, Michel Birot

Michel Birot

Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch

$9,768

Photography, Silhouettes, Lionel Hahn

Lionel Hahn

Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch

$1,224

Print, Tennis, Fifo Stricker

Fifo Stricker

Print - 59 x 39 x 0.1 cm Print - 23.2 x 15.4 x 0 inch

$668

Painting, West Coast, Ian Leventhal

Ian Leventhal

Painting - 16.5 x 20.3 x 5.1 cm Painting - 6.5 x 8 x 2 inch

$1,350

Photography, Lamb I, Laurent Gudin

Laurent Gudin

Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch

$1,360

Print, Diversions, Jeffrey Isaac

Jeffrey Isaac

Print - 94.5 x 70 x 0.2 cm Print - 37.2 x 27.6 x 0.1 inch

$742

Painting, Lancement, Aurino Jottar

Aurino Jottar

Painting - 60 x 35 x 3 cm Painting - 23.6 x 13.8 x 1.2 inch

$3,091

Painting, Athlétisme 2, Arno Lanzi

Arno Lanzi

Painting - 81 x 65 cm Painting - 31.9 x 25.6 inch

$2,720

Photography, Ecosse, Isabelle Picarel

Isabelle Picarel

Photography - 53 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 20.9 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch

$1,607

Photography, Khalid (Sinouh), Erwin Olaf

Erwin Olaf

Photography - 118.5 x 84 x 3 cm Photography - 46.7 x 33.1 x 1.2 inch

$11,128

Photography, Ascension, Bilal Aouffen

Bilal Aouffen

Photography - 45 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch

$1,731

Photography, Plongeurs, Elisa Haberer

Elisa Haberer

Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch

$2,473

Photography, Cardiff by night, Jodi Bieber

Jodi Bieber

Photography - 70 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch

$2,745

Painting, Régates, Victor Spahn

Victor Spahn

Painting - 89 x 116 x 3 cm Painting - 35 x 45.7 x 1.2 inch

$6,182

Photography, Soweto, Thomas Hoeffgen

Thomas Hoeffgen

Photography - 40 x 54 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 21.3 x 0 inch

$3,091

Photography, Le lutteur, Chiara Dazi

Chiara Dazi

Photography - 60 x 60 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 inch

$1,236