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... 

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Painting, Bicycle Path, Klimenko Olena

Klimenko Olena

Painting . 56 x 39 x 2 cm Painting . 22 x 15.4 x 0.8 inch

CHF 486

Photography, AV_Summer_013, Bernhard Lang

Bernhard Lang

Photography . 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography . 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch

CHF 437

Painting, Hammertime, Erik Jan Kremer

Erik Jan Kremer

Painting . 140 x 120 x 2 cm Painting . 55.1 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch

CHF 3,886

Painting, Our First Polo, Amy Bernays

Amy Bernays

Painting . 40.6 x 50.8 x 1.5 cm Painting . 16 x 20 x 0.6 inch

CHF 766

Print, Polo, Victor Spahn

Victor Spahn

Print . 60 x 43 x 0.2 cm Print . 23.6 x 16.9 x 0.1 inch

CHF 214

Sculpture, Le galopeur, Roger Drouin

Roger Drouin

Sculpture . 19 x 28 x 10 cm Sculpture . 7.5 x 11 x 3.9 inch

CHF 340

Fine Art Drawings, The Space Between, Patsy McArthur

Patsy McArthur

Fine Art Drawings . 70 x 88 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings . 27.6 x 34.6 x 0.4 inch

CHF 3,498

Painting, Crabminton, Will Eskridge

Will Eskridge

Painting . 76.2 x 101.6 x 3.8 cm Painting . 30 x 40 x 1.5 inch

CHF 2,884

Photography, Laëtitia, Alexis Berg

Alexis Berg

Photography . 70 x 105 x 0.1 cm Photography . 27.6 x 41.3 x 0 inch

CHF 1,574

Painting, Le swing brune, Lydi

Lydi

Painting . 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting . 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch

CHF 748

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

CHF 801

Painting, Top 14, Alain Arnouil

Alain Arnouil

Painting . 60 x 50 x 2 cm Painting . 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch

CHF 563

Painting, Ballerina, Martina Hamrik

Martina Hamrik

Painting . 150 x 115 x 6 cm Painting . 59.1 x 45.3 x 2.4 inch

CHF 4,080

Sculpture, Cross country, David Gerstein

David Gerstein

Sculpture . 120 x 120 x 5 cm Sculpture . 47.2 x 47.2 x 2 inch

CHF 11,659

Print, Untitled, Mario Bedini

Mario Bedini

Print . 80.5 x 60.5 cm Print . 31.7 x 23.8 inch

CHF 389

Painting, Marathon 4, Arno Lanzi

Arno Lanzi

Painting . 90 x 70 x 1 cm Painting . 35.4 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch

CHF 2,429

Photography, Hardrock, Alexis Berg

Alexis Berg

Photography . 70 x 105 x 0.1 cm Photography . 27.6 x 41.3 x 0 inch

CHF 1,574