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, Agia Anna, Antoine Renault

Antoine Renault

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

£3,897

Painting, Valley, Nate Plotkin

Nate Plotkin

Painting . 51 x 66 x 2.5 cm Painting . 20.1 x 26 x 1 inch

£4,340

Painting, Mind the gap, Otto Schade

Otto Schade

Painting . 60 x 60 x 4 cm Painting . 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch

£1,373

Photography, Tchernobyl, Guillaume Herbaut

Guillaume Herbaut

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

£2,613

Fine Art Drawings, Homecoming, Patsy McArthur

Patsy McArthur

Fine Art Drawings . 57 x 92 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings . 22.4 x 36.2 x 0 inch

£2,467

Photography, Sir Alex, Mark Leech

Mark Leech

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

£620

Photography, Capitaine, Isabelle Picarel

Isabelle Picarel

Photography . 53 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography . 20.9 x 31.5 x 0 inch

£841

Photography, L'attente, Olivier Morin

Olivier Morin

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

£841

Sculpture, Autograph, Sophie Inard

Sophie Inard

Sculpture . 68 x 23 x 2 cm Sculpture . 26.8 x 9.1 x 0.8 inch

£709

Sculpture, Surfer, Michel Haddi

Michel Haddi

Sculpture . 95 x 35 x 63 cm Sculpture . 37.4 x 13.8 x 24.8 inch

£12,399

Painting, Athlétisme 10, Arno Lanzi

Arno Lanzi

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

£1,240

Painting, Green, Andrea Mellone

Andrea Mellone

Painting . 59 x 105 x 0.8 cm Painting . 23.2 x 41.3 x 0.3 inch

£3,100

Painting, Green, Saname

Saname

Painting . 130 x 85 x 2 cm Painting . 51.2 x 33.5 x 0.8 inch

£1,417

Photography, Arnold Palmer, Gerry Cranham

Gerry Cranham

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

£1,328

Painting, Winnie, Artwhos

Artwhos

Painting . 50 x 40 x 0.2 cm Painting . 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch

£1,221

Painting, Bullfight, Benavente Solis

Benavente Solis

Painting . 35 x 41 x 1 cm Painting . 13.8 x 16.1 x 0.4 inch

£1,771

Photography, Silhouettes, Lionel Hahn

Lionel Hahn

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

£877

Sculpture, Rider, Petar Iliev

Petar Iliev

Sculpture . 24.5 x 28 x 8 cm Sculpture . 9.6 x 11 x 3.1 inch

£1,860

Photography, Men II, Michel Birot

Michel Birot

Photography . 40 x 60 cm Photography . 15.7 x 23.6 inch

£1,054

Painting, Yellow, Roberta Pinna

Roberta Pinna

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

£1,460

Print, Jet Set, Peter Doig

Peter Doig

Print . 35.6 x 30.5 x 1 cm Print . 14 x 12 x 0.4 inch

£4,871

Fine Art Drawings, Riding life, Manon Gribouille

Manon Gribouille

Fine Art Drawings . 65 x 50 cm Fine Art Drawings . 25.6 x 19.7 inch

£177

Photography, Sea quiétude, Mark Lloyd

Mark Lloyd

Photography . 120 x 80 x 2 cm Photography . 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch

£1,638

Fine Art Drawings, Scène de corrida, Yves Brayer

Yves Brayer

Fine Art Drawings . 23 x 32 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings . 9.1 x 12.6 x 0.4 inch

£1,151

Photography, Hauraki, Patrick Gripe

Patrick Gripe

Photography . 40 x 60 x 3 cm Photography . 15.7 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch

£2,568

Painting, Eloquent fight, Isaac Maimon

Isaac Maimon

Painting . 70 x 90 x 2 cm Painting . 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch

£1,792

Sculpture, Traverser, Antoine Savigneux

Antoine Savigneux

Sculpture . 11 x 35 x 8.5 cm Sculpture . 4.3 x 13.8 x 3.3 inch

£1,417

Fine Art Drawings, Jungle Book, Patrick Villas

Patrick Villas

Fine Art Drawings . 145 x 127 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings . 57.1 x 50 x 0.4 inch

£6,377

Photography, Jougs, Laurent Troude

Laurent Troude

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

£1,018

Photography, Lamb I, Laurent Gudin

Laurent Gudin

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

£974

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

£1,966