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, Surfer, Michel Haddi

Michel Haddi

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

€14,000

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

€1,550

Photography, Frères, Michel Birot

Michel Birot

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

€7,900

Fine Art Drawings, Untitled, Joan Albert

Joan Albert

Fine Art Drawings - 44 x 47 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 17.3 x 18.5 x 0 inch

€600

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

€1,231

Painting, Taharu'u, Sophie Geider

Sophie Geider

Painting - 69 x 69 x 1 cm Painting - 27.2 x 27.2 x 0.4 inch

€1,350

Photography, First one, Isabelle Picarel

Isabelle Picarel

Photography - 80 x 53 x 2 cm Photography - 31.5 x 20.9 x 0.8 inch

€790

Painting, Régates, Victor Spahn

Victor Spahn

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

€5,000

Photography, Opéra XI, Gérard Uféras

Gérard Uféras

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

€1,500

Photography, Ascension, Bilal Aouffen

Bilal Aouffen

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

€1,400

Photography, Le lutteur, Chiara Dazi

Chiara Dazi

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

€1,000

Fine Art Drawings, GOLFER 4, Nerza Villegas

Nerza Villegas

Fine Art Drawings - 70 x 50 cm Fine Art Drawings - 27.6 x 19.7 inch

€2,000

Photography, Plongeurs, Elisa Haberer

Elisa Haberer

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

€2,000

Photography, Hand I, Laurent Gudin

Laurent Gudin

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

€1,600

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

€2,220

Print, Equestrian, Zhou Zhiwei

Zhou Zhiwei

Print - 94.5 x 70 x 0.1 cm Print - 37.2 x 27.6 x 0 inch

€420

Photography, Soweto, Thomas Hoeffgen

Thomas Hoeffgen

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

€2,500

Photography, Jougs, Laurent Troude

Laurent Troude

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

€1,150

Print, Untitled, Mario Bedini

Mario Bedini

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

€400

Painting, Mats Sundin, Stephen Holland

Stephen Holland

Painting - 142.2 x 101.6 x 5.1 cm Painting - 56 x 40 x 2 inch

€6,931

Print, Voiliers, Michel Bez

Michel Bez

Print - 54 x 76 cm Print - 21.3 x 29.9 inch

€250

Painting, Buuuuuuut, Alfa'B

Alfa'B

Painting - 50 x 50 x 4 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 1.6 inch

€250

Photography, Mystique, Eric Lalmand

Eric Lalmand

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

€1,000

Photography, Bertrand de Broc, Maud Bernos

Maud Bernos

Photography - 80 x 80 x 5 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 2 inch

€3,000

Print, Voluntas, Sam3

Sam3

Print - 49 x 78 cm Print - 19.3 x 30.7 inch

€220

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

€200

Photography, Dive In, Terry Hastings

Terry Hastings

Photography - 61 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 24 x 36 x 0.1 inch

€456

Print, El Festejo, Aryz

Aryz

Print - 100 x 70 cm Print - 39.4 x 27.6 inch

€1,400

Photography, Fuyons, Pierre Moreau

Pierre Moreau

Photography - 50 x 75 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0 inch

€1,900

Painting, Zwischen, Axel Gercke

Axel Gercke

Painting - 40 x 50 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch

€1,200

Sculpture, Sacra bestias, Jen-chih Yu

Jen-chih Yu

Sculpture - 27.5 x 27.5 x 4.5 cm Sculpture - 10.8 x 10.8 x 1.8 inch

€1,200

Sculpture, Zzou fait la roue, Bleue Roy

Bleue Roy

Sculpture - 46.5 x 18 x 52 cm Sculpture - 18.3 x 7.1 x 20.5 inch

€6,000

Painting, Jump124, SIlvia Caimi

SIlvia Caimi

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

€4,000