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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Sport

Lamb I

Dead Astronaut

Léon Marchand

Teddy

Altero

Mickey Messi the Champion

Caveman II

Ballet-2

Ballet-1

Le Tiercé

Polo

France '98

Training on the beach

Waar is da feestje ? Grand Place de Bruxelles, 15 juillet 2018 - Le retour des Diables Rouges

Billy Bremner forever

Discobole JO 2024

Jordan

Crabminton

Lieutenant

King Eric

Diego

Maxime Medard

Retrouvailles

Lithographie originale de Spahn

Lithographie originale de Spahn

Lithographie originale de Spahn

Tabac

Abstrat Expresion -2

New era

Inséparables

FRA 123

Men II

The last huntsman

Judo

Escalade

N° 1115 Belgrade 12. Ada Ciganlija B

Pittsburgh Steelers

Abuja

Bleu

Auteil Grandiose Grand Steplee chase paris GR1

Crown du Berlais, Ecurie H&P Pilarski - Course Obstacle - Steeple chase

Ecosse

Le jeu des boules rouges

Kobe Bryant Dunk

Glisse

Rockett - Lebron James

Squash

Sneaker Nike Bleu

Sneaker Nike Pink

Les fusils

Basket

Tenis (Colección La Bolsa Mágica)

Morning bike

Sunny beach

Mermaid

Perfect couple

L'ascension des champions

Sans titre

Sans titre

Baseball

Woke up like that

La fille du derby

Baby

Basketball

Régates II

Football