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, Rugby, Stéphane Cantin

Stéphane Cantin

Painting - 61 x 50 x 1.5 cm Painting - 24 x 19.7 x 0.6 inch

$487

Painting, Surf, Stéphane Cantin

Stéphane Cantin

Painting - 50 x 61 x 1.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 24 x 0.6 inch

$560

Painting, Tir, Stéphane Cantin

Tir

Stéphane Cantin

Painting - 20 x 20 x 1.5 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.6 inch

$183

Painting, Handball, Stéphane Cantin

Stéphane Cantin

Painting - 61 x 50 x 1.5 cm Painting - 24 x 19.7 x 0.6 inch

$487

Painting, Windsurf, Stéphane Cantin

Stéphane Cantin

Painting - 61 x 50 x 1.5 cm Painting - 24 x 19.7 x 0.6 inch

$487

Painting, Golf, Stéphane Cantin

Stéphane Cantin

Painting - 60 x 20 x 1.5 cm Painting - 23.6 x 7.9 x 0.6 inch

$280

Painting, Escalade, Stéphane Cantin

Stéphane Cantin

Painting - 60 x 20 x 1.5 cm Painting - 23.6 x 7.9 x 0.6 inch

$280

Painting, Boxe, Stéphane Cantin

Stéphane Cantin

Painting - 20 x 20 x 1.5 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.6 inch

$183

Painting, Escrime, Stéphane Cantin

Stéphane Cantin

Painting - 50 x 61 x 1.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 24 x 0.6 inch

$524

Painting, Aviron, Stéphane Cantin

Stéphane Cantin

Painting - 50 x 61 x 1.5 cm Painting - 19.7 x 24 x 0.6 inch

$524

Painting, Solitude, Stéphane Cantin

Stéphane Cantin

Painting - 61 x 50 x 1.5 cm Painting - 24 x 19.7 x 0.6 inch

$487

Photography, Samoa, Michel Birot

Michel Birot

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

$4,021

Painting, The Gladiators, Alben

Alben

Painting - 170 x 122 x 3 cm Painting - 66.9 x 48 x 1.2 inch

$18,032

Photography, Lamb 2, Laurent Gudin

Laurent Gudin

Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.2 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.1 inch

$3,351

Painting, Mermaid, Klimenko Olena

Klimenko Olena

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

$554

Print, Untitled, Mario Bedini

Mario Bedini

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

$487

Print, Untitled, Mario Bedini

Mario Bedini

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

$487

Print, Swing, Paul Ambille

Paul Ambille

Print - 60 x 45 cm Print - 23.6 x 17.7 inch

$122

Print, Polo, Paul Ambille

Paul Ambille

Print - 74 x 53 cm Print - 29.1 x 20.9 inch

$122

Photography, Soweto, Thomas Hoeffgen

Thomas Hoeffgen

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

$2,924

Print, Round, Philippe Grimaud

Philippe Grimaud

Print - 70 x 49 x 0.1 cm Print - 27.6 x 19.3 x 0 inch

$121

Photography, Tracks IV, Bruno Charoy

Bruno Charoy

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

$1,218

Painting, Chabal, MC Art

MC Art

Painting - 112 x 81 x 3 cm Painting - 44.1 x 31.9 x 1.2 inch

$1,340

Painting, Swimmer, Carmen Cañadas

Carmen Cañadas

Painting - 90 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch

$4,874

Painting, The catch, Gordon Barker

Gordon Barker

Painting - 30 x 30 x 0.3 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch

$275

Photography, L'Attaquant, Ben B

Ben B

Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.04 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch

$231

Photography, Go Cart Track, Jill Peters

Jill Peters

Photography - 101.6 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 inch

$4,500

Photography, My Time, Fabrizio Alzati

Fabrizio Alzati

Photography - 20 x 27 cm Photography - 7.9 x 10.6 inch

$426

Fine Art Drawings, Swing golf !, Noël Granger

Noël Granger

Fine Art Drawings - 29 x 21 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.4 x 8.3 x 0 inch

$85

Fine Art Drawings, Putting, golf !, Noël Granger

Noël Granger

Fine Art Drawings - 29 x 21 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.4 x 8.3 x 0 inch

$85

Fine Art Drawings, Golfeur !, Noël Granger

Noël Granger

Fine Art Drawings - 29 x 21 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.4 x 8.3 x 0 inch

$85

Photography, A fleur de peau, Benoît Kuhn

Benoît Kuhn

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

$1,097

Photography, Rue Lepic, Bilal Aouffen

Bilal Aouffen

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

$18,276

Fine Art Drawings, Chute, Julián Fourcade

Julián Fourcade

Fine Art Drawings - 26 x 36 cm Fine Art Drawings - 10.2 x 14.2 inch

$231

Photography, Gymnast, Elena Bandurka

Elena Bandurka

Photography - 40 x 30 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch

$400

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