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, Taharu'u, Sophie Geider

Sophie Geider

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

$1,645

Painting, Jordan 1, Luc Abalo

Luc Abalo

Painting - 200 x 130 x 5 cm Painting - 78.7 x 51.2 x 2 inch

$12,184

Painting, Primo, Art Kage

Art Kage

Painting - 192 x 172 x 1 cm Painting - 75.6 x 67.7 x 0.4 inch

$2,924

Sculpture, Surfer, Michel Haddi

Michel Haddi

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

$17,058

Photography, Ascension, Bilal Aouffen

Bilal Aouffen

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

$1,462

Photography, Hand I, Laurent Gudin

Laurent Gudin

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

$1,949

Print, El Festejo, Aryz

Aryz

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

$1,706

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

$2,705

Print, Equestrian, Zhou Zhiwei

Zhou Zhiwei

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

$512

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

$2,437

Print, Voluntas, Sam3

Sam3

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

$268

Photography, Le lutteur, Chiara Dazi

Chiara Dazi

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

$1,218

Photography, Jougs, Laurent Troude

Laurent Troude

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

$1,401

Print, Untitled, Mario Bedini

Mario Bedini

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

$487

Print, Voiliers, Michel Bez

Michel Bez

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

$305

Photography, Plongeurs, Elisa Haberer

Elisa Haberer

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

$2,437

Painting, Mats Sundin, Stephen Holland

Stephen Holland

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

$7,600

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

$244

Photography, Ali le requin, Shuz

Shuz

Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch

$61

Photography, Mystique, Eric Lalmand

Eric Lalmand

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

$1,218

Photography, Dive In, Terry Hastings

Terry Hastings

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

$500

Photography, The big jump, SergDady

SergDady

Photography - 90 x 60 x 4 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch

$816

Painting, Vor, Axel Gercke

Vor

Axel Gercke

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

$1,462

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

$1,462

Photography, But !, Bruno Lecoq

Bruno Lecoq

Photography - 29.7 x 21 cm Photography - 11.7 x 8.3 inch

$317

Photography, Rowboat, Sven Svensøn

Sven Svensøn

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

$548

Painting, Jump124, SIlvia Caimi

SIlvia Caimi

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

$4,874

Fine Art Drawings, Contorsión parada, Ruth Arbiser

Ruth Arbiser

Fine Art Drawings - 29.7 x 21 x 0.001 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0 inch

$731