Since the beginning of the Poussiniste-Rubeniste debate, many artists worked between the two styles. In the 20th century, with the reactivation of the debate, the attention and objectives of the art world became to synthesize the line of Neoclassicism with the color of Romanticism. Critics claimed the synthesis of one artist after another, including Théodore Chassériau, Ary Scheffer, Francesco Hayez, Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps and Thomas Couture. William-Adolphe Bouguereau, a later academic artist, commented that the trick to being a good painter is to see "color and line as the same thing."

Thomas Couture promoted the same idea in a book he authored on artistic method, arguing that whenever it was said that a painting had better color or better line it was nonsense, because whenever the color appeared bright it depended on the line to convey it, and vice versa; and that color was actually a way of talking about the "value" of form.

Another evolution of this period was the adoption of historical styles to show the era of history that the painting represented, which was called historicism&action=edit&redlink=1 "Historicism (art) (not yet written)"). The best example of this is the work of Baron Jan August Hendrik Leys"), who later influenced James Tissot. It is also seen in the development of the Neo-Grec style"). Historicism is also understood as the belief and practice associated with academic art that innovations from the various artistic traditions of the past must be incorporated and reconciled.

In the art world, more and more attention was also paid to allegory in art. Theories about the importance of line and color stated that through these elements an artist exercises control over the medium to create psychological effects, in which themes, emotions and ideas can be represented. As artists attempted to synthesize these theories into practice, attention increased on the work of art as an allegorical or figurative vehicle. It was held that representations in painting and sculpture should evoke Platonic forms, or ideals, where behind ordinary representations something abstract, some eternal truth, could be glimpsed. Hence Keats' famous musing "Beauty is truth, truth is beauty." It was desired that the paintings be an "idée", a full and complete idea. It is known that Bouguereau said that he would not paint "a war", but that he would paint "the war". Many paintings by academic artists are simple allegories of nature with titles such as Sunrise, Sunset, See and Taste, in which these ideas are personified by a single naked figure, composed in such a way as to reveal the essence of the idea.

The artistic trend is also oriented towards greater idealism&action=edit&redlink=1 "Idealism (arts) (not yet written)"), contrary to realism&action=edit&redlink=1 "Realism (arts) (not yet written)"), in the sense that the figures represented become simpler and more abstract - idealized - in order to represent the ideals they represent. It was about generalizing the forms of nature and subordinating them to the unity and theme of the work.

Since history and mythology were considered games or dialectics of ideas, fertile ground for important allegories, using themes from these subjects was considered the most serious form of painting. A hierarchy of genres was valued", originally created in the 19th century, in which history painting - classical, religious, mythological, literary and allegorical themes - was at the top, followed by genre painting), then portrait, still life and landscape. History painting was also known as the "large genre." Hans Makart's paintings are often larger-than-life historical dramas, and he combined this with a historicism&action=edit&redlink=1 "Historicism (art) (not yet drafted)") in decoration to dominate the style of 19th-century Viennese culture. Paul Delaroche is a typical example of French historical painting.

All of these trends were influenced by the theories of the philosopher Hegel, who maintained that history was a dialectic of opposing ideas, which were finally resolved in synthesis.

By the end of the century, academic art had saturated European society. Exhibitions were held frequently, the most popular being the Paris Salon and, from 1903, the Salon d'Automne. These salons&action=edit&redlink=1 "Salon (meeting) (not yet drafted)") were large-scale events that attracted crowds of visitors, both native and foreign. It was as much a social event as an artistic one: 50,000 people could visit on a single Sunday, and up to 500,000 could see the exhibition during its two-month duration. Thousands of paintings were displayed, hung from below eye level to the ceiling, in a manner now known as "salon style." The success of an exhibition at the Salon was a seal of approval for an artist, allowing his work to be sold to an increasing number of private collectors. Bouguereau, Alexandre Cabanel and Jean-Léon Gérôme were prominent figures in this art world.

During the reign of academic art, Rococo paintings, previously unpopular, became popular again, and themes often used in Rococo art such as Eros&action=edit&redlink=1 "Eros (god) (not yet redacted)") and Psyche&action=edit&redlink=1 "Psyche (mortal) (not yet redacted)") became popular again. The academic art world also admired Raphael, for the "Idealism (art)") of his work, in fact preferring him to Michelangelo.

Academic art in Poland flourished under Jan Matejko, who established the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts. Many of these works can be seen in the Century Polish Art Gallery in Krakow's Sukiennice.

Academic art not only had influence in Western Europe and the United States, but also spread it to other countries. The artistic environment of Greece, for example, was dominated by the techniques of Western academies from the century onwards: this first became evident in the activities of the Ionian School&action=edit&redlink=1 "Ionian School (painting) (not yet written)"), and later became especially accentuated with the dawn of the Munich School"). The same was true of the nations of Latin America, which, because their revolutions were modeled after the French Revolution, tried to emulate French culture. An example of a Latin American academic artist is Ángel Zárraga from Mexico.

The young artists spent four years in rigorous training. In France, only students who passed an exam and carried a letter of recommendation from a famous art teacher were accepted into the academy school, the École des Beaux-Arts. Nude drawings and paintings, called "académies", were the basic elements of academic art and the procedure for learning to make them was clearly defined. First, students copied engravings of classical sculptures, becoming familiar with the principles of contour, light and shadow. Copying was considered crucial to academic training; By copying works of artists of the past, their methods of artistic creation were assimilated. To advance to the next step, and each subsequent step, students submitted drawings for evaluation.

If they approved, they drew from plaster casts of famous classical sculptures. Only after acquiring these skills were artists allowed to enter classes in which a live model posed. Painting was not taught at the École des Beaux-Arts until after 1863. To learn to paint with a brush, the student had to first demonstrate mastery of drawing, which was considered the basis of academic painting. Only then could he join an academic's studio and learn to paint. Throughout the entire process, contests with a predetermined theme and a specific time period measured each student's progress.

The most famous student art competition was the Prix de Rome. The winner of the Prix de Rome received a scholarship to study at the Villa Medici school in Rome for a maximum of five years. To compete, the artist had to be of French nationality, male, under 30 years of age and unmarried. He had to meet the entrance requirements of the École and have the support of a renowned art teacher. The competition was grueling, with several stages before the final, in which 10 contestants were secluded in studios for 72 days to paint their definitive history paintings. The winner was assured of a successful professional career.

As has already been said, exhibiting successfully at the Salon was a seal of approval for an artist. The artists asked the committee in charge of hanging the paintings for optimal placement "on the line", that is, at eye level. Once the exhibition opened, the artists complained that their works were too high. The final achievement of the professional artist was to be elected member of the Académie française and to have the right to be known as an academic.

Since the beginning of the Poussiniste-Rubeniste debate, many artists worked between the two styles. In the 20th century, with the reactivation of the debate, the attention and objectives of the art world became to synthesize the line of Neoclassicism with the color of Romanticism. Critics claimed the synthesis of one artist after another, including Théodore Chassériau, Ary Scheffer, Francesco Hayez, Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps and Thomas Couture. William-Adolphe Bouguereau, a later academic artist, commented that the trick to being a good painter is to see "color and line as the same thing."

Thomas Couture promoted the same idea in a book he authored on artistic method, arguing that whenever it was said that a painting had better color or better line it was nonsense, because whenever the color appeared bright it depended on the line to convey it, and vice versa; and that color was actually a way of talking about the "value" of form.

Another evolution of this period was the adoption of historical styles to show the era of history that the painting represented, which was called historicism&action=edit&redlink=1 "Historicism (art) (not yet written)"). The best example of this is the work of Baron Jan August Hendrik Leys"), who later influenced James Tissot. It is also seen in the development of the Neo-Grec style"). Historicism is also understood as the belief and practice associated with academic art that innovations from the various artistic traditions of the past must be incorporated and reconciled.

In the art world, more and more attention was also paid to allegory in art. Theories about the importance of line and color stated that through these elements an artist exercises control over the medium to create psychological effects, in which themes, emotions and ideas can be represented. As artists attempted to synthesize these theories into practice, attention increased on the work of art as an allegorical or figurative vehicle. It was held that representations in painting and sculpture should evoke Platonic forms, or ideals, where behind ordinary representations something abstract, some eternal truth, could be glimpsed. Hence Keats' famous musing "Beauty is truth, truth is beauty." It was desired that the paintings be an "idée", a full and complete idea. It is known that Bouguereau said that he would not paint "a war", but that he would paint "the war". Many paintings by academic artists are simple allegories of nature with titles such as Sunrise, Sunset, See and Taste, in which these ideas are personified by a single naked figure, composed in such a way as to reveal the essence of the idea.

The artistic trend is also oriented towards greater idealism&action=edit&redlink=1 "Idealism (arts) (not yet written)"), contrary to realism&action=edit&redlink=1 "Realism (arts) (not yet written)"), in the sense that the figures represented become simpler and more abstract - idealized - in order to represent the ideals they represent. It was about generalizing the forms of nature and subordinating them to the unity and theme of the work.

Since history and mythology were considered games or dialectics of ideas, fertile ground for important allegories, using themes from these subjects was considered the most serious form of painting. A hierarchy of genres was valued", originally created in the 19th century, in which history painting - classical, religious, mythological, literary and allegorical themes - was at the top, followed by genre painting), then portrait, still life and landscape. History painting was also known as the "large genre." Hans Makart's paintings are often larger-than-life historical dramas, and he combined this with a historicism&action=edit&redlink=1 "Historicism (art) (not yet drafted)") in decoration to dominate the style of 19th-century Viennese culture. Paul Delaroche is a typical example of French historical painting.

All of these trends were influenced by the theories of the philosopher Hegel, who maintained that history was a dialectic of opposing ideas, which were finally resolved in synthesis.

By the end of the century, academic art had saturated European society. Exhibitions were held frequently, the most popular being the Paris Salon and, from 1903, the Salon d'Automne. These salons&action=edit&redlink=1 "Salon (meeting) (not yet drafted)") were large-scale events that attracted crowds of visitors, both native and foreign. It was as much a social event as an artistic one: 50,000 people could visit on a single Sunday, and up to 500,000 could see the exhibition during its two-month duration. Thousands of paintings were displayed, hung from below eye level to the ceiling, in a manner now known as "salon style." The success of an exhibition at the Salon was a seal of approval for an artist, allowing his work to be sold to an increasing number of private collectors. Bouguereau, Alexandre Cabanel and Jean-Léon Gérôme were prominent figures in this art world.

During the reign of academic art, Rococo paintings, previously unpopular, became popular again, and themes often used in Rococo art such as Eros&action=edit&redlink=1 "Eros (god) (not yet redacted)") and Psyche&action=edit&redlink=1 "Psyche (mortal) (not yet redacted)") became popular again. The academic art world also admired Raphael, for the "Idealism (art)") of his work, in fact preferring him to Michelangelo.

Academic art in Poland flourished under Jan Matejko, who established the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts. Many of these works can be seen in the Century Polish Art Gallery in Krakow's Sukiennice.

Academic art not only had influence in Western Europe and the United States, but also spread it to other countries. The artistic environment of Greece, for example, was dominated by the techniques of Western academies from the century onwards: this first became evident in the activities of the Ionian School&action=edit&redlink=1 "Ionian School (painting) (not yet written)"), and later became especially accentuated with the dawn of the Munich School"). The same was true of the nations of Latin America, which, because their revolutions were modeled after the French Revolution, tried to emulate French culture. An example of a Latin American academic artist is Ángel Zárraga from Mexico.

The young artists spent four years in rigorous training. In France, only students who passed an exam and carried a letter of recommendation from a famous art teacher were accepted into the academy school, the École des Beaux-Arts. Nude drawings and paintings, called "académies", were the basic elements of academic art and the procedure for learning to make them was clearly defined. First, students copied engravings of classical sculptures, becoming familiar with the principles of contour, light and shadow. Copying was considered crucial to academic training; By copying works of artists of the past, their methods of artistic creation were assimilated. To advance to the next step, and each subsequent step, students submitted drawings for evaluation.

If they approved, they drew from plaster casts of famous classical sculptures. Only after acquiring these skills were artists allowed to enter classes in which a live model posed. Painting was not taught at the École des Beaux-Arts until after 1863. To learn to paint with a brush, the student had to first demonstrate mastery of drawing, which was considered the basis of academic painting. Only then could he join an academic's studio and learn to paint. Throughout the entire process, contests with a predetermined theme and a specific time period measured each student's progress.

The most famous student art competition was the Prix de Rome. The winner of the Prix de Rome received a scholarship to study at the Villa Medici school in Rome for a maximum of five years. To compete, the artist had to be of French nationality, male, under 30 years of age and unmarried. He had to meet the entrance requirements of the École and have the support of a renowned art teacher. The competition was grueling, with several stages before the final, in which 10 contestants were secluded in studios for 72 days to paint their definitive history paintings. The winner was assured of a successful professional career.

As has already been said, exhibiting successfully at the Salon was a seal of approval for an artist. The artists asked the committee in charge of hanging the paintings for optimal placement "on the line", that is, at eye level. Once the exhibition opened, the artists complained that their works were too high. The final achievement of the professional artist was to be elected member of the Académie française and to have the right to be known as an academic.