Sports Wall Art Reproduction Oil Paintings On Canvas

Sports Wall Art is a unique form of creative production. It’s nothing new, having fascinated artists since Ancient Greece and Rome and even prehistoric cave paintings.

Despite this, sports art took off during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During this period, people had more leisure time than ever before, and their pursuits and interests influenced artistic production.

What is Sporting Art?

Sporting wall art refers to any painting representing official sports or country pursuits.

This definition includes football paintings from Robert Delaunay and Henri Rousseau to iconic depictions of runners and cyclists. Horse racing paintings are also classic examples of the genre, especially the work of Edgar Degas.

Cycling is a popular genre of sports art due to its dynamic speed and streamlined motion. Jean Metzinger produced a notable Cubist-inspired work, The Cycle Track (depicting the final meters of the Paris-Roubaix race), in 1912.

In an almost entirely contrasting manner, Edward Hopper also represented cyclists mid-race (preparing to get back on the track) in French Six Day Bicycle Racer.

Famous Sports Wall Art

If there’s one artist famous for their sports art, it must be George Bellows. Bellows created many renowned depictions of boxers as a painter of the American “Ash Can” school.

His most famous boxers painting is Stag at Sharkey's (1909), which shows two fighters in the ring. The painting depicts Sharkey’s Private Athletics Club and Bar, which Bellows frequently visited. As well as a fascinating insight into two boxers mid-fight, it also shows the rowdy activities popular in early-twentieth-century New York. Indeed, public boxing was illegal in the city at the time.

Dempsey and Firpo (1924) is another famous Bellows boxers painting depicting a pivotal moment in the prize fight between Jack Dempsey and Luis Angel Firpo.

Discover well-known horse racing paintings by Edgar Degas and other sports wall art forms in our extensive replica art collection.