Realist Color Photography
REALIST STYLE
Realist art attempts to portray its subject matter without artifice. Similar to naturalism, authentic realist paintings and prints see an integration of true-to-life colors, meticulous detail and linear perspectives for accurate portrayals of the world.
Work that involves illusionistic techniques of realism dates back to the classical world, such as the deceptive trompe l’oeil used since ancient Greece. Art like this became especially popular in the 17th century when Dutch artists like Evert Collier painted objects that appeared real enough to touch. Realism as an artistic movement, however, usually refers to 19th-century French realist artists such as Honoré Daumier exploring social and political issues in biting lithographic prints, while the likes of Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet painting people — particularly the working class — with all their imperfections, navigating everyday urban life. This was a response to the dominant academic art tradition that favored grand paintings of myth and history.
By the turn of the 20th century, European artists, such as the Pre-Raphaelites, were experimenting with nearly photographic realism in their work, as seen in the attention to every botanical attribute of the flowers surrounding the drowned Ophelia painted by English artist John Everett Millais.
Although abstraction was the guiding style of 20th-century art, the realism trend in American modern art endured in Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth and other artists’ depictions of the complexities of the human experience. In the late 1960s, Photorealism emerged with artists like Chuck Close and Richard Estes giving their paintings the precision of a frame of film.
Contemporary artists such as Jordan Casteel, LaToya Ruby Frazier and Aliza Nisenbaum are now using the unvarnished realist approach for honest representations of people and their worlds. Alongside traditional mediums, technology such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and immersive installations are helping artists create new sensations of realism in art.
Find authentic realist paintings, sculptures, prints and more art on 1stDibs.
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Style: Realist
Catherine Wilke, Capri (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Catherine Wilke joins the topless sunbathers on the island of Capri, 1980.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Slim A...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Cafe in Monte Carlo (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Cafe in Monte Carlo, 1975
Chromogenic Lambda print
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Diners on a cafe terrace in...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Princess Caroline of Monaco (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Princess Caroline of Monaco, with her pet dog Tiffany, Monte Carlo 1977.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authent...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Hôtel du Cap Eden-Roc Pool Estate Edition Photograph: Glamorous Poolside Antibes
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Bathers enjoy the sun by the pool at the Hôtel du Cap Eden-Roc, Antibes, France, 1976. Aarons' iconic photograph depicts the legendary hotel made famous by Fitzgerald's Tender is the...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Poolside Party (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Guests by the pool at Nelda Linsk's desert house in Palm Springs, January 1970. The house was designed by Richard Neutra for Edgar Kaufman
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition ...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Dinosaur Parade
Located in Miami, FL
Dinosaur , Signed and dated on lower right, numbered on verso, Edition 2 of 15, Printed later. Unframed , Other sizes available Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
Category
Early 2000s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment, Photographic Paper
Palm Beach Arts Festival (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
The Palm Beach Arts Festival Procession, Florida, 1964.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
...
Category
1960s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Surfing Brothers
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Freddie and Howard Cushing surfing with friends at Bailey's Beach (the Spouting Rock Beach Association) in Newport. Their father introduced the sport to the club in the 1930's.
Comp...
Category
1960s Realist Color Photography
Scotti's Yacht
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Guests on board Italian Count Hannibal Scotti's yacht, 'Scotland Cay', Monte Carlo harbour, Monaco.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 wit...
Category
1960s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Julie London (Aarons Estate Print)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
1957: Singer Julie London enjoying breakfast in bed at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of aut...
Category
1950s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Guests at the Villa Nirvana (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Caption:Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, 1978.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity ...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Oscar De La Renta (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
February 1985: Dress designer Oscar De La Renta relaxes in the living room of his apartment the Casa de Madera in the resort of Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic.
Estate st...
Category
1980s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons Penthouse Pool, Acropolis' Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Young women by the Canellopoulos penthouse pool, Athens, July 1961. The acropolis is in the background.
40 x 40 inches
$5400
30 x 30 inches
$4200
20 x 20 inches
$3600
60 x 60 inc...
Category
1960s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Megachess' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A giant game of chess in Saint Lucia, in the Lesser Antilles, February 1993.
40 x 60 inches
$3950
30 x 40 inches
$3350
20 x 30 inches
$3000
Estate stamped and hand numbered edit...
Category
1990s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Gasthof Post Pool (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Guests lounging by the indoor swimming pool of the Gasthof Post in Lech, Austria, February 1979.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity f...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Droulers And Daughters (Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Roberta Droulers sitting with her daughters, Nathalie and Virginie, in the lobby of the Villa D'Este on Lake Como, Tivoli, near Rome, Italy, circa 1984.
Estate stamped and hand numb...
Category
1980s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Pussyfooting (Dee Hartford)'
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Actress Dee Hartford, wife of film producer Howard Hawks, sips a Pussyfoot - a mixture of Jamaican fruit juices, 1958.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certifica...
Category
1950s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Madame Jean Serpieri
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
December 1961—Madame Jean Serpieri sits in the ballroom of the Tour La Reine near Athens, wearing a gown which belonged to the wife of Otto, the f...
Category
1960s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Leisure and Fashion (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A woman watching a poolside fashion show at the Colony Hotel, Palm Beach, Florida, 1961.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the ...
Category
1960s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda, Acrylic Polymer
Slim Aarons 'Beverly Hills Hotel' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Beverly Hills Hotel on Sunset Boulevard in California, 1957.
Beverly Hills Hotel
Slim Aarons Estate Edition
40x40 inches
Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate. Certifi...
Category
1950s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
The Klosters (Aarons state Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Skiers pass by the Hotel Chesa Grischuna in Klosters, Switzerland, 1963.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Slim Aa...
Category
1960s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
In Capri (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
1958: Robert Hornstein, the artist Novella Parigini and Prince Dado Ruspoli on Capri.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certific...
Category
1950s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Jolly Club: Gabriele D'Annunzio, Prince Di Montenevoso at Vallelonga with Lola
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
April 1982: Member of the 'Jolly Club', Gabriele D'Annunzio, Prince Di Montenevoso at Vallelonga with his red Lola racing car. He is Chief Test Driver for Firestone International.
...
Category
1980s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Coconut Cocktail (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Teddy Stauffer and a friend share a drink from a coconut shell, Acapulco, Mexico, 1952.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the est...
Category
1950s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Caped Skiers (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Led by skimaster Stein Eriksen, skiers 'sail' down a slope at Snowmass-at-Aspen, Colorado, circa 1967. The skiers are wearing thin capes which attach to their wrists and billow out l...
Category
1960s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Portofino Villa (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Guests by the pool at Klaus Pudel's villa, the Casa Montefino, overlooking Portofino harbour, Portofino, Italy, August 1977.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with c...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Capote Cycling, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons
Capote Cycling
Slim Aarons Estate Edition
1970: Truman Capote (1924 - 1984) on his bicycle in Palm Springs, California. Author of several novels including 'Breakfast at ...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Tullio Abbate (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Tullio Abbate, of Abbate Boats, at the back of yacht as it is moored at a property on the shores of Lake Como, Italy, in June 1983.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 w...
Category
20th Century Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Pool At Carvoeiro (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Holidaymakers round a pool, Carvoeiro, Portugal, July 1970.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Slim Aarons (1916-200...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Sunbather on Rock, Costa Smeralda Sardinia, Italy' (Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A sunbather on a rock by the seaside pool at Jacques Couelle's home 'Monte Mano', on the Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, Italy, August 1973.
40 x 60 inches
$3950
30 x 40 inches
$3350
2...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Donna Anna Monroy di Giampilieri (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
1984, Donna Anna Monroy di Giampilieri in the early-Empire drawing room of the Villa Spedalotto, near Palermo, Sicily.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certific...
Category
1980s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Biblioteca dell'Abbazia, St.Gallen, 2002
Located in New York, NY
Massimo Listri is a Florence-based photographer whose work often presents interiors of great architectural and cultural importance, some open to the public, others not easily accessi...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Color Photography
Materials
C Print
Slim Aarons 'Mara Lane at the Sands' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Austrian actress Mara Lane lounging by the pool in a red and white striped bathing costume at the Sands Hotel, Las Vegas, 1954.
Slim Aarons
Mara Lane at the Sands
Chromogenic Lambd...
Category
1950s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Time For A Guinness (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Caption: April 1959: Gloria Guinness enjoying a swim in her pool at Manalapan, Palm Beach, Florida.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticit...
Category
1950s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Hotel De Paris In Monaco (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
The entrance to the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, Monaco, June 1977.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity ...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Vuccino and Rava in Capri (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Carla Vuccino, wearing a swimming cap, and a sunbathing Marina Rava, both wearing bikini as they sit on the rear of a boat, on the waters off the coast of the island of Capri, Italy,...
Category
1950s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Peggy Guggenheim (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
September 1978: Peggy Guggenheim (1898 - 1979) in the Palazzo Venier Dei Leoni, Venice. The palace houses her private art collection, including Picass...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Delos Column #2
By Lee Wells
Located in New York, NY
Delos Column #2
30 x 20 inches
Edition of 10
20 x 16 inches
edition of 20
Where light was born
It’s a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s an ark of history, floating lazily on the waters of the Aegean Sea, just a few miles away from cosmopolitan Mykonos. It’s a chance to walk around the revival of the glory of the Greek civilization. It’s the head priest of the Cyclades, the birthplace of the immortals. In the ancient times, the myth of god Apollo, god of light, and goddess Artemis having been born there rendered the island sacred: no mortal would ever be allowed to be born on its land. But, a cradle of gods as the island has been, no mortals would ever be allowed to die on it either. So, apart from it being a conspicuous religious and economic centre, the island had also been exclusive in that: even during the years of peak of the Delian Alliance, women on the brink of childbirth and people close to dying would be carried to the neighbouring island of Rineia. The whole of the known world of that age was aware of the sacredness of the island and of its uniqueness.
Lee Wells is a conceptual artist, independent curator and writer working in New York since 2000. His artwork and projects question systems of power and control and have been exhibited internationally, including the 51st Venice Biennale, 2nd Moscow Biennial, The Guggenheim Museum, NCCA Moscow, PS1/MoMA, and the 1st Mykonos Biennale. He has lectured on art, technology, and contemporary society at many schools and universities including: Columbia University, Princeton University, New York University, Carnegie Mellon University, School of Visual Arts, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Moscow School of Photography, and others. His projects and exhibitions have been reviewed, publications include: The New York Times, The NY Observer, The Art Newspaper...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Color Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment
Cee Zee Guest
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Cee Zee Guest
Mrs F C Winston Guest (1920 - 2003) (aka Cee Zee Guest) reclines on a garden chair in front of the Grecian temple pool on her ocean-front estate, Villa Artemis, Palm ...
Category
1950s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons: Esther Williams In Pool (Limited Edition Estate Stamped)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress and former swimming champion, Esther Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013), in a Florida swimming pool.
40 x 40 inches
$3950
30 x 30 inches
$3350
20 x 20 in...
Category
1950s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Scone, Madam?
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1960, Afternoon tea round the pool on a cold day at the home of interior decorator James Pendleton in Beverly Hills.
48 x 48 inches
$4500
40 x 40 inches
$3950
30 x 30 inches
$335...
Category
1960s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Peggy Guggenheim
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
September 1978: Peggy Guggenheim (1898 - 1979) in the Palazzo Venier Dei Leoni, Venice. The palace houses her private art collection, including Picass...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Arranged Marriage
By Drew Tal
Located in New York, NY
With his works included in the permanent collection at the Norton and the New Britain Museum, Drew Tal’s successful career has been nothing but a soaring ascension into the global ar...
Category
2010s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Plexiglass, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Photogram
Massimo Listri 'Castello di Rivoli III - Torino'
Located in New York, NY
Castello di Rivoli III - Torino
"What makes his work unique is how he has made interiors look so absolutely vivid, as if they had a secret life of their own that only he knows how t...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Color Photography
Materials
C Print
Poolside Host, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests by the pool at Nelda Linsk's desert house in Palm Springs, California, January 1970. The house was designed by Richard Neutra for Edgar J. Kaufmann. At far left is Lita Baron. Helen Dzo Dzo is at centre, right in a white crochet outfit...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Massimo Listri 'Castello di Rivoli III - Torino'
Located in New York, NY
Castello di Rivoli III - Torino
"What makes his work unique is how he has made interiors look so absolutely vivid, as if they had a secret life of their own that only he knows how...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Color Photography
Materials
C Print
Palazzo Pitti, Sala Bianca I, Firenze
Located in New York, NY
Palazzo Pitti, Sala Bianca I Firenze, 2008
The photographer is based in Florence, and is fascinated how his architectural subject matter allows him to c...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Color Photography
Materials
C Print
Theater Colon I, Buenos Aires - portrait by the master of interior photography
Located in Vienna, AT
Beautiful portrait of famous Theater Colin I, Buenos Aires in white shades by the master of interior photography Massimo Listri.
PREISS FINE ARTS is one of the world’s leading gall...
Category
2010s Realist Color Photography
Materials
C Print
National Library, Naples - portrait by the master of interior photography
Located in Vienna, AT
Beautiful portrait of the National Library, Naples in brown shades by the master of interior photography Massimo Listri.
PREISS FINE ARTS is one of the world’s leading galleries fo...
Category
Early 2000s Realist Color Photography
Materials
C Print
Seitenstetten Library, Austria - beautiful blue & yellow interior portrait
Located in Vienna, AT
Beautiful blue & yellow portrait of Seitenstetten Library, Austria by the master of interior photography Massimo Listri.
PREISS FINE ARTS is one of the world’s leading galleries fo...
Category
1990s Realist Color Photography
Materials
C Print
Social Call, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1972-Charley Weaver makes a poolside phone call under a white fringe umbrella on a cream rotary phone at Las Brisas in Acapulco, Mexico. She wears a yellow swimsuit and brown floral scarf around her head. In the background are two more bathers, wearing pink and red swimsuits. Behind them is a tropical view of palms and the ocean.
Social Call...
Category
1970s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Afghan Girl (Peshawar, Pakistan)
Located in New York, NY
Steve McCurry
Afghan Girl
1984 (printed later
C-print on Fuji Crystal archival paper
24 x 20 inches
Signed and dated
Steve McCurry has been one of the mos...
Category
1980s Realist Color Photography
Materials
C Print
Slim Aarons 'Verbier Vacation, Switzerland' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons
Verbier Vacation
Verbier Vacation: Holiday-makers take the sun on a mountain top in Verbier, 1964.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of a...
Category
1960s Realist Color Photography
Materials
Lambda
Palazzo Pitti, Sala Bianca I, Firenze
Located in New York, NY
Palazzo Pitti, Sala Bianca I Firenze, 2008
The photographer is based in Florence, and is fascinated how his architectural subject matter allows him to c...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Color Photography
Materials
C Print
Biblioteca Palatina - Parma
Located in New York, NY
Biblioteca Palatina - Parma, 2012
The Biblioteca Palatina (also known as Reale Biblioteca Parmense, Biblioteca Nazionale, Bibliothèque Imperiale, Bibliothèque de la Ville de Parme...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Color Photography
Materials
C Print
Realist color photography for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Realist color photography available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add color photography created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, pink, orange and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Slim Aarons, Massimo Listri, Sean Scully, and John Conn. Frequently made by artists working with Digital Print, and Lambda Print and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Realist color photography, so small editions measuring 8.5 inches across are also available. Prices for color photography made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $200 and tops out at $28,500, while the average work sells for $3,350.