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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
Windsors In Portofino, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor walking their dog in Portofino. Picture Post - 5599 - Portofino - unpub. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered a...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Yachting Trip, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Selvaggia Borromeo wades ashore from her yacht during a holiday on the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, August 1967. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Num...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Montecatini, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Marie-Louise Scio at the Tettuccio Terme in Montecatini, Italy, June 1980. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons ...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Caprice On Capri, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1958: Singer and actress Caprice Chantal (right) on the Italian island of Capri. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aa...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Lucy Hamilton, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Princess Lucy Ruspoli in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, 1982. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collector w...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Hotel Excelsior, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The beach front of the luxurious Excelsior Hotel on the Venice Lido, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons ...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Hotel Excelsior, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The beach front of the luxurious Excelsior Hotel on the Venice Lido, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons ...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Porto Ercole, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of the Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, Italy, August 1973. Slim ...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Porto Ercole, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of the Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, Italy, August 1973. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certi...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Porto Ercole, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of the Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, Italy, August 1973. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certi...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Holiday In Capri, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Carla Vuccino and Bianca Volpato holiday with their friends on Capri, Italy, July 1958. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Massimo Family, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1960, Prince and Princess Massimo with five of their six children in their residence, Palazzo Massimo all Colonne, Rome, Italy. Slim Aarons Estate Ed...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Laudomia Pucci, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Italian fashion designer and daughter of Emilio Pucci, Laudomia Pucci, Florence, Italy, 1983. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped ...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Barone Bettino Ricasoli, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Winemaker Barone Bettino Ricasoli poses holding up a wine glass beside a table, on which stands three bottles of wine and a basket of grapes, in a vineyard in Siena, Italy, 1983. The...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Zermatt Skiing, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Skiers in Zermatt, Switzerland, March 1968. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collector will receive t...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Skiing in St. Mortiz, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Countess Jan Bonde in the Palace Hotel sleigh on Lake St. Moritz, Switzerland, 1983 Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

French Bath, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Joyce Pallardy relaxes at the Villa Macopa, the home of Mrs Andre Hammel in St Tropez, August 1977. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and st...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Lucy Hamilton, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Princess Lucy Ruspoli in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, 1982. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collector w...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Armando Orsini, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Armando Orsini, a New York restaurateur, poses in a Tuscan olive grove, with a table displaying dishes of olives and a bottle of olive oil, Italy, in August 1975...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Pushkar 1: photograph of an Indian girl in a Ferrari shirt, in India, South Asia
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This photograph is from among Vincent Dixon's series created in Paris, Pushkar, Myanmar, Los Angeles, New York, London, Miami, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid, São Pau...
Category

2010s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Waiting in the Shade, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A woman shelters under a parasol on a beach on the Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, 1967. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Between the Sea and Sky, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ingrid Morath sunbathes by a swimming pool next to the sea in Acapulco, 1961. Ingrid was born in Rio de Janeiro and lives in Mexico City. Portofino Villa Slim Aarons Estate Edition ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Venice Gondolier, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Premium Rates Apply. A gondolier on the Grand Canal in Venice, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Venice Gondolier, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Premium Rates Apply. A gondolier on the Grand Canal in Venice, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Natale Rusconi, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Cipriani motor launch with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore on San Giorgio Maggiore island beyond, in Venice, Italy, in September 1978. Slim Aarons ...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Natale Rusconi, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Cipriani motor launch with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore on San Giorgio Maggiore island beyond, in Venice, Italy, in September 1978. Slim Aarons ...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Unghia Marina, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A group of people stand on a terrace, at the Unghia Marina on the island of Capri, Italy, in September 1989. Trees dot the side of the marina while a flagpole rises up from the edge ...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Droulers And Daughters, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Roberta Droulers sitting with her daughters, Nathalie and Virginie, in the lobby of the Villa D'Este on Lake Como, Cernobbio, Italy, circa 1984. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certifi...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Droulers And Daughters, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Roberta Droulers sitting with her daughters, Nathalie and Virginie, in the lobby of the Villa D'Este on Lake Como, Cernobbio, Italy, circa 1984. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certifi...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Smeralda Architect, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1978: Architect Jacques Couelle at the Costa Smeralda, Karim Aga Khan's development in Sardinia which Couelle designed. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticit...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Ice Bar in Lech, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Customers at the Ice Bar at the Hotel Krone in Lech, Austria, 1960. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate C...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Funk In Tuscany, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Italian fashion designer, model and socialite, Marta Marzotto (1931 - 2016), playing a James Brown album on an Italian Brionvega Radiofonograph RR126 stereo system, Porto Ercole, Tus...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Poolside Party, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests by the pool at Nelda Linsk's desert house in Palm Springs, January 1970. The house was designed by Richard Neutra for Edgar J. Kaufmann. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certific...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Lucy Hamilton, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Princess Lucy Ruspoli in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, 1982. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collector w...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Waiting in the Shade, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A woman shelters under a parasol on a beach on the Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, 1967. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Private Stage, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1960: Countess Anna Laetitia Pecci-Blunt (1885 - 1971) sits on the stage of her own private theatre in Rome. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbere...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Ursula Pacelli, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ursula Pacelli poses at the Venice Lido, Venice, Italy, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collect...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Ursula Pacelli, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ursula Pacelli poses at the Venice Lido, Venice, Italy, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collect...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Ursula Pacelli, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ursula Pacelli poses at the Venice Lido, Venice, Italy, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collect...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Belvedere Pool, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The swimming pool at the Hotel Belvedere, Amalfi, Italy, August 1984. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estat...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Belvedere Pool, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The swimming pool at the Hotel Belvedere, Amalfi, Italy, August 1984. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estat...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Natale Rusconi, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Cipriani motor launch with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore on San Giorgio Maggiore island beyond, in Venice, Italy, in September 1978. Slim Aarons ...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Smeralda Architect, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1978: Architect Jacques Couelle at the Costa Smeralda, Karim Aga Khan's development in Sardinia which Couelle designed. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticit...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Smeralda Architect, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1978: Architect Jacques Couelle at the Costa Smeralda, Karim Aga Khan's development in Sardinia which Couelle designed. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticit...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Unghia Marina, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A group of people stand on a terrace, at the Unghia Marina on the island of Capri, Italy, in September 1989. Trees dot the side of the marina while a flagpole rises up from the edge ...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Unghia Marina, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A group of people stand on a terrace, at the Unghia Marina on the island of Capri, Italy, in September 1989. Trees dot the side of the marina while a flagpole rises up from the edge ...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Private Stage, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1960: Countess Anna Laetitia Pecci-Blunt (1885 - 1971) sits on the stage of her own private theatre in Rome. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbere...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Maccioni By His Pool, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Restaurateur Sirio Maccioni at his villa in Montecatini, Italy, July 1991. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons ...
Category

1990s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Maccioni By His Pool, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Restaurateur Sirio Maccioni at his villa in Montecatini, Italy, July 1991. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons ...
Category

1990s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Droulers And Daughters, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Roberta Droulers sitting with her daughters, Nathalie and Virginie, in the lobby of the Villa D'Este on Lake Como, Cernobbio, Italy, circa 1984. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certifi...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Zermatt Skiing, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Skiers in Zermatt, Switzerland, March 1968. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collector will receive t...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Between the Sea and Sky, Slim Aarons Estate Edition photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ingrid Morath sunbathes by a swimming pool next to the sea in Acapulco, 1961. Ingrid was born in Rio de Janeiro and lives in Mexico City. Portofino Villa Slim Aarons Estate Edition ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Zermatt Skiing, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Skiers in Zermatt, Switzerland, March 1968. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collector will receive t...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Sea Drive, Estate Edition, Amphicar in Nassau
Located in Los Angeles, CA
'Sea Drive' is a genuine Slim Aarons estate edition photograph. Film producer Kevin McClory, his wife, Bobo Sigrist, and their family enjoy a leisurely drive in a vibrant red vintage Amphicar across the scenic Nassau harbour. This idyllic scene, captured in 1967, embodyies Slim Aarons signature style mixing casual glamour and vintage cool; the unique charm feel of this iconic image is completed with a pink parasol. 'Sea Drive' is a genuine Slim Aarons estate edition photograph. Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate. Certificate of Authenticity included. Slim Aarons Sea Drive Chromogenic Lambda print Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate Edition Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Stamped and hand numbered by the Slim Aarons Estate. Certificate of Authenticity included. Over the course of a career lasting half a century, Slim Aarons (1916-2006) portrayed high society, aristocracy, authors, artists, business icons, the celebrated and their milieu. In doing so, he captured a golden age of wealth, privilege, beauty and leisure that occurred alongside—but quite separate from—the cultural and political backdrop of the second half of the Twentieth Century. The Slim Aarons Estate has released the limited Estate edition as a Lambda print, which is a modern c-type prints. They have chosen Lambda prints for their sharpness, clarity, colour saturation and quality, compared to archival inkjet prints. Lambda printing gives true continuous tone. Photograph is unframed Slide show includes a close-up of the Slim Aarons estate's stamp. Collector will get the next number in the edition * We are pleased to offer the entire archive of the Slim Aarons Estate, offering the official Slim Aarons Estate Edition (only offered in this edition of 150). Please contact us for additional photographs from Slim Aarons * Kevin O'Donovan McClory (8 June 1924[1] – 20 November 2006) was an Irish screenwriter, film producer, and film director. McClory was best known for producing the James Bond film Thunderball, popular in the 60s and 70s. Internal: The location for Slim Aarons midcentury photograph, Sea Drive, is Vintage Nassau, which fits curated collections for Vintage Yachting, Vintage Boating, modern graphic, midcentury modern, Vintage Slim Aarons, Vintage Sport Photography...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Phil Richard's Pool, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A poolside party at Phil Richards' home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, May 1970. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aar...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Nice Pool, Estate Edition, Villa Artemis, Palm Beach
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Step into the world of casual elegance and midcentury glamour with Slim Aarons' evocative photograph, "Nice Pool" This image offers a mesmerizing glimpse into the opulent life of Ame...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Relaxing in Lech, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A ski resort in Courchevel in the French Alps, circa 1970. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collector...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Spinnaker Sailing, Estate Edition)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Spinnaker sailing on the Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, August 1973 60 x 40 inches $3950 40 x 30 inches $3350 30 x 20 inches $3000 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldw...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

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.

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