Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
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.
2010s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Emulsion, Engraving, Etching, Paper
1990s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Graphite
Late 20th Century Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Oil, Color Pencil
2010s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Carbon Pencil
20th Century Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Carbon Pencil
1980s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Pen, Color Pencil
1980s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper
2010s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Carbon Pencil
2010s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Carbon Pencil
2010s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Carbon Pencil
20th Century Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Carbon Pencil
1980s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pen, Color Pencil, Gouache
1980s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Pen, Color Pencil
1950s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Carbon Pencil
Mid-20th Century Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
1970s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Watercolor, Mixed Media
20th Century Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
1980s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper
2010s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1970s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1980s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Pencil
1980s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1950s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
India Ink, Handmade Paper
2010s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Ink, Gouache, Graphite
1980s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Permanent Marker
1930s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Gouache, Pencil
2010s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Ink, Graphite, Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paint, Panel, Permanent Marker, Pencil
2010s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Pen, Permanent Marker, Color Pencil
Mid-20th Century Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pencil
20th Century Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Carbon Pencil
20th Century Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Carbon Pencil
20th Century Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Carbon Pencil
20th Century Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Carbon Pencil
2010s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1970s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Pencil
2010s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Emulsion, Watercolor, Photographic Paper, C Print, Engraving, Etching
1980s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Lithograph, Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
Artist Comments
Tropical bright green colors of a parrot with philodendron together look beautiful!
About the Artist
Suren is an impressionist painter eloquently c...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1960s Realist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor