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Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

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
Woman with brooch looking up
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Leo Primavesi (1871 Cologne - after 1937 ): Woman with brooch looking up, 1892, Pen drawing Technique: Pen drawing on Paper Inscription: Signed and dated at upper left: "Leo 8 Jan ...
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19th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

John Dronsfield - 20th Century British Costume Design of a Man in a Green Coat
Located in London, GB
JOHN DRONSFIELD (1900-1951) Costume Design with Green Jacket Watercolour and bodycolour over pencil Unframed, in mount only 40 by 28.5 cm., 15 ¾ by 11 ¼ in. (mount size 53 by 41...
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1930s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Sunset Sailors is a Watercolor by Swedish Artist Carl L Lindqvist, Painted 1898
Located in Stockholm, SE
Discover this watercolor "Sunset Sailors" by Carl L. Lindqvist (1856-1941). Step into the enchanting world of the Swedish artist Carl L. Lindqvist with his captivating watercolor pa...
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1890s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Feel The Beat, realistic figurative charcoal on paper of girls dancing - Framed
Located in Dallas, TX
"Feel The Beat" is a dynamic and unique charcoal on paper. McArthur captures the movement of the female figures running in nature perfectly, and the monochromatic palette makes this ...
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2010s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Archival Paper

Sewing in Silence
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Leo Primavesi (1871 Cologne - after 1937 ): Sewing in Silence, c. 1890, Pen drawing Technique: Pen drawing on Paper Date: c. 1890 Keywords: Woman, Portrait, Handicraft, Sew, Lamp,...
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19th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Nude study of his wife Vera
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Carl August Walther (1880 Leipzig - 1956 Dresden): Nude study of his wife Vera, 1916, Charcoal Technique: Charcoal on Paper Inscription: monogrammed and dated lower right, with est...
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20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Roman woman in traditional costume
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Leo Primavesi (1871 Cologne - after 1937 ): Roman woman in traditional costume, 1895, Watercolor Technique: Watercolor on Paper Inscription: signed and inscribed in the lower centre: "Roma. Sept. 1895. Leo Primavesi". Date: 1895 Keywords: Portrait, costume, Italy, Rome, sandal, headscarf, 19th century...
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19th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Sensual Neapolitan
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Leo Primavesi (1871 Cologne - after 1937 ): Sensual Neapolitan, c. 1896, Pen drawing Technique: Pen drawing on Paper Inscription: monogrammed: "LP.", numbered at the bottom centre: "16.". Date: c. 1896 Keywords: Young woman, Italian woman, sitting portrait, model study, robe study, headscarf, dress...
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19th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Portrait of his wife Vera
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Carl August Walther (1880 Leipzig - 1956 Dresden): Portrait of his wife Vera, 20th century, Charcoal Technique: Charcoal on Paper Inscription: lower left with estate stamp Date: 2...
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20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Sleeping I
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Carl August Walther (1880 Leipzig - 1956 Dresden): Sleeping I, 20th century, Pencil Technique: Pencil on Paper Inscription: below with estate stamp Date: 20th century Provenance:...
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20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Young Neapolitan
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Leo Primavesi (1871 Cologne - after 1937 ): Young Neapolitan, c. 1896, Pen drawing Technique: Pen drawing on Paper Inscription: Signed "Leo Primavesi" lower left, numbered "6." low...
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19th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Portrait of an old woman
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Carl August Walther (1880 Leipzig - 1956 Dresden): Portrait of an old woman, 20th century, Watercolor Technique: Watercolor over Pen drawing on Paper Inscription: monogrammed "C.W....
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20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Sleeping IV
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Carl August Walther (1880 Leipzig - 1956 Dresden): Sleeping IV, 20th century, Pencil Technique: Pencil on Paper Inscription: below with estate stamp Date: 20th century Provenance...
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20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Study for an allegory of victory / - A virtuoso victory -
Located in Berlin, DE
Arthur Kampf (1864 Aachen - 1950 Castorp-Rauxel), Study to an allegory of victory, around 1900. Pencil on paper, 21 cm x 18 cm, signed lower left "A. Kampf". - slightly darkened, otherwise in good condition - A virtuoso victory - About the artwork The vertical-format sketch illustrates a plateau to which a staircase leads up from the right. Arthur Kampf thus takes up a typical baroque disposition for the depiction of allegories. And indeed, a female figure climbs the steps to hand the palm of victory to a figure that is probably also female. Other persons standing on the plateau pay homage to her, whereby the figure on the left edge of the picture may represent a warrior. The scene is framed by an ornamentally decorated arch field, which additionally emphasizes the allegorical-historical content of the depiction. An arch can also be seen under the staircase, suggesting that this may be a design for a supraport. The sheet could have been created in the wake of Arthur Kampf's appointment in 1899 as head of the studio for history painting at the Berlin Art Academy. The drawing style, which only outlines the idea of the picture and yet is determined by concise lines, corresponds to the sketchiness of the Baroque and testifies to Arthur Kampfs intensive study of this heyday of history painting. About the artist Arthur Kampf was the son of the Aachen painter and imperial court photographer August Kampf. His older brother Eugen and his son Herbert were also painters. Arthur Kampf studied at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art from 1879 under Eduard von Gebhardt and Peter Janssen the Elder, whose master pupil he was from 1883 to 1891. Influenced by the naturalistic paintings of Jules Bastien-Lepage, which Kampf saw on a trip to Paris in 1885, he created the painting "The Last Statement" in 1886, which was based on a personal experience. It shows a man mortally wounded by knife wounds. The oppressive drasticness of the almost life-size depiction caused a sensation and controversial criticism. The first successes were achieved: At the Berlin Jubilee Exhibition of 1886, Kampf received an honorable mention, and at the Munich Annual Exhibition of 1890, he was awarded a gold medal. Between 1886 and 1936, Kampf participated in all the major German exhibitions. In 1887 the artist painted his first fresco, which was the beginning of a series of monumental compositions. With the highly successful painting "The Burial of the Corpse of Kaiser Wilhelm I in the Berlin Cathedral" (1888), Kampf established himself as a painter of contemporary history, following in the footsteps of Adolph von Menzel, whose oeuvre he immediately took up with the painting "Speech by Frederick the Great to His Generals in Koeben" (1893). The pictures of his Liberation War cycle were included in school textbooks and distributed in large editions as postcards. As for his academic career, Kampf became an assistant professor at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art in 1887, and in 1894 he was appointed professor of the class for antiquities and nature, and in 1897 he became head of the painting class. In 1899 Kampf was appointed director of the history painting studio at the Berlin Academy of Art. In 1901 he became a full member of the academy and was its president from 1907 to 1912. As Anton von Werner's successor, Kampf directed the Academy of Fine Arts in Charlottenburg from 1915 to 1925. Among his monumental works is the painting of the assembly hall of the Aachen town hall, done between 1898 and 1902. It focuses on the social welfare of the state and the work of the people. Important subsequent commissions include the painting of the reading room of the new Royal Library in Berlin and the new auditorium of the University of Berlin with "Fichte's Speech to the German Nation". During World War I, at the request of General Ewald von Lochow, Kampf traveled to the Western theaters of war, including Warsaw in 1916. In addition to painting, Kampf was also intensively involved in printmaking and, together with his brother Eugen and artist friends such as Alexander Frenz and Olof Jernberg, was considered an innovator of lithography in Düsseldorf. From 1913 on, he worked continuously as an illustrator of historical works and literary classics such as Shakespeare and Goethe. Kampf remained a recognized artist after 1933. On the occasion of the retrospective of his complete works at the "Great German Art Exhibition", he was awarded the "Eagle Shield of the German Reich". During the final phase of World War II, Kampf was placed on Hitler's "Gottbegnadetenliste," which protected him from military service. After World War II, Kampf, whose work was largely destroyed, fell into obscurity. Arthur Kampf belonged to numerous artists' associations. He was a member of the "Rheinisch-Westfälischer Künstlerbund", the "Society of German Watercolorists", the "Association of German Illustrators", the "Malkasten", the "Künstlerclub St. Lucas", the "Düsseldorfer Künstlerbund", the "Freie Vereinigung Düsseldorfer Künstler" and the "Berliner Künstlerbund". Arthur Kampf's sister was married to the painter Alexander Frenz. "Kampf's public recognition in the German Empire later led to his being one-sidedly labeled as a history painter and representative of the Wilhelmine era. This classification does not do justice to the artist's oeuvre as a whole. His early talent did not experience a rapid development later on, but it reached an ever greater mastery in the sense of an impressively relaxed realism and extended thematically beyond history. Kampf was also an excellent draughtsman, etcher and lithographer. Many of his works have been destroyed or lost, and some lead a shadowy existence in museum storerooms." - Otto Zirk "His importance as a Wilhelminian painter and cultural politician has been forgotten in favor of an exaggerated reception of his work during the Third Reich. - Andreas Schroyen Selection of public collections that own works by Arthur Kampf: Altonaer Museum Hamburg, Berlinische Galerie, Burg Frankenberg Aachen, Busch-Reisinger Museum Cambridge/Mass., Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin, Government Art Collection London, Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg, Kunsthalle Hamburg, Museum für Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte Dortmund, Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin, Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum Aachen, Van der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal. Selected Bibliography Hans W...
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Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Mercedes W128 Ponton. Figurative acrylic on paper car painting Polish art
Located in Warsaw, PL
Acrylic on paper contemporary figurative painting by Michal Wojtysiak. Artwork depicts mercedes car in realistic style. MICHAŁ WOJTYSIAK (ur. 1984) Graduated of Academy of Fine Art...
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2010s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Acrylic, Paper

Portrait of the daughter Eva
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Carl August Walther (1880 Leipzig - 1956 Dresden): Portrait of the daughter Eva, 1927, Pencil Technique: Pencil on Paper Inscription: dated and monogrammed lower right, with estate...
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20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Study on "Mountain of Destiny
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Carl August Walther (1880 Leipzig - 1956 Dresden): Study on "Mountain of Destiny, 1936, Charcoal Technique: Charcoal over Pencil on Paper Inscription: Inscribed lower left, monogra...
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20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Ex Libris 1982, paper, ink, gouache, 17.5х13 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Ex Libris 1982, paper, ink, gouache, 17,5х13 cm Information about artist: Gunārs Vīndedzis (1918 - 1991) - cartoonist, illustrator. Born in a fami...
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1980s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Gouache

The Plain Gangster - Early 20th Century British Illustration by Rex Whistler
Located in London, GB
REX JOHN WHISTLER (British 1905-1944) The Plain Gangster Inscribed with title Pen, brush and ink Framed 20 by 16.5 cm., 8 by 10 ½ in. (frame size 39 b...
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Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Jaguar E-Type. Figurative acrylic on paper car painting, Polish art
Located in Warsaw, PL
Acrylic on paper contemporary figurative painting by Michal Wojtysiak. Artwork depicts Jaguar car in realistic style. MICHAŁ WOJTYSIAK (ur. 1984) Graduated of Academy of Fine Arts ...
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2010s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Evening Cottage Scene / - Somewhere in Nowhere -
Located in Berlin, DE
Arthur Claude Strachan (1865 Edinburgh - 1954 Minehead), Evening Cottage Scene. Watercolor on paper, mounted, 28 x 46 cm (visible size), 48 x 65 cm (fra...
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Early 1900s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Watercolour of Ireland Valley Countryside by 20th Century Irish Artist
Located in Preston, GB
Watercolour of Ireland Valley Countryside by 20th Century Irish Artist, George Trevor. Art measures 13.5 x 9.5 inches Frame measures 20.5 x 17 inches ...
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Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

Rashomon - A 1950 costume design for the New York Theatre by Oliver Messel
Located in London, GB
OLIVER MESSEL (1904-1978) The Medium – Costume Design for Peter Glenville’s Rashomon, Performed at the Music Box, New York, 1959 Signed l.r.: Oliver Messel and inscribed u.r.: The...
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Mid-20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Sketch of a head - Carved in stone -
Located in Berlin, DE
Emil Faesch (1865 Basel - 1915 Basel). Sketch of a head. Charcoal on painting cardboard, 60 x 47.5 cm (folio size), signed and dated at lower right "E. Faesch. 1888.". Minor browning. - Carved in stone - About the artwork The life-size head has an immensely present presence. This effect is due to the fact that Faesch took his cue from academic classical...
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1880s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Chalk

Lying Boy / - Fragile childlikeness -
Located in Berlin, DE
Alfred Fuchs (1925 Saarbrücken - 2003 Prague), Lying Boy. Charcoal drawing on strong paper, 30 x 41.5 cm, signed A.[lfred] Fuchs and dated [19]96. - smal...
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1990s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal

Shady hollow way - Into the heart of the forest -
By Hans Dvoràk
Located in Berlin, DE
Hans Dvořák (19th century). Shady hollow way in a sunny forest. Watercolour and pen-and-ink drawing, 58.5 x 43 cm (visible size), 70 x 55.5 cm (frame), signed and dated "Hans Dvořák ...
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1880s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

The Ruins of St. Clement's Church in Visby, Sweden / - Real romanticism -
Located in Berlin, DE
Otto Günther-Naumburg (1856-1941), The Ruins of St. Clement's Church in Visby, Sweden. Watercolor and ink, heightened with white, on sand-colored paper, mounted on cardboard, 33 x 24...
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Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Female Nude - 1920s chalk drawing by Belgian Symbolist artist Marcel Delmotte
Located in London, GB
MARCEL DELMOTTE (1901-1984) Nude Signed and dated l.r.: M Delmotte/1928 Black and red chalks Framed 33 by 20 cm., 13 by 8 in. (frame size 53 by 39 cm., 21 by 15 ¼ in.) The son of...
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1920s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Chalk

'London to Brighton Coach', Massachusetts, National Academy of Design, Horses
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'George H Harrington' (American, 1833-1911) and painted circa 1900. A substantial and animated coaching scene enlivened by the artist's acute and humorous observation of character and fine equestrian painting. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, George Harrington is known for his, often humorous, anecdotes of American life in the pre-industrial age. His subjects included polo matches, carriage rides and coaching scenes, and pastoral landscapes. After a professional career in business, Harrington studied art and subsequently became a successful landscape and equestrian painter. He exhibited widely and with success including at the National Academy of Design (1888), the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Boston Athenaeum and at the Boston Art Club of which he was a member. Reference: Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Peter Hastings Falk, Sound View Press 1999, Vol. 2, page 1465; A Biographical Index of American Artists, Ralph Clifton Smith...
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Early 1900s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Paper, Gouache

'Steeplechase', Boston, Massachusetts, National Academy of Design, Beagle, Horse
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower left, 'George H Harrington' (American, 1833-1911) and painted circa 1900. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, George Harrington is recognized for his turn-of-the-century works reflecting American life before the industrial age, particularly for equestrian scenes that include polo matches, carriage rides, and horses in pastoral landscapes. After a successful career in business, Harrington studied art and became a successful landscape painter. He exhibited widely including at the National Academy of Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Boston Athenaeum and at the Boston Art Club, of which he was a member. Reference: Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Peter Hastings Falk, Sound View Press 1999, Vol. 2, page 1465; A Biographical Index of American Artists, Ralph Clifton Smith...
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Early 1900s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Paper, Gouache

Study with Torso, Hands, and Umbrella - The characteristic of the inconspicuous
Located in Berlin, DE
Paul Friedrich Meyerheim (1842 Berlin - 1915 ibid.). Sketch of a female torso with hands and an umbrella. Pencil on paper, 27.5 x 22.5 cm (visible size)...
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1890s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Sitges beach Barcelona Spain charcoal drawing
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Francesc Ferret Farreras ”Bruno” (1921-2000) - Sitges Beach - charcoal Measurements drawing 44x59 cm. Frame measures 65x79 cm.
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1950s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal

Small Colored Pencil Figurative Drawing, "Light" 2023
Located in San Diego, CA
This is a one of a kind color pencil on paper figurative painting by San Diego artist, Charlene Mosley. Its framed dimensions are 5.8" x 7.8"x 0.6". It is framed. A certificate of au...
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2010s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Color Pencil

Acquaintance
Located in Sempach, LU
This scene represents the acquaintance of the bride before marriage among the nobility. This scene is fictitious and has no specific temporal and historical prototypes. Nevertheless,...
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1990s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, India Ink, Pen

Sketchbook Page with Figures and Anatomical Details in Pencil on Paper - Germany
Located in Soquel, CA
Sketchbook Page with Figures and Anatomical Details in Pencil on Paper Drawings of a man at a desk and other figurative sections by an unknown artist (19th Century). On the left sid...
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1880s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pencil

The Duet - A 1930s Theatrical Illustration by British artist John Dronsfield
Located in London, GB
JOHN DRONSFIELD (1900-1951) The Duet Watercolour and pencil Unframed, in mount only 32.5 by 26 cm., 12 ¾ by 10 ¼ in. (mount size 45.5 by 39 cm., 18 by 15 ¼ in.) John Marsden Dron...
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1930s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Untitled #257
Located in New York, NY
Graphite on paper Dated in pencil, l.r. Numbered 257 in pencil, verso This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. John Button (1929-1982) was a fine draftsman an...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite, Paper

High Moorland Landscape in the fog - The world as a transcendent phenomenon -
Located in Berlin, DE
Charles Edward Brittan Jr (1870 Plymouth - 1949). High moor landscape in the fog. Gouache, signed at lower left "Charles E. Brittan", 18 x 34.5 cm (passepartout), 45 x 62 cm (frame)....
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Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Set of Three Gouache & Watercolour Paintings of Tribal Objects on Handmade Paper
Located in Cotignac, FR
A set of three framed watercolour and gouache studies on handmade paper applied to Vélin d'Arches of tribal objects by French artist La Roche Laffi...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache, Handmade Paper

"L'intrus" - Satirical French Illustration - Hand Colored Lithograph
Located in Soquel, CA
Comical illustration by Gaston Hoffmann (French, 1883-1977). A doctor is giving a shot to a female patient, while a nurse tries to prevent a man from barging in. Pencil signed "G Ho...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Paper, Lithograph

Half-length portrait of a Pharisee - In the shadow of betrayal -
Located in Berlin, DE
Hermann Prell (1854 Leipzig - 1922 Dresden-Loschwitz). Half-length portrait of a Pharisee, 1885. Sketch for the right-hand figure in the painting Judas Iscariot, 1886. Pencil drawing heightened with opaque white and black chalk on beige-grey wove paper (papier vélin), 34 x 27.8 cm (visible size), 52 x 45 cm (mount), signed, dated and inscribed "H. PRELL 1885 zu 'Judas'". Minor browning, collection stamp on the reverse. - In the shadow of betrayal - About the artwork This painting is the sketch for the head of the Pharisee offering the coins to Judas in one of Herrmann Prell's major works, the painting Betrayal of Judas, completed in 1886. The painting belongs to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and is illustrated in Adolf Rosenberg: Prell, Bielefeld and Leipzig 1901, p. 21 (Fig. 19). It is especially highlighted in Thieme-Becker (vol. 27, p. 376). Hermann Prell, Betrayal of Judas, 1886 The monumental head, which fills the picture and is distinguished by its ornamented robe, is almost a lost profile, which in the executed painting is justified by the Pharisee's turning towards Judas. Despite the fact that the sitter withdraws from the viewer by turning away, it was necessary to artistically elaborate the motivation for the purchase of one of Christ's disciples, which is why the drawing focuses on the expression of the face, while the 'accessories' are treated in a more summary manner. In characterising the face, Hermann Prell performs a balancing act: since the Pharisee, despite his destructive actions, is an actor in the history of salvation, the head must show a dignity appropriate to the event, but at the same time the physiognomy must also bear witness to the scheming attitude that led to the betrayal. To solve this dilemma, Prell draws on the traditional depictions of the heads of the apostles, shading the face to indicate the obdurate darkness of the spirit and moving the base of the nose slightly upwards while the mouth falls away, thus giving a physiognomic expression to the motivation of the action. The fatal drama of the betrayal is expressed in the monumentalisation of the head and in the thunderous white highlights that contrast with the darkness of the chalk. As a study, considered by the artist to be a work in itself, this drawing reveals the pictorial problems and brainstorming of monumental painting. About the artist In 1872 Prell, who was one of the most important exponents of monumental painting of his time, began studying painting with Theodor Grosse at the Dresden Academy of Art and continued with Carl Gussow at the Berlin Academy in 1876. Hans von Marées taught him in Rome in 1878. More influential on his work, however, were Arnold Böcklin and Max Klinger, with whom Prell had been friends since his student days and with whom he worked together on several occasions. Prell's first major work, which established his reputation as a monumental painter, were the frescoes in the banqueting hall of the Architektenhaus in Berlin in 1881/82, commissioned by the state and depicting the different periods of architecture. Prell then went to Italy for two years to study fresco painting. Other major commissions followed. These included monumental frescoes in the town halls of Worms (1884), Hildesheim (1882-92), Gdansk (1895) and Dresden, the staircase of the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Breslau (1893/94), the throne room of the German Embassy in Rome (1896-99) and the staircase of the Albertinum in Dresden (1900-1904). From 1886 Prell taught at the academy of arts in Berlin and in 1892 he was appointed professor at the academy of arts in Dresden. His students included Osmar Schindler and Hans Unger...
Category

1880s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Chalk

Untitled #187
Located in New York, NY
Graphite on paper Dated in pencil, l.r. Numbered 187 in pencil, verso This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. John Button (1929-1982) was a fine draftsman an...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Graphite

Wettersteinkamm - The blue of the mountains -
Located in Berlin, DE
Adalbert Holzer (1881 Munich - 1966 Munich). Wettersteinkamm. Watercolour, 29 x 34.5 cm (visible size), 37.5 x 43 cm (frame), signed and dated at lower right 'ADALBERT HOLZER [19]23'. Framed behind glass. Frame shows signs of wear. - The blue of the mountains - About the artwork The Wetterstein ridge is revealed to the viewer from a gentle, snow-covered hill. In contrast to conventional depictions of mountains, the painting is composed entirely of shades of blue, which condense into the blue-grey of the rock or fade into the white of the snow. As a complementary colour to the blue, Holzer virtuously activates the ochre ground. The uniform yet exciting polarity of the colours emphasises the massive majesty of the mountains and at the same time underlines the special character of the Wetterstein ridge. Holzer transferred the translucency of glass painting, in which he was originally trained, to watercolour and developed a pictorial language related to the art of Ferdinand Hodler, which earned him the nickname 'Master of Blue' and led to the appreciation of his watercolours in particular. About the artist After an apprenticeship as a stained glass painter at the Kunstgewerbeschule, Adalbert Holzer studied at the Munich Art Academy under Carl von Marr...
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1920s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Watercolour on Handmade Paper Laid on Vélin d'Arches of an African Sculpture.
Located in Cotignac, FR
Watercolour on handmade paper possibly of a 'Fang' figure applied to Vélin d'Arches paper by French artist La Roche Laffitte. A beautifully observed and detailed study of a Fang figure in muted brown on high quality hand-made paper. An extremely chic and elegant watercolour. This contemporary artist, born in 1943, specialises in watercolour studies on hand-made paper. With his highly detailed and precisely painted studies he invites us into the magical world of cultural objects, flora and fauna. The treasures of nature along with tribal regalia is his main inspiration. All of his work is beautifully observed and executed down to the smallest detail. The Fang are a major ethnic group of Central and West Africa and form part of the population of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon. They produce monumental anthropomorphic wooden statues, used for ritual purposes, with an aesthetic that was admired from the late nineteenth century onwards by such famous modern artists as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and André Derain. Fang sculptures...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Handmade Paper, Watercolor

Red blooming war landscape with dead soldier - Bleeding flowers -
Located in Berlin, DE
Johannes Friedrich Heinrich Hänsch (1875-1945), Red blooming war landscape with dead soldier, 1918. Watercolor and gouache on paper, 15 x 24.5 cm (image), 27 x 37 cm (sheet size / frame), monogrammed and dated "19JH18" at lower left. - Paper slightly darkened About the artwork Despite the relatively small format, the watercolor with an internal frame depicts a panoramic view of a flat landscape stretching to the horizon. As far as the eye can see, the poppies bloom in flaming red. The flowers are not rendered individually, however, creating an almost cohesive red surface. The bright red is interspersed with vegetal green. A complementary contrast that creates an intense color effect. In this color contrast, a white area breaks through from the middle ground, widening towards the foreground and surrounding a brown hole. Next to it, in blue, is the actual protagonist of the painting, the first thing that catches the eye: a dead soldier. Next to him is his helmet, revealing the empty interior. The brown, hollow shape corresponds to the hole in the ground. A shell funnel is surrounded by bright ash, which, like the inverted helmet, becomes a sign of death. The soldier's arms point to the funnel, while the empty helmet paraphrases the calotte of the skull and, like the funnel, thematizes the empty darkness of death. The soldier's body, however, is intact and not - as in Otto Dix's triptych "The War" - a dismembered corpse. Instead, Johannes Hänsch activates the landscape, especially the color, to illustrate a blooming landscape of death that extends from the shell funnel in the foreground to the rising column of smoke on the horizon. If the soldier's body is intact, the tangle of barbed wire emblematically placed over the empty helmet also appears tattered. On the right side of the picture, the barbed wire even seems to stretch its arms to the sky in horror. Against the background of this allegory, the content of the bright red also becomes clear: the landscape is drenched in blood, literally a sea of blood, and the single unknown soldier stands pars pro toto for all those who died on the battlefield. Dying in war is not dying in community, but in solitude. In order to emphasize the isolation in death, Johannes Hänsch has set the blue of the soldier in the axis given by his body in the middle ground of the picture into the red sea. A master of landscape painting, Hänsch succeeds in creating a natural-looking landscape allegory that illustrates the horror and death of war, without depicting the brutality of war itself. This singular 'war memorial' of the unknown soldier is the opposite of heroization and yet the dignity of the deceased soldier is preserved through the integrity of his body. About the artist As the son of the sculptor Adolf Haensch, the young Johannes received his first artistic training in his father's Berlin studio. However, he eventually decided to become a painter, and in 1897 he entered the Berlin Academy of Arts. He initially studied under Paul Vorgang and Eugen Bracht, and was particularly influenced by Bracht's increasingly colourful landscape painting. In 1901 he moved to the class of Friedrich Kallmorgen, with whom he spent several weeks on excursions into nature. In 1905 he became a master pupil of Albert Hertel, who taught him watercolour painting. From 1903 to 1933 he exhibited annually at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition, the exhibitions of the Berlin Artists' Association and the Munich Glaspalast. In 1905 he was awarded the Carl Blechen...
Category

1910s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Pencil drawing of a staircase on a forest path by skillful italian artist
Located in Milan, IT
Drawing size: 50 x 37.5 cm Paper size: 74 x 58 cm Sara Menon was born in 1985 in Palmanova and lives and works in Aquileia, in the province of Udine. She specialized in the restoration of paintings and wooden sculptures in Mantua, a profession she still pursues today, while continuing to experiment with other art forms such as painting, sculpture and illustration. Her passion and activity as a naturalistic and scientific illustrator began in 2002, when she collaborated with medical examiner Gianpiero Ceci, producing a series of anatomical-surgical plates to accompany her publications, mainly related to the field of obstetrics and gynecology. In 2010, through the European Institute of Design in Milan, she had the opportunity to meet and get to know the illustrator Massimo Demma, who allowed her to refine the method and painting techniques used in scientific investigation and the rendering of natural data, as well as further knowledge in the field of naturalistic illustration. She had the opportunity to publish some naturalistic plates for the publishing house Il Prato...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Pen

Self-portrait - Homo nudus -
Located in Berlin, DE
Bruno Paul (1874 Seifhennersdorf - 1968 Berlin). Self-portrait, c. 1895. Pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard, 53.5 x 35 cm, signed 'Paul' at upper left. - Homo nudus - About the artwork In a mirrored situation, Bruno Paul looks at himself in the picture. While his body, which is the size of the format, is shown in profile parallel to the picture, he turns his head into the picture in order to become aware of himself there, whereby the lighter use...
Category

1890s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Rheims Cathedral
Located in Middletown, NY
Watercolor and gouache on cream wove paper. Signed and titled in watercolor in the lower right image area. Small circular pea-sized damp stain in the top center image area (visible in the are of the sky), and some additional small spots of unobtrusive foxing in the upper left sheet area. Otherwise in very good condition with fresh colors and intricate brushwork. Henri Schäfer...
Category

1870s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Archival Paper, Watercolor, Gouache

African Senoufo Figure. Watercolour on Handmade Paper Laid on Vélin d'Arches
Located in Cotignac, FR
Watercolour on handmade paper of a 'Senoufo' figure applied to Vélin d'Arches paper by French artist La Roche Laffitte. Titled to the bottom centre. A beautifully observed and detai...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Handmade Paper, Watercolor

African 'Baoule' figure. Watercolour on Handmade paper Laid on Vélin d'Arches.
Located in Cotignac, FR
Watercolour on handmade paper of a 'Baoule' figure applied to Vélin d'Arches paper by French artist La Roche Laffitte. Titled to the bottom centre. A beautifully observed and detailed study of a Baoule figure in muted olive/brown on high quality hand-made paper. An extremely chic and elegant watercolour. This contemporary artist, born in 1943 specialises in watercolour studies on hand-made paper. With his highly detailed and precisely painted studies he invites us into the magical world of cultural objects, flora and fauna. The treasures of nature along with tribal regalia is his main inspiration. All of his work is beautifully observed and executed down to the smallest detail. Baoulé sculptures are renowned for their refinement, form diversity and the labour they represent. The sculptures do not only include face masks and human figurines...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Handmade Paper

"Child with toys" watercolor cm. 24 x 30 1957
Located in Torino, IT
Children, Playing,1957,illustrations, children's room,Toys, Marina Evgenevna USPENSKAYA (Moscow, 1925 – 2007) Marina Evgenevna Uspenskaya was born in Moscow. She graduated from the...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

The Chase Is On
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Gordon Phillips, 'The Chase Is On', graphite, c. 1980. Signed and titled in pencil. A fine, spontaneous rendering, on white, wove bristol, the full she...
Category

20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

Louis Tinayre (1861-1942) An encampment of journalists, signed drawing
Located in Paris, FR
Louis Tinayre (1861-1942) An encampment of journalists in Chambéry, signed and titled lower left "Campement de journalistes à Chambéry" Ink on paper In quite good condition, a a visible vertical fold in the centre, some stains and foxings 21 x 29 cm Framed : 33.7 x 45.5 cm Louis Tinayre's background and adventurous life obviously shed light on this humorous and detailed scene. He shows a remarkable sense of observation, capturing as a journalistic illustrator this scene of extraordianarian life. We don't know for the moment why these journalists had to improvise a camp, probably in a hotel room. No doubt it was to cover a trial or a sensational news item that had filled all the hotels in the city with journalists who had flocked for the occasion. In any case, what interests Tinayre as an almost ethnographic observer is this camp of journalists, of which he makes a tender and comical scene. One understands him better when one knows how he could be fascinated in the same way by the territories of Madagascar, the North Pole or the Far West that he painted and drew. Louis Tinayre was born on 14 March 1861 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. His mother, Victoire Tinayre, was a teacher and a member of the International Workers' Association. Louis was the son of a Communard couple. His father, Jean Joseph, known as Jules Tinayre (Issoire 1821 - Paris 1871) was shot during the Bloody Week. His mother, Victoire Tinayre, fled with her children. Louis was the first to be sent to Hungary, and the rest of the family (including his brother Julien) joined him there later. He studied Fine Arts at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in Budapest. Returning to Paris in 1880 (after the amnesty), Louis Tinayre assiduously frequented Le Chat noir, where he met the positivists and Adèle Jacomet (Buenos Aires 1867-1946), whom he married in 1888. He became an animal painter and press illustrator and was sent by Le Monde Illustré to cover the second expedition to Madagascar (then under French protectorate) in 1895. He stayed there, fascinated, for six months and produced numerous drawings and photographs. Back in France, he created eight 5 x 4 meters dioramas presented at the National and Colonial Exhibition in Rouen in 1896. He returned to Madagascar in 1898 to prepare the creation of a giant panorama representing the surrender of Antananarivo in 1895. The Malagasy pavilion at the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris allowed him to admire the dioramas (on the ground floor) and the panorama (on the first floor). On his second trip, Tinayre took a Lumière cinematograph with him to document the daily life of the Malagasy people, no doubt to facilitate the design of the vast panorama. These short films were donated to the Cinémathèque française in 2009 by his grandson, Alain Tinayre. One of the admirers of Tinayre's drawings, watercolours, paintings and photographs at the Universal Exhibition was Prince Albert I of Monaco: from 1901 onwards, Tinayre accompanied him on his hunts, painting scenes in North Africa, Russia, the Far West (Wyoming) and the North Pole. Tinayre, the official painter of the Prince's scientific expeditions, left his name to a glacier. Together with the painter Alexandre Jean-Baptiste Brun, he painted the four murals in the large amphitheatre of the Oceanographic Institute in Paris. Louis Tinayre painted the figures while Alexandre Brun...
Category

1890s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

View of Constantinople
Located in Middletown, NY
A bright and beautiful Orientalist landscape by a master of the genre. Watercolor and graphite on cream laid paper, laid down to archival board, 14 3/4 x 6 3/4 inches (374 x 170 m...
Category

Late 19th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Graphite

Oliver Messel - Costume Design for Caesar and Cleopatra, 1945
Located in London, GB
OLIVER MESSEL (1904-1978) Egyptian Costume Design for Caesar and Cleopatra - 1945 Signed l.r.: Oliver Messel Watercolour and chalks heightened ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Design for a Gown by Sir Cecil Beaton
Located in London, GB
SIR CECIL BEATON, CBE (1904-1980) Design for Gown Watercolour and pencil Framed 39 by 25.5 cm., 15 ¼ by 10 in. (mount size 61 by 46 cm., 24 by 18 in.) Provenance: The artist’s studio sale; Private collection. Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton was a fashion and portrait photographer, diarist, interior designer and stage and costume designer for the stage and screen. He was born in Hampstead and educated at Harrow and St John’s College, Cambridge although he left without a degree in 1925. He worked as a photographer for fashion magazines and became an extremely popular and well-connected society portraitist who also recorded the gathering of his friends among the Bright Young Things...
Category

Mid-20th Century Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Great Western Staircase, New York State Capitol Building, Albany (View II)
Located in New York, NY
Richard Haas Great Western Staircase, New York State Capitol Building, Albany (View II), 1980 Pastel drawing on paper Hand-signed by artist, Signed and dated 1980; bears RDA (Readers Digest...
Category

1980s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

" Little pilots" Gouache and ink cm. 24 x 18 1982
Located in Torino, IT
Children, Playing,,illustrations, children's room,Toys, airplane Marina Evgenevna USPENSKAYA (Moscow, 1925 – 2007) Marina Evgenevna Uspenskaya was born in Moscow. She graduated fro...
Category

1980s Realist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Gouache

Realist figurative drawings and watercolors for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Realist figurative drawings and watercolors 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 figurative drawings and watercolors created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, orange and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Frank Girard, Chikako Okada, Rosy Andreasi-Verdier, and Mark Beard. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Watercolor 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 figurative drawings and watercolors, so small editions measuring 2.41 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative drawings and watercolors 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 $124 and tops out at $100,123, while the average work sells for $1,239.

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