Realist Landscape 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.
1890s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Watercolor, Pencil
1930s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1970s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
2010s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Handmade Paper, Pencil
2010s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Handmade Paper, Pencil
2010s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Pencil, Handmade Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1980s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Pastel
Mid-20th Century Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Mid-19th Century Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1990s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Pigment
1960s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
Late 20th Century Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Early 1900s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Board, Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
Late 19th Century Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Acrylic
2010s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink, Pigment
1960s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1890s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Watercolor, Pencil
2010s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Ink
Late 20th Century Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1940s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal
1910s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1980s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Photographic Film, Watercolor
1930s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache
1890s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1980s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache, Illustration Board
1950s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Carbon Pencil
1970s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Gouache, Paper
2010s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Handmade Paper, Pencil
1980s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel, Charcoal
Mid-20th Century Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
2010s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Charcoal, Archival Paper
20th Century Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Carbon Pencil
1840s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Gouache, Paper
1970s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Vellum, Pencil
1890s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1960s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1970s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Pencil, Vellum
1970s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Chalk
1980s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Archival Paper
1810s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Artist Comments
The place that inspired this watercolor painting is among the many lovely locations that are the foothills of Mt. Diablo in the East Bay Area near San Francis...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1990s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
2010s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Chalk, Charcoal, Paper
1850s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Lithograph
1940s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1990s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pastel
2010s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Gouache
Early 2000s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Gouache
Late 20th Century Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Graphite
1950s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Monotype
19th Century Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
Artist Comments
I began this painting on location in plein air, positioning my easel on a path along a hillside that overlooks the out-buildings of a working farm, The farm i...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1960s Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor