Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
A direct challenge to Abstract Expressionism’s subjectivity and gestural vigor, Photorealism was informed by the Pop predilection for representational imagery, popular iconography and tools, like projectors and airbrushes, borrowed from the worlds of commercial art and design.
Whether gritty or gleaming, the subject matter favored by Photorealists is instantly, if vaguely, familiar. It’s the stuff of yellowing snapshots and fugitive memories. The bland and the garish alike flicker between crystal-clear reality and dreamy illusion, inviting the viewer to contemplate a single moment rather than igniting a story.
The virtues of the “photo” in Photorealist art — infused as they are with dazzling qualities that are easily blurred in reproduction — are as elusive as they are allusive. “Much Photorealist painting has the vacuity of proportion and intent of an idiot-savant, long on look and short on personal timbre,” John Arthur wrote (rather admiringly) in the catalogue essay for Realism/Photorealism, a 1980 exhibition at the Philbrook Museum of Art, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At its best, Photorealism is a perpetually paused tug-of-war between the sacred and the profane, the general and the specific, the record and the object.
“Robert Bechtle invented Photorealism, in 1963,” says veteran art dealer Louis Meisel. “He took a picture of himself in the mirror with the car outside and then painted it. That was the first one.”
The meaning of the term, which began for Meisel as “a superficial way of defining and promoting a group of painters,” evolved with time, and the core group of Photorealists slowly expanded to include younger artists who traded Rolleiflexes for 60-megapixel cameras, using advanced digital technology to create paintings that transcend the detail of conventional photographs.
On 1stDibs, the collection of Photorealist art includes work by Richard Estes, Ralph Goings, Chuck Close, Audrey Flack, Charles Bell and others.
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper
1960s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal
1960s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper
1960s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper
1960s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper
1960s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper
1960s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper
Late 20th Century Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Platinum
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Charcoal
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal, Archival Paper
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper
1990s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic, Color Pencil, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic, Color Pencil, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic, Color Pencil, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Acrylic, Color Pencil, Graphite
1990s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor, Color, Giclée
1970s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
1970s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil, Linocut
1990s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite, Paper
1990s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal, Pencil
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gold Leaf
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gold Leaf
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Archival Paper
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gold Leaf
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Archival Paper
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gold Leaf
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Archival Paper
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Archival Paper, Ink
1960s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal, Archival Paper
1960s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal, Archival Paper
1960s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal, Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gold Leaf
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gold Leaf
1970s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
1970s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Emulsion, Watercolor, Lithograph, Monotype, Rag Paper
Late 20th Century Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Pen, Pencil, Color Pencil, Lithograph
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Graphite
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Graphite
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Carbon Pencil, Archival Paper
1940s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Gouache
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor