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.
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
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Acrylic, Pencil
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Egg Tempera, Watercolor, Archival Paper
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Egg Tempera, Watercolor, Archival Paper
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
1970s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pencil
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Archival Paper, Graphite
Late 20th Century Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Platinum
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Archival Paper, Graphite
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Graphite
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Lithograph, Monotype, Photogram, Photographic Film, Emulsion, Watercolor...
1990s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Color, Giclée, Paper, Watercolor
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Graphite
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite, Archival Paper
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Archival Paper, Graphite
1990s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal, Archival Paper, Graphite
1960s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Archival Paper, Graphite
1970s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
1990s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Pastel
1970s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Graphite
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Graphite
1970s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
1960s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink, Gouache, Color Pencil, Postcard
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Pastel
Mid-20th Century Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink, Gouache, Color Pencil
1970s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Photographic Paper, Postcard
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Color Pencil, Paper, Ink, Gouache
1970s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
1970s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink, Gouache, Color Pencil
1990s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Color Pencil
1970s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Laid Paper
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel, Handmade Paper
2010s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Graphite
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pastel
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Laid Paper
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel, Handmade Paper
1980s Photorealist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel, Handmade Paper