Skip to main content

Figurative Paintings

to
133
95
5
94
33
6
26
25
36
5
41
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
26
5
128
102
61
39
31
23
17
14
13
13
12
7
6
6
5
5
5
4
4
3
2
67
64
5
13
14
15
7
1
1
182
85
370
225
202
132
129
105
105
13
Figurative Paintings For Sale
Artist: Mark Beard
Artist: Joseph Christian Leyendecker
[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Two Rowers Gliding Across the Water
Located in New York, NY
[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Two Rowers Gliding Across the Water n.d. Signed in red, u.r. Oil on canvas mounted to Masonite 38 x 82 inches (96.5 x 208.3 cm) $10,000 + $900 framin...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Masonite, Oil

My Mormon Family, Swimming—After a Photograph by George Beard, 1895
Located in New York, NY
My Mormon Family, Swimming—After a Photograph by George Beard, 1895 2005 Signed and dated, u.r.; Also signed, titled, and dated, verso Oil on canvas 48...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Le Ballon de Rouge
Located in New York, NY
Le Ballon de Rouge Collage with colored pencil and conté on paper Signed, recto This collage is offered by CLAMP in New York City.
Category

20th Century Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Color Pencil, Conté, Paper

Le Martyr de Saint Sebastian (Academic Figurative Oil Painting in Gold Frame)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative oil painting on canvas 48 x 24 inches unframed 58 x 32 x 3 inches in gold leaf wood frame This vertical, contemporary figurative painting of Le Martyr de Saint Sebastian was made by Mark Beard under his fictitious artistic persona, Hippolyte-Alexandre Michallon. Painted in a modern Academic style, Beard paints this Christian saint with dramatic detail and emotional gravity. The scene is a common artistic depiction of Sebastian who according to traditional belief, was killed during the Roman emperor Diocletian's persecution of the Christians. Here the artist depicts a nearly nude Saint Sebastian standing stoically while tied to a rustic brown post. A lush green forested terrain decorates the background while a white neo-classical building sits in the distance, which is perhaps the tomb where Saint Sebastian's remains were laid to rest. Saint Sebastian's pale blue-grey, stone-like stone tone is characteristic of Mark Beard's work who often portrays muscular young men similarly to Greek statues. The vertical Academic style figurative oil painting is complimented with a vintage style gold leaf wood frame. The painting is signed 'H. A. Michallon 1872' in red oil paint in the lower right corner. The gold frame is also signed and inscribed with black oil paint in several places (please see images). Mark Beard is a contemporary artist who made this work under the pseudonym Hippolyte A. Michallon who painted during the late 1800's so slight wear (see images) is intentionally staged to align with the factitious artist's purposed history. About the artist: Mark Beard is perhaps the most literal example of an artist pulled in so many different directions that he chose to “invent” six different personae in which to channel his overflowing energy and need for expression. Each painting style is radically different from the next, so it remains entirely believable that the work could stem from six completely different people of different time periods and different schools of thought. With a background in set design, Beard has always been one who could conjure total magic with anything available. Mark Beard has exhibited with Carrie Haddad Gallery for nearly twenty years and there has never been a dull moment. Mark Beard, born in 1956 in Salt Lake city, now lives in New York City. His works are in museum collections worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; the Museum of Modern Art, New York City; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City; the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; and the Harvard, Yale, and Princeton University Art Museums; among many others. We would not be the least bit surprised to see new ‘personas’ emerge in the coming years. About: Hippolyte - Alexandre Michallon, 1849 -1930 The long and peripatetic artistic career of Hippolyte-Alexandre Michallon began in a conventional fashion. The only son of prosperous bourgeois parents in Tours, he first studied drawing with his mother, an accomplished amateur painter of insects. His father, an undertaker who appreciated his son's talent and supported his ambition to become a painter, sent him to Paris at age sixteen to enroll in the studio of Francois-Edouard Picot (1786-1868), an eminent history painter and professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, with whom he studied for three years, until Picot's death. Under his aging teacher's guidance and tutelage, Michallon entered the preliminary stages of the Prix de Rome contest at the Ecole three times, winning an Honorable Mention in 1869 for his composition entitled The Solider of the Marathon. For the next twenty years Michallon regualarly exhibited paintings on historical and biblical themes at the Paris Salon, as well as commissioned portraits. By his own account, the most ambitious work of Michallon's career was a thirty-foot canvas depicting Noah's Ark, which he exhibited in the Salon in 1875. Michallon began painting atmospheric but zoologically correct images of exotic animals in the wild. These achieved a certain popularity among French and foreign collectors alike, providing Michallon with financial security for the first time in his career. Michallon moved to England in 1893. His outstanding technical skills easily earned him a position on the faculty of the Slade School of Art in 1900. The craze for animal paintings proved short-lived. He continued to teach at Slade for the next two decades, but his classes gradually dwindled in size as the academic approach and methods he espoused went from outmoded to downright unpopular. Finally in 1922, finding himself reduced to a single pupil, the talented young American Bruce Sargeant, he retired from Slade, persuading Sargeant to leave with him and undergo private instruction at home. Several years later he retired to a cottage at St. Ives, Cornwall, where he lived quietly until his death in 1930, forgotten by all but a few former students, among them Edith Thayer Cromwell...
Category

Early 2000s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Man with Ladders and Ropes
Located in New York, NY
This painting by Mark Beard is offered by CLAMP in New York City. The listed price includes the cost of framing.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Masonite, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Head Study with Gray Background
Located in New York, NY
This is a painting of a man's head in a silver frame by Mark Beard. This work is made with oil on canvas, measures 12 x 9 inches, and is signed. ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Portrait II
Located in New York, NY
This is a figurative painting of a man's face by Mark Beard under his alter ego "Bruce Sargeant. The painting canvas is 14 x 11 inches, is signed in red ink, and is finished in oil p...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Portrait of a Shirtless Man
Located in New York, NY
This work is offered by CLAMP in New York City.
Category

20th Century Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Gio Taking Off His Singlet (Portait of a Young Wrestler by Mark Beard)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative portrait painting of a handsome young man against a grey background "Gio Taking Off His Singlet", By Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant (pseudonym in homage to the fashion photographer, Bruce Weber, and figurative painter, John Singer Sargent) 14 x 11 inches 18.5 x 15.5 inches framed Excellent condition Signed by the artist, upper left "B. Sargeant" This vertical, portrait painting of a young man was made by Mark Beard under his fictitious artistic persona, Bruce Sargeant. Painted in a modern Academic style, the handsome man is posed stoically against a pale grey background as he gingerly removes his wrestling singlet...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled Portrait II (Modern, Academic Style Portrait Painting of a Young Man)
Located in Hudson, NY
Modern, academic style portrait painting on canvas of a young athletic male oil on canvas, 26 x 17 inches in antique wood frame This vertical, contemporary portrait painting of sin...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Study for Saturday Evening Post Cover 'Boy with Lantern'
Located in Fort Washington, PA
This is a study for the 1926 Christmas issue of The Saturday Evening Post. December 25, 1926 Joseph Christian Leyendecker’s illustrations and advertisements fueled a collective visu...
Category

1920s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Young Swimmer (Modern, Academic Style Portrait Painting in Antique Gold Frame)
Located in Hudson, NY
Figurative oil on canvas painting of a young athletic male 24 x 20 inches, 29.5 x 23.5 inches vintage gold painted wood frame signed B. Sargeant in red in upper right hand corner T...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Two Men with a Diver
Located in New York, NY
This work is offered by CLAMP in New York City.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Hippolyte-Alexandre Michallon] Le Soldat de Marathon
Located in New York, NY
[Hippolyte-Alexandre Michallon] Le Soldat de Marathon (The soldier of the Marathon), 1869 n.d. Signed, l.l. Oil on canvas 57 x 45 inches This...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Group of Men in a Field
Located in New York, NY
This work is offered by CLAMP in New York City.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Nude Man with Horse
Located in New York, NY
This work is offered by CLAMP in New York City.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Kuppenheimer Men's Clothing Advertisement study
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Study of Kuppenheimer Men's Clothing Advertisement
Category

1920s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

First Long Suit, Post Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed by Artist Lower Right The Saturday Evening Post cover, September 18, 1937 One of the most prolific and sought-after artists of the Golden Age of Illustration, J.C. Leyendecker captivates the public with his striking, fashionable depictions of handsome men, glamorous women, and adorable children. Painted in 1937 First Long Suit not only encapsulates the high-fashion, glamorous fantasy world that Leyendecker strove to achieve over the course of his vastly successful career, it also poignantly captures a bittersweet moment that every parent experiences--watching our children grow up right before our eyes. Born in Montabaur, Germany, Leyendecker came to Chicago with his Catholic family at age eight. He apprenticed to a printer, J. Manz and Co., and then studied with John Vanderpoel at the Chicago Art Institute. In 1896, he won the Century magazine...
Category

1930s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Study for 'King of the Beach' Post Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
This is a preparatory study for King of the Beach, the cover illustration for the September 3, 1932 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.
Category

1930s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Circus Dog, The Saturday Evening Post cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed by artist lower right The Saturday Evening Post cover, July 29, 1922 This commission for The Saturday Evening Post is a brill...
Category

1920s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Woman and Tiger
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed by artist lower left. The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine Cover
Category

Early 1900s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Gouache

Kellogg's Advertisement
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Little boy eating bowl of Kelloggs
Category

1910s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Playing Hooky, Post Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed by Artist Signed Lower Center The Saturday Evening Post cover, June 13, 1914 LITERATURE: L.S. Cutler and J.G. Cutler, J.C. Leyendecker, American Imagist, New York, 2008, p. ...
Category

1910s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Kuppenheimer Famous Fifties Featuring John Barrymore
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Inscribed on back #174 House of Kuppeneheimer 1927 fashion advertisement, catalog cover.
Category

1920s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Easter Baby, Study
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Study Easter Sunday Baby
Category

1920s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Fight Between Two Boys, Saturday Evening Post cover study
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Fight Between Two Boys, Saturday Evening Post cover study, 1911
Category

1910s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Amoco Gas Advertisement
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Amoco Gas Advertisement
Category

1940s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Three Amoco Studies
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed by Artist Lower Right Amoco Oil Advertisements
Category

1940s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Tabletop Still Life
Located in New York, NY
[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Tabletop Still Life n.d. Signed in red, u.l Oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches This work is offered by ClampArt in New York City.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Sailor with Rope (Figurative Painting of a Man by Mark Beard, Bruce Sargeant)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic, nautical style figurative oil painting of a handsome sailor against an ocean landscape "Sailor with Rope" painted by Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant (pseudonym in homage to th...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Gondolier (Figurative Painting of Man in Venice by Mark Beard, Bruce Sargeant)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative oil painting of a muscular male gondolier with Venice's St. Mark's Campanile in the background "Gondolier" painted by Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant (pseudony...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Boxer in Red Trunks
Located in New York, NY
[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Boxer in Red Trunks n.d. Oil on canvas 30 x 20 inches (76.2 x 50.8 cm) $3,800 + $100 framing This work is offered by ClampArt in New York City.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Single Rower
Located in New York, NY
[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Single Rower n.d. Signed in red, u.r. Oil on canvas mounted to Masonite 37.25 x 71.5 inches (94.6 x 181.6 cm) $8,500 + $800 framing This work is off...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Masonite, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Two Rowers, Early Morning Practice
Located in New York, NY
[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Two Rowers, Early Morning Practice n.d. Signed in red, u.r. Oil on canvas mounted to Masonite 38 x 82 inches (96.5 x 208.3 cm) $10,000 + $900 framing...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Masonite, Oil

"The Postman Always Drinks Twice", Preliminary Study for Life Magazine
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Unsigned Preliminary study for Life magazine, Circa 1941. Features a study of the work titled; "The Postman Always Drinks...
Category

1940s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Ready to Play (Academic Figurative Painting of Male Athlete by Mark Beard)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative oil painting of a handsome football player against a country landscape 'Ready to Play', Painted by Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant (pseudonym in homage to the...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Man from Below
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas Signed in red, u.l. 10 x 8 inches, canvas size 12.75 x 10.75 inches in black painted wood frame This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. “Bruce...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Reclining Man in a Tie
Located in New York, NY
[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Reclining Man in a Tie n.d. Signed in red, u.r. Oil on canvas mounted to Masonite 23.25 x 36 inches (59.1 x 91.4 cm) $4,250 + $450 This work is offe...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Masonite, Oil

At the Camp (Academic Figurative Painting of Young Male Hunter by Mark Beard)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative oil painting on canvas of a young man undressing in a rural camp setting with a mountain landscape in the distance "At the Camp", Painted by Mark Beard as ...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Wrestler (Figurative Painting of Athlete by Mark Beard, Bruce Sargeant)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative painting of a young athlete, wrestler in training "Wrestler in Training", Painted by Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant (pseudonym in h...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Two Men Throwing, One Running
Located in New York, NY
[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Two Men Throwing, One Running n.d. Signed in red, u.l. Oil on canvas mounted to Masonite 35.75 x 59 inches This work is offered by ClampArt in New Yo...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Masonite, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Two Rowers
Located in New York, NY
Signed in red, u.l. Oil on canvas mounted to Masonite 38 x 90 inches Contact gallery for price. This work is offered by ClampArt in New York City.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Masonite, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Single Rower in Cattails
Located in New York, NY
Signed in red, u.l. Oil on canvas mounted to Masonite This work is offered by ClampArt in New York City.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Masonite, Oil

Football Players (Framed Academic Style Figurative Painting of Male Athletes)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative oil painting of two muscular football players Painted by Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant Oil on canvas, signed upper right 20 x 16 inches unframed, 26 x 22 in...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Exercising En Plein Air
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas Signed in red, u.r. $3250.00 + $200.00 framing This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. “Bruce Sargeant is a mythic figure in the modern art mo...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Frieze with Two Athletes on Bikes (Oil Painting by Mark Beard's Bruce Sargeant)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative painting of four young athletes running and on bicycles "Frieze with Two Men on Bikes", painted by Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant (pseudonym in homage to the fashion photographer, Bruce Weber, and figurative painter, John Singer Sargeant) Oil on canvas, signed upper right 35.5 x 60 inches, 40.5 x 65.5 inches in a black frame with wire backing Excellent condition, ready to hang as is This magnificent horizontal composition was painted by Mark Beard under his fictitious artistic persona, Bruce Sargeant. Painted in a modern Academic style, this dynamic portrayal of young, male athletes in motion is an exciting example of the artist's talent for painting human anatomy. Two men are mounted on bikes; one wears khaki shorts and a billowing, white oxford...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Three Athletes Running for the Ball
Located in New York, NY
[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Three Athletes Running for the Ball n.d. Signed in red, u.r. Oil on canvas mounted to Masonite 35.625 x 65 inches This work is offered by ClampArt in ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Masonite, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Two Men on Ropes
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas Signed in black, l.l. This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Price includes framing. “Bruce Sargeant is a mythic figure in the modern art move...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Two Cyclists and One Runner
Located in New York, NY
[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Two Cyclists and One Runner n.d. Signed in red, u.l. Oil on canvas mounted to Masonite 35.75 x 58 inches This work is offered by ClampArt in New York...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Masonite, Oil

Adam & Eve in Twickenham: WPA Style Figurative Painting by Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
WPA style figurative painting of a "Adam & Eve" in pink dress and blue shirt with suspenders, and red snake "Adam and Eve in Twickenham", painted by Mark Beard aka 'Edith Thayer Cromwell...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Salvation in the Tropics
Located in New York, NY
Double-sided oil painting on panel Signed in red, u.r. 24 x 18 inches, 29 x 23 inches in distressed black painted wood frame $5600.00 + $200.00 framing This artwork is offered by ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Fencer with Dog
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas Signed in red, u.l. This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Price includes framing. “Bruce Sargeant is a mythic figure in the modern art moveme...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Tennis Whites & Wrestling Singlet (Figurative Oil of Athletes by Mark Beard)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative oil painting of a young, female tennis player and young male athlete dressed in a wrestling singlet by Mark Beard (aka Bruc...
Category

Early 2000s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Justin Head Study
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas Signed in red, u.r. 9 x 8 inches, canvas size 9.5 x 8.5 inches in distressed black painted wood frame This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled Portrait I (Academic Style Portrait Painting of a Young Muscular Man)
Located in Hudson, NY
Modern, academic style portrait painting on canvas of a young athletic male oil on canvas, 28 x 22 inches unframed This vertical, contemporary portrait painting of a single young m...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Homage to Giovanni Colacicchi, "Fine d'estate 1932"
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas Signed in red, u.l. This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Price includes framing.
Category

2010s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Dressing in the Lodge (Figurative Painting of Men, Mark Beard, Bruce Sargeant)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative oil painting on canvas of two men dressing in a ski lodge "Dressing in the Lodge," Painted by Mark Beard as Bruce Sargeant (pseudonym in homage to the fashion photographer, Bruce Weber, and figurative painter, John Singer Sargent) Made in the late 90's - early 2000's for Abercrombie and Fitch's flagship store in Milan, Italy Oil on canvas, signed upper left 82 x 34 inches unframed, 88 x 40 inches in black painted wood frame with wire backing Excellent condition, ready to hang as is This vertical, figurative painting of two men dressing in a ski lodge was painted by Mark Beard under his fictitious artistic persona, Bruce Sargeant. Painted in a modern Academic style, the handsome men are captured in winter attire set in an Alpine mountain landscape...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Boy in Suit: Academic Figurative Painting by Mark Beard aka. Bruce Sargeant
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic style figurative painting of two men in trousers and suits with naval flags by Mark Beard aka "Bruce Sargeant" "Boy in Suit", painted in the late ...
Category

Early 2000s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Figurative Paintings for Sale

Figurative art, as opposed to abstract art, retains features from the observable world in its representational depictions of subject matter. Most commonly, figurative paintings reference and explore the human body, but they can also include landscapes, architecture, plants and animals — all portrayed with realism.

While the oldest figurative art dates back tens of thousands of years to cave wall paintings, figurative works made from observation became especially prominent in the early Renaissance. Artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and other Renaissance masters created naturalistic representations of their subjects.

Pablo Picasso is lauded for laying the foundation for modern figurative art in the 1920s. Although abstracted, this work held a strong connection to representing people and other subjects. Other famous figurative artists include Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. Figurative art in the 20th century would span such diverse genres as Expressionism, Pop art and Surrealism.

Today, a number of figural artists — such as Sedrick Huckaby, Daisy Patton and Eileen Cooper — are making art that uses the human body as its subject.

Because figurative art represents subjects from the real world, natural colors are common in these paintings. A piece of figurative art can be an exciting starting point for setting a tone and creating a color palette in a room.

Browse an extensive collection of figurative paintings on 1stDibs.

Recently Viewed

View All