Photorealist Figurative Paintings
PHOTOREALISM
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.
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Style: Photorealist
"Ritual" Oil Painting
By Mia Bergeron
Located in Denver, CO
Mia Bergeron's (US based) "Ritual" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts the glow of a lit candle glowing red against a dark background.
Mia Bergeron's interest in art...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Panel
"Cool and Calm", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Pegah Samaie's (CA based) "Cool and Calm" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a woman holding a pink ice-cream cone with a pink background....
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
"Chocolate Cruller" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Gregory Block's (US based) "Chocolate Cruller" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a cruller pastry covered with a chocolate glaze.
Gregory was born in Kansas City, ...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Carpenter Bee
Located in Denver, CO
Carpenter Bee, 2020
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
"Powdered Jelly" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Gregory Block's (US based) "Powdered Jelly" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a powdered donut with a white background.
Gregory was born in Kansas City, Missouri, ...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
"Coconut Cream" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Gregory Block's (US based) "Coconut Cream" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a pastry dotted with a textured topping.
Gregory was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
"Iced Cruller" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Gregory Block's (US based) "Iced Cruller" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a pastry filles with ridges and translucent frosting.
Gregory was born in Kansas City,...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
"Rain on Windshield", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Dianne L. Massey Dunbar's (US based) "Rain on Windshield" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a cascading pattern of rain drops on a windshield that partly obscures t...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Afternoon Light - Looking Through the Parking Lot, Oil Painting by Mickey Frome
By Mickey Frome
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Mickey Frome
Title: Afternoon Light - Looking Through The Parking Lot
Year: 2002
Medium: Oil and Acrylic on Canvas, Signed lr
Size: 34 x 44 inches
Category
Early 2000s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Window 2
By A.J. Fries
Located in Buffalo, NY
A contemporary realist oil painting by American artist A.J. Fries.
Artist’s Statement:
My paintings are less about the images or scenes that they depict and more about my state o...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood, Oil
"Cement and Tree Shadows", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Dianne L. Massey Dunbar's (US based) "Cement and Tree Shadows" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts construction workers laying fresh cement in the shade of a tree wit...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Chocolates from Andy", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Dianne L. Massey Dunbar's (US based) "Chocolates from Andy" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a still life of eight untouched chocolate candies nestled in their con...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Raindrops", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Dianne L. Massey Dunbar's (US based) "Raindrops" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a cascading pattern of ripples in a puddle from a heavy rainfall.
About the art...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Contemporary Hyperrealist Large Portrait Film Noir Strip Film Still Black White
By Bruce Adams
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original painting by American contemporary conceptual painter Bruce Adams from the artist's new Untitled series.
The “Untitled,” series draws from a variety of visual and histori...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Untitled 22 (Lipstick Diptych)
By Bruce Adams
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original diptych painting by American contemporary conceptual painter Bruce Adams from the artist's Untitled series.
The “Untitled,” series draws from a variety of visual and his...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"I Believe in Ghosts" is a contemporary trompe l'oeil painting
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
"I Believe in Ghosts" is a contemporary trompe l'oeil painting of words scrambled with Casper the Friendly Ghost.
The ghost in this case is not just Casper the Friendly Ghost, howe...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
"Transcendence" Figurative Narrative "Being Human" vs "Human Being"
Located in San Antonio, TX
Samuel Wilson
(Born 1986)
San Antonio, TX
Image Size: 24 x 48
Medium: Oil on Canvas
"Transcendence"
When you see them in person you will say UNBELIEVEAB...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Guardian
By Glenn Ness
Located in Fairfield, CT
Glenn Ness is recognized for his photorealistic oil paintings of vacant backyards, landscapes, urban streets, and interiors. Ness’s compositions are flooded with his signature warm l...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Panel
Up and Down
Located in Natchez, MS
This highly technical and evocative work by Pablo Santibanez Servat is another in a series of sensual works featuring a female subject. His use of light creates a "glossy" almost wet...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Al Pasino, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Al Pacino is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. The portrait is painted in oil on linen canvas. Realism. It is varnished, the sides are painted in the color of the painti...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Ranas / Frogs". Contemporary, Realism, animal, figurative, hyperrealist
Located in MADRID, ES
"Ranas / Frogs". Contemporary, Realism, animal, figurative, hyperrealism, photorealim
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Selfie (triptych), Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Janos Kujbus
Located in Yardley, PA
Original work - 3 big paintings (triptych) in contemporary pop art style from hungarian artist Janos Kujbus. Story about artwork: "Sometimes I feel we live a strange life. We d...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Se faire les ongles
Located in Paris, FR
Jerome Romain lives in Montpelier, France
Classic Painting for Contemporary History
He defines his painting as " The world as a representation " His oil on canvas paintings are born ...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Where You Touched Me, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Where You Touched Me... Flowers Bloomed. The painting represents a woman and her feelings. It makes us think about our actions and how they affect others. :: Painting :: Photoreal...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
"The Brass Ring", Bob Byerley, Original Oil on Canvas, 24x12 in., Realism
Located in Dallas, TX
"The Brass Ring" by Bob Byerley is a realistic original oil painting measuring 24x12 in.
The artist’s photographic memory of his boyhood adventures combin...
Category
1980s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
'Tribal Indochine Woman II'
Located in Rye, NY
‘Tribal Indochine Woman 2’ is a large photorealist oil on canvas painting created by Vietnamese artist Nguyen Quang Huy in 2008. Featuring a captivating white, grey and black palette...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Crushed
Located in Austin, TX
"Crushed" by Gaylon Dingler
Acrylic on board
24.75 x 18.5 inches
Framed: 30 x 25 inches
A larger-than-life, photorealistic composition that captures ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Board
Contemporary figurative acrylic painting macabre female subjects dark signed
By Yonder Castillo
Located in Milwaukee, WI
Two sisters wrapped in webbings and covered in spiders. This artist has dove deep into the fear of arachnophobia. When looking at this piece people at first spot the dew on the webbi...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic, Board
"Lady in Waiting I" Figurative Oil Painting 47" x 35" in by Yousra Hafad
By Yousra Hafad
Located in Culver City, CA
"Lady in Waiting I" Figurative Oil Painting 47" x 35" in by Yousra Hafad
Yousra Hafad is a young artist who excels in portraiture and particularly the me...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Suitcase with teddy bears
Located in CAMPO REAL, ES
This landscape-oriented painting is an intriguing work that stands out for its grisaille technique and its focus on tonal play. On the left, there is a painting within the painting: ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
Beacon
Located in Cape Town, ZA
Craig Cameron-Mackintosh is a South African contemporary painter and filmmaker recognised for his distinctive oil portraits. His artistic journey began in 2015, after a decade-long h...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Cotton Canvas, Oil
Dj Princesse
Located in Paris, FR
Jerome Romain lives and works in Montpelier, France
He defines his painting as Classic Painting for Contemporary History
" The world as a representation " His oil on canvas painting...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Rain on Windshield: Rosie's Diner IV", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Dianne L. Massey Dunbar's (US based) "Rain on Windshield: Rosie's Dinver IV" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a cascading pattern of rain d...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Paper
NYC Biz
Located in Paris, FR
Jerome Romain lives in Montpelier, France
Classic Painting for Contemporary History
He defines his painting as " The world as a representation " His oil on canvas paintings are born ...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Lady in Waiting II" Figurative Oil Painting 55" x 39" inch by Yousra Hafad
By Yousra Hafad
Located in Culver City, CA
"Lady in Waiting II" Figurative Oil Painting 55" x 39" inch by Yousra Hafad
Yousra Hafad is a young artist who excels in portraiture and particularly the...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Violet" Figurative Oil Painting 55" x 32" inch by Yousra Hafad
By Yousra Hafad
Located in Culver City, CA
"Violet" Figurative Oil Painting 55" x 32" inch by Yousra Hafad
Yousra Hafad is a young artist who excels in portraiture and particularly the meticulous art of drapery which she adorns her demure female figures in. Her works capture the ideals of female empowerment, and the feminine traits of motherhood, sisterhood, intuition, compassion and grace, all of which her carefully created subjects embody.
Yousra Hafad is an Egyptian artist...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
"Sisterhood II" Figurative Oil Painting 43 "x 39" inch by Yousra Hafad
By Yousra Hafad
Located in Culver City, CA
"Sisterhood II" Figurative Oil Painting 43 "x 39" inch by Yousra Hafad
Yousra Hafad is a young artist who excels in portraiture and particularly the meti...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Vast" Oil Painting
By Mia Bergeron
Located in Denver, CO
Mia Bergeron's (US based) "Vast" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts the faint glow of a candle cast in blue darkness.
Mia Bergeron's interest in art was cultivated ...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Panel
"Samsara" Oil Painting
By Mia Bergeron
Located in Denver, CO
Mia Bergeron's (US based) "Samsara" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts the glow of a lit candle casting a halo on a blue background.
Mia Bergeron's interest in art ...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Panel
"Return" Oil Painting
By Mia Bergeron
Located in Denver, CO
Mia Bergeron's (US based) "Return" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts the glow of a lit candle glowing black and blue.
Mia Bergeron's interest in art was cultivated early on, beginning with continuous exposure to visual works through her parents' graphic design firm in New York City. In 1998, Mia studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. After taking foundational courses at RISD, Mia decided to pursue a more traditional education. In 2002-2005, Mia studied and taught at The Charles H...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Wax, Oil, Panel
"Butterfingering" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Gregory Block's (US based) "Butterfingering" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a donut topped with butterfinger topping.
Gregory was born in Kansas City, Missouri,...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
"Chocolate Coconut" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Gregory Block's (US based) "Chocolate Coconut" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a chocolate donut covered with coconut shavings.
Gregory was born in Kansas City, ...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
"Ring of Fire" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Gregory Block's (US based) "Ring of Fire" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a chocolate donut with a red topping in the center.
Gregory...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Hallow Taxi
Located in Paris, FR
Jerome Romain lives and works in Montpelier, France
He defines his painting as Classic Painting for Contemporary History
" The world as a representation " His oil on canvas painting...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
La Grande Parade
Located in Paris, FR
Jerome Romain lives and works in Montpelier, France
He defines his painting as Classic Painting for Contemporary History
" The world as a representation " His oil on canvas painting...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
In These Shoes
Located in London, GB
In These Shoes
A super sexy oil on linen provocative BDSM painting of a sexy woman wearing Louboutin heels.
Martin Allen is a London based artist. Marti...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Yes Darling
Located in London, GB
One of a series of slightly edgy thought provoking series titled 'Yes Darling', is he in charge or is she in charge?...
About The Artist
Artist Martin Allen is a London based. Marti...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Whelk, " Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Gregory Block's (US based) "Whelk" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a broken pink and white hued Conch shell on a rustic canvas and teal background.
About the Art...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Bicycles III", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Dianne L. Massey Dunbar's (US based) "Bicycles III" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts the layered view of red bicycles and gears, in profile, locked to a bike rack...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Contemporary Surrealist Hyperrealist Large Figures Super Hero Wonder Woman Women
By Bruce Adams
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original painting by American contemporary conceptual painter Bruce Adams from the artist's new Untitled series.
The “Untitled,” series draws from a variety of visual and histori...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Figure 2061
Located in Kensington, MD
Exhibited 2001 at Atelier 31, Kirkland, WA
Includes certificate of authenticity by artist.
Tatiana Garmendia is a figurative artist with a conceptual edge. Working with oil paint a...
Category
Early 2000s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Gold Leaf
"We the People" Figurative Narrative "Being Human" vs "Human Being"
Located in San Antonio, TX
Samuel Wilson
(Born 1986)
San Antonio, TX
Image Size: 30 x 24
Medium: Oil on Board
"WE THE PEOPLE"
When you see them in person you will say UNBELIEVEABL...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
"Mariposa Monarca / Monarch butterfly". Contemporary, Realism, animal, figurativ
Located in MADRID, ES
"Mariposa Moarca / Monarch butterfly". Contemporary, Realism, animal, figurative
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Watercolor
Novelist Graham Green. Time magazine Cover Illustration
Located in Miami, FL
Work is nicely archival matted to 17.75 x 16.75 inches but not framed. Signed lower left
Published : Oct. 29, 1951 Cover, Time Magazine
Category
1950s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Gouache, Board
At the Airport
Located in Miami, FL
Before there was Photorealism, there was Austin Briggs.
Done in 1951, this work has all the hallmarks of the 1970's fine art movement and more.
Briggs is using photographs as a refer...
Category
1950s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Cover of Newsweek, Kruschev, Russia March 16th 1959
By Robert Engle
Located in Miami, FL
Cover of Newsweek, Kruschev, March 16th 1959
Works on Paper (Drawings, Watercolors etc.),
Gouache on board
12 x 12 in. (30.5 x 30.5 cm.)
Signed Lower left
Powerful study of Russian ...
Category
1950s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Gouache
Oceanic Pearls
By Ben Weiner
Located in Greenwich, CT
Oceanic Pearls is an oil painting on prepared paper, sheet size 15.75 x 22 inches, signed, titled and dated verso, 'Ben Weiner Oceanic Pearls 2019' and framed in a contemporary white frame.
Connecting two opposing styles—abstraction and photorealism—Ben Weiner creates hyper-detailed, lush paintings and videos of extremely magnified consumer products, including hair gel, chemical food additives, and deodorant. In his work, he presents such meticulously rendered, close-up views of his subjects that they read as pure abstractions. A through-line in Weiner’s various bodies of work is contemporary culture’s obsession with bodily enhancement through chemical products—whether by using hair products or taking illegal drugs.
"My paintings of pearls and hair gel merge varied notions of art as creation with biological and mythological concepts of creation. Visually, the pearls seem to emerge from the hair gel, suggesting biological processes such as cellular division, or the primordial soup that preceded life on earth. The all-over, abstract qualities of the hair gel recall the abstract expressionists’ concepts of the sublime art object and art as a transcendent act of creation. Additionally, the pearl itself is a naturally produced object of profound beauty. I use it to symbolize my understanding of creation as a feminine power, intrinsically linked to beauty (as in Boticelli’s The Birth of Venus). Finally, the pearls are an ode to Audrey Flack, one of my early artistic influences." - Ben Weiner
Ben Charles Weiner (b. 1980) is a New York based contemporary artist. His work bridges the seemingly opposite styles of hyperrealism, and process-based abstraction. Mr. Weiner has exhibited his work widely in the US and internationally, at institutions including The Carnegie Art Museum, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, The Boca Raton Museum of Art, and The Tarble Art Center. His work is in public collections including Microsoft, Sammlung/Collection, Progressive Insurance, and The Frederick R. Weisman Collection...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Paper, Oil
Ancient Blessing
By Roseta Santiago
Located in Missouri, MO
Ancient Blessing, 2006
Roseta Santiago
Oil on Canvas
Signed Middle Left
42 x 48 inches
43 x 50 inches with frame
Roseta Santiago was born and raised in Washington D.C. She started ...
Category
Early 2000s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Photorealist figurative paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Photorealist figurative paintings 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 paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, orange, pink and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Gregory Block, Bruce Adams, James Van Fossan, and Mia Bergeron. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Photorealist figurative paintings, so small editions measuring 5 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative paintings 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 $228 and tops out at $100,000, while the average work sells for $3,000.