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
"Rush Hour" Large 38x50" Super Realism painting of vintage Tin Toys PLUS toys
Located in Southampton, NY
This large Super realism painting by New York artist Cesar Santander Is one of his masterpieces. It is titled "Rush Hour," and measures 38 x50".
Painted in 2001, it is signed, titled, and dated on the verso and is acrylic on canvas and wood panel.
Making this listing very Special, we have also included in this offering, all of the tin toys that inspired this painting and they are in a clear box with mirrors on the 2 sides, the back and the bottom of the lucite box
and can be displayed along side the painting just how the toys are featured in the painting. You can see an image of that mirrored box in this listing.
Santander first sets up the layout of these vintage tin toys...
Category
Early 2000s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Wood Panel
Afternoon at the Tides
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
"Eight Men Working", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Dianne L. Massey Dunbar's (US based) "Eight Men Working" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts construction workers laying fresh cement in th...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
"A Long Day's Work", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Dianne L. Massey Dunbar's (US based) "A Long Day's Work" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts construction workers gathering around a pit in the street lined with caut...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
"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
NYC Kid
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
The Game of Life, Jacque
Located in West Hollywood, CA
In her painting entitled “The Game of life, Jaque”, Eva Carzul captures life’s complexities, portraying it as a chess game, all the while adorned in a top that ironically expresses g...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
The Glory of Real Estate
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Eva Carzul’s artwork, “The Glory of Real Estate,” ingeniously infuses humor as the artist shares her personal experiences with the viewer. With one hand clutching keys to an undisclo...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Unstable Affection
Located in West Hollywood, CA
In Eva Carzul’s painting, “Unstable Affection,” a comedic portrayal unfolds, vividly illustrating the visual representation of emotional fragility and instability. Perched atop a box adorned with cautionary tape proclaiming “Fragile,” the figure dons mismatched shoes and, in a comical twist, manages to ensnare herself with her own fishing line. The true essence of instability emanates from the exaggerated facial features...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
72
Located in Natchez, MS
Servat creates a juxtaposition between the modern world with the helmet numbered 72 and the timeless natural world with the red birds. The helmet floats in space above a pedestal whi...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, 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
$3,500
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
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
"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
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
"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
"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
Asia Major
Located in Natchez, MS
Santibañez Servat works his magic in creating this stunning example of photorealism, with his brand of the surreal. The artist works in thin layers of oil paint diluted with linseed oil to create an old world master portrait of a Japanese woman. The background inspired by his interpretation of Shunga, Japanese erotic woodblock prints.
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
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
Wood Panel, Oil
"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
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
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
"Flowers with Vessel 5" (2024), Original Oil Portrait by Megan Elizabeth Read
Located in Denver, CO
Megan Elizabeth Read's "Breath" is an original, handmade oil painting created in 2024 depicts a still-life of dark red carnations balanced in a small vase, cast in shadows.
Megan El...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil
Swamp Thing (large signed giclee on canvas)
Located in Aventura, FL
Giclee on canvas. Hand signed lower right by Doug Bloodworth. Hand numbered 8/150 lower right. Canvas size 38 x 48 inches. Canvas is not stretched.
Artwork is in excellent con...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
$840 Sale Price
30% Off
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
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
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
Tuck
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
$3,500
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
"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
"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
"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
"Driving in the Rain II", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Dianne L. Massey Dunbar's (US based) "Driving in the Rain II" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a cascading pattern of rain drops on a car windshield which obscures...
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
'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
$2,700
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
"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
"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
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
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
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
Price Upon Request
Intergalactic
By Nemo Jantzen
Located in Singapore, SG
Nails and thread on wood in plexiglass. One-of-a-kind original artwork.
In his latest body of work, the Dutch artist Nemo Jantzen is combining skills obtained in earlier years of hi...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Thread
Price Upon Request
Silence Is Golden
By Nemo Jantzen
Located in Singapore, SG
Nails and thread on wood in plexiglass. One-of-a-kind original artwork.
In his latest body of work, the Dutch artist Nemo Jantzen is combining skills obtained in earlier years of hi...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Thread
Price Upon Request
Out of Focus
By Nemo Jantzen
Located in Singapore, SG
Nails and thread on wood in plexiglass. One-of-a-kind original artwork.
In his latest body of work, the Dutch artist Nemo Jantzen is combining skills obtained in earlier years of hi...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Thread, Acrylic
Price Upon Request
Who’s Laughing Now
By Nemo Jantzen
Located in Singapore, SG
Nails and thread on wood in plexiglass. One-of-a-kind original artwork.
In his latest body of work, the Dutch artist Nemo Jantzen is combining skills obtained in earlier years of hi...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Thread
Price Upon Request
Senses
By Nemo Jantzen
Located in Singapore, SG
Nails and thread on wood in plexi-glass.
One-of-a-kind original artwork.
In his latest body of work, the Dutch artist Nemo Jantzen is combining skills obtained in earlier years of h...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Thread
Price Upon Request
X-RAY
By Nemo Jantzen
Located in Singapore, SG
Nails and thread on wood in plexi-glass.
One-of-a-kind original artwork.
In his latest body of work, the Dutch artist Nemo Jantzen is combining skills obtained in earlier years of h...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Thread
Price Upon Request
"Dreaming Venus", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Daniel Sprick's (US based) "Dreaming Venus" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a nude feminine model laying on her side in the fetal posi...
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil, Board
Price Upon Request
Vanitas 15.12.01, Photorealist Acrylic Painting on Canvas by Paul Beliveau
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Paul Beliveau, Canadian (b. 1954)
Title: Vanitas 05.12.01
Year: 2015
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, signed, titled, and dated verso
Size: 30 x 60 inches
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
Vanitas 15.10.28, Photorealist Acrylic on Canvas Painting by Paul Beliveau
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Paul Beliveau, Canadian (b. 1954)
Title: Vanitas 05.10.28
Year: 2015
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, signed, titled, and dated verso
Size: 30 x 60 inches
Category
2010s Photorealist Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
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.