Skip to main content

Realist Figurative Paintings

REALIST STYLE

Realist art attempts to portray its subject matter without artifice. Similar to naturalism, authentic realist paintings and prints see an integration of true-to-life colors, meticulous detail and linear perspectives for accurate portrayals of the world. 

Work that involves illusionistic techniques of realism dates back to the classical world, such as the deceptive trompe l’oeil used since ancient Greece. Art like this became especially popular in the 17th century when Dutch artists like Evert Collier painted objects that appeared real enough to touch. Realism as an artistic movement, however, usually refers to 19th-century French realist artists such as Honoré Daumier exploring social and political issues in biting lithographic prints, while the likes of Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet painting people — particularly the working class — with all their imperfections, navigating everyday urban life. This was a response to the dominant academic art tradition that favored grand paintings of myth and history. 

By the turn of the 20th century, European artists, such as the Pre-Raphaelites, were experimenting with nearly photographic realism in their work, as seen in the attention to every botanical attribute of the flowers surrounding the drowned Ophelia painted by English artist John Everett Millais.

Although abstraction was the guiding style of 20th-century art, the realism trend in American modern art endured in Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth and other artists’ depictions of the complexities of the human experience. In the late 1960s, Photorealism emerged with artists like Chuck Close and Richard Estes giving their paintings the precision of a frame of film.

Contemporary artists such as Jordan Casteel, LaToya Ruby Frazier and Aliza Nisenbaum are now using the unvarnished realist approach for honest representations of people and their worlds. Alongside traditional mediums, technology such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and immersive installations are helping artists create new sensations of realism in art.

​​Find authentic realist paintings, sculptures, prints and more art on 1stDibs.

19
to
306
1,124
880
1,054
327
913
877
329
602
370
432
342
436
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
14,428
4,553
3,203
3,136
1,358
1,218
1,199
1,123
543
516
352
193
94
88
1,284
780
417
370
345
278
219
215
159
144
125
125
121
100
87
86
70
70
69
67
13
197
396
1,576
23
15
17
20
15
18
15
28
37
29
10
48
21
15
14
14
2,084
1,727
1,088
982
351
Style: Realist
Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - We are Sojourners 4
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas This painting bellows to the serie "We are Sejourners". Total dimension of the serie: 200 x 1100 cm Total price of the serie: $78,000 Su Yu is a Chinese artist born i...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Kate In The Barn"
By Timur Akhriev
Located in San Antonio, TX
Timur Akhriev Image Size: 31 x 58 Frame Size: 38 x 65 Medium: Oil "Kate In The Barn" Biography Born in Vladikavkaz, the territory where Southern Russia meets...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Interior - XXI Century, contemporary oil painting, Light & shadow contrasts
By Ilona Sapka
Located in Warsaw, PL
ILONA SAPKA studied at the School of Applied Arts, "Schola Posnaniensis" in Poznan. She received her diploma from the Faculty of Painting in the studio of stained glass led by prof. ...
Category

Early 2000s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"ZEUS" Acrylic on canvas 36" x 26" inch painting by Tom Barnabi
Located in Culver City, CA
"ZEUS" Acrylic on canvas 36" x 26" inch painting by Tom Barnabi Tom Barnabi is a part of the modern generation of artists, who managed to absorb several ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Paper

Setauket Harbor
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Oil painting of a Long Island seascape. A calm bay plays host to a variety of small boats, anchored still in their slots. The horizon is met with distant land, green trees flank eith...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Panel, Oil

Nude in a Light-Filled Boudoir by Eduardo León Garrido
Located in New York, NY
EDUARDO LEÓN GARRIDO Spanish, 1859-1949 Nude in a Light-Filled Boudoir Signed ‘E.L Garrido’ (upper right) Oil on panel 15 x 18.125 inches
Category

Late 19th Century Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Panel, Oil

September - XXI Century, Contemporary Landscape Oil Painting Warm tones, Realism
Located in Warsaw, PL
Janusz Szpyt was born in 1960, he is a Polish painter. He graduated from the Graphic design faculty and painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. 1983 onward, he became the m...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Mr. L (oil painting monochrome vintage old man beard portrait nostalgia, hat)
Located in Quebec, Quebec
keywords; surrealism, portrait, oil painting, earth tones, figurative painting, strangeness, contemporary surrealistic, unsettling, contemporary figurative painting, dreams, symbolic...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"The Family Hearth" - Turn of the Century Cozy Interior Figurative Scene
By Charles Everett Johnson
Located in Soquel, CA
Charming turn-of-20th Century interior painting that takes the viewer back to simpler times with grandmother, grandfather, mother sewing and a young girl playing with her greyhound a...
Category

Early 1900s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

Construction Worker
Located in Greenwich, CT
Scott Duce is an international artist working in New York. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States, with several solo exhibitions in New York City, Chicago, Boston, ...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Panel, Oil

The New Yorker Hotel 8th Avenue Manhattan New York City by British Urban Artist
Located in Preston, GB
Painting of the Wyndham New Yorker Hotel, 8th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, by British Contemporary Urban Artist, Angela Wakefield. Part of her Ne...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paint, Gesso, Acrylic Polymer, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Board

Mid Century Hyper Realist Marine with Boats Vigo Bay Spain, French Oil
Located in Norwich, GB
A wonderful atmospheric seascape by French Henri Cadiou (1906-1989), depicting the Galician beach of Vigo - a rare painting, exhibited at a major international exhibition in 1958! He...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Panel, Oil

"The Schoolroom" oil painting by Theophile Emmanuel Duverger
Located in Mere, GB
"The Schoolroom" by Theo Duverger Theophile-Emmanuel Duverger 1821 - 1886 was a leading French genre painter, exhibitor at the Paris salon and in the Musee D'Orsay. Oil on Panel, sig...
Category

19th Century Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - Crying To the Sky
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Su Yu is a Chinese artist born in 1987 who lives & works in Beijing in China. He was an old student of prestigious art teachers as Shi Liang & Chen Danqing at Oil Pain...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'A Young Parisienne', Royal Academy of Arts, Academie Colarossi, Jeu-de-Paume
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed center left, 'Christine Sundberg' (Swedish, 1837-1892) and dated 1888. Displayed in a period golden maple frame; Framed dimensions: 25.5 x 1...
Category

1880s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - Uncle Pushing the Door to See Me
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas - diptych x 2 Su Yu is a Chinese artist born in 1987 who lives & works in Beijing in China. He was an old student of prestigious art teachers as Shi Liang & Chen Danqi...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

20th C. Parisian society Figuarative painting by Albert Guillaume 'Radio Sermon'
Located in White Plains, NY
'Radio Sermon,' 1920's by Parisian artist, Albert Guillaume. Oil on canvas, 21.5 x 26 in. / Frame: 30 x 35 in. This charming and humorous painting depicts a familial group of men, wo...
Category

1920s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Sunset - XXI Century, Contemporary Landscape Oil Painting, Realistic
Located in Warsaw, PL
Janusz Szpyt was born in 1960, he is a Polish painter. He graduated from the Graphic design faculty and painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. 1983 onward, he became the m...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

"I had a dream last night" Oil Painting 24" x 28 "inch by Dmitriy Krestniy
Located in Culver City, CA
"I had a dream last night" Oil Painting 24" x 28 "inch by Dmitriy Krestniy 2007 Comes in a custom frame Size with frame: 26" x 30" A look through Dmi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - Abandon
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Su Yu is a Chinese artist born in 1987 who lives & works in Beijing in China. He was an old student of prestigious art teachers as Shi Liang & Chen Danqing at Oil Pain...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - Drunk
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Su Yu is a Chinese artist born in 1987 who lives & works in Beijing in China. He was an old student of prestigious art teachers as Shi Liang & Che...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - Watching
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Su Yu is a Chinese artist born in 1987 who lives & works in Beijing in China. He was an old student of prestigious art teachers as Shi Liang & Che...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Question" Oil painting 47" x 47" inch by Dmitriy Krestniy
Located in Culver City, CA
"Question" Oil painting 47" x 47" inch by Dmitriy Krestniy 2020 ATTENTION: Painting ships rolled in a tube. A look through Dmitriy’s designs reveals a glamorous, feminine, provocative yet sensual style influenced by his natural Ukrainian exuberance. He understands and respects the art’s body which continuously is at the center of his paintings. His preference goes by drawing with pastels, oil and charcoal to create innovative paintings among which are such style as photorealism where the artist writes such paintings as the pictorial art...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Nude Oil Female Figures Women Realism Expressionism Contemporary Sensual Signed
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"The Sauna" is an original oil painting on canvas signed by the artist Alicia Czechowski. It depicts six nude female figures lounging in a sauna. These figures have a wide variety of...
Category

1980s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - Lane
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Su Yu is a Chinese artist born in 1987 who lives & works in Beijing in China. He was an old student of prestigious art teachers as Shi Liang & Chen Danqing at Oil Pain...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

"Cream Cannoli" Contemporary Dutch Fine Realist Painting of Still-Life Pastry
Located in Utrecht, NL
During his successful career as a goldsmith the desire to paint grew on Dutch artist René Smoorenburg (1954). The attention to detail, which was of great importance in his work as a goldsmith, proved of great value in painting his realistic still life’s. In "Cream Cannoli" the artist's attention to fine detail is traceable in the way he painted the sprinkle of powdered sugar...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

'In the Kitchen', 19th Century Flemish Genre Painting
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Style of Richard Brakenburgh (Dutch 1650-1702) and painted circa 1820. Displayed in a shot silk mat with gilded slip within an 18th century, Dutch ...
Category

Mid-19th Century Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil

Desperate Mr. D (oil painting monochrome vintage man portrait nostalgia flowers
Located in Quebec, Quebec
keywords; surrealism, portrait, oil painting, earth tones, figurative painting, strangeness, contemporary surrealistic, unsettling, contemporary figurative painting, dreams, symbolic...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Venetian scene", 19th Century oil on canvas laid on cardboard by Antonio Reyna
Located in Madrid, ES
ANTONIO REYNA MANESCAU Spanish, 1859 - 1937 VENETIAN SCENE signed & located "A. Reyna, Venezia" (lower right) oil on canvas laid on cardboard 8 ...
Category

Early 1900s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Cardboard, Oil

Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - Crisis
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Su Yu is a Chinese artist born in 1987 who lives & works in Beijing in China. He was an old student of prestigious art teachers as Shi Liang & Chen Danqing at Oil Pain...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - Unfinished
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Su Yu is a Chinese artist born in 1987 who lives & works in Beijing in China. He was an old student of prestigious art teachers as Shi Liang & Che...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - Confrontation
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Su Yu is a Chinese artist born in 1987 who lives & works in Beijing in China. He was an old student of prestigious art teachers as Shi Liang & Che...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Boy in Army Coat
Located in New York, NY
Gouache on paper Signed and dated, l.r. This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City Born in California, John Button (1929-1982) was educated at University of Cali...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Armenian Contemporary Art by Kamsar Ohanyan - Inquisitive
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

New York Sunshine Figurative Cityscape Painting British Urban Landscape Artist
Located in Preston, GB
'New York Woman II' - Cityscape Painting by Leading British Urban Landscape Artist. This painting illustrates Angela Wakefield's ability to capture the ...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Cotton, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

Follow Me, Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Beth Sistrunk's "Follow Me" is an oil on panel featuring a model with pink petals. About the artist: Beth's interests in painting the figure, women’s fashion, flowers, landscape pho...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Nymph Of Rila Lakes - Oil Nude Painting Colors Pale Black White Grey Blue Green
Located in Sofia, BG
"Nymph Of Rila Lakes" oil on canvas 21x49 cm unframed 44x72 cm with frame Among the favorite places of the artist, the Rila lakes are located very high up in the mountains. Considering the ambiance of the place this is how the painter has depicted the nymph that inhabits them. The nymph is turning the teal water into drapery of the same color. The Painting’s Qualities Lyubena Fox...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Serenity, Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Beth Sistrunk's "Serenity" is an oil on panel featuring a model with pink petals. About the artist: Beth's interests in painting the figure, women’s fashion, flowers, landscape phot...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Landscape
By Richard Peterson
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork "Landscape" 1991 is an oil on board by noted artist Richard Peterson, born 1947. It is signed and dated at the lower right corner by the artist. The board size is 24 x 3...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Early 20th Century 1920s Portrait of a Boyarina
By Bell Dibble Taft
Located in Soquel, CA
Charming portrait of Russian Boyarina by Bell Dibble Taft (American, 1855-1937), 1921. Signed and dated lower left corner and gallery label for Oakland Gallery Exhibit (Oakand Museum...
Category

1920s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Syros afternoon - XXI Century, Contemporary Landscape Oil Painting, Realistic
Located in Warsaw, PL
Janusz Szpyt was born in 1960, he is a Polish painter. He graduated from the Graphic design faculty and painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. 1983 onward, he became the m...
Category

Early 2000s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

The Music Professor
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Presenting a magnificent early oil painting by American artist Robert McIntosh(1916-2010.) The Professor, is an original oil on paper, laid on panel, estate stamped, painted in 1935, currently unframed with an image dimension of 20 x 16 inches, beautiful original condition, acquired directly from the personal collection of the artist. This is among the earliest work of Robert McIntosh, painted in a master level classical style. Please contact our West Hollywood gallery...
Category

1930s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Fashion Runner .2
Located in Greenwich, CT
Scott Duce is an international artist working in New York. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States, with several solo exhibitions in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, and internationally in Paris, France; Florence, Italy; and Lima, Peru. His work is included in many corporate, museum, and private collections. Notable collections include Random House, General Electric, IBM, Pfizer, Inc., Capital Holding Corporation, McGraw-Hill Corporation, Petroplus Holdings, Switzerland, Seagrams-Montreal, Canada, and the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. Duce has had many commissioned works, including Bell...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Panel, Oil

Art Mover
Located in Greenwich, CT
Scott Duce is an international artist working in New York. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States, with several solo exhibitions in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, and internationally in Paris, France; Florence, Italy; and Lima, Peru. His work is included in many corporate, museum, and private collections. Notable collections include Random House, General Electric, IBM, Pfizer, Inc., Capital Holding Corporation, McGraw-Hill Corporation, Petroplus Holdings, Switzerland, Seagrams-Montreal, Canada, and the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. Duce has had many commissioned works, including Bell...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Panel, Oil

Bay Area Figurative Movement Seated Nude
Located in Soquel, CA
Tranquil figurative portrait of a seated nude woman with brown hair and brown eyes by an unknown San Francisco bay area artist (American, 20th Century). Unsigned. Unframed.
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Staring - Contemporary, Figurative Art, Blue, Green, Yellow, Playground, Kids
Located in Baden-Baden, DE
Staring, 2012 Oil on canvas (Signed on reverse) 19.68 H x 23.62 W in 50 H x 60 W cm The painting represents two children in the playground. One child is painted eating a banana and...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mr. J. W (oil painting monochrome vintage art man hat portrait faded neutrals)
Located in Quebec, Quebec
keywords; surrealism, portrait, oil painting, earth tones, figurative painting, strangeness, contemporary surrealistic, unsettling, contemporary figurative painting, dreams, symbolic...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Room Alone / oil on canvas - figurative surrealism
Located in Burlingame, CA
'Room Alone' is a masterfully painted oil on canvas, that features a young bespectacled semi-nude woman redlining on a pile of rocks at the interior of a formal room with heavy drape...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Canvas, Oil

"Carriage Ride by The River", 19th Century Oil on Canvas by Francisco Miralles
Located in Madrid, ES
FRANCISCO MIRALLES Y GALUP Spanish, 1848- 1901 CARRIAGE RIDE BY THE RIVER signed and dated "F. Miralles, 1881" (lower left) oil on canvas 12-3/4 X 1...
Category

1880s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antonio Lopez Garcia - red, blue, male, figurative, portrait, oil on canvas
Located in Bloomfield, ON
Canadian realist painter Dan Hughes pays homage to fellow painter and member of the "New Spanish Realists," Antonio Lopez Garcia. The glowing hyper-realis...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - Pain
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Su Yu is a Chinese artist born in 1987 who lives & works in Beijing in China. He was an old student of prestigious art teachers as Shi Liang & Chen Danqing at Oil Pain...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Scraper
Located in Greenwich, CT
Scott Duce is an international artist working in New York. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States, with several solo exhibitions in New York City, Chicago, Boston, ...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Panel, Oil

Sag Harbor Cinema Under Construction
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Oil painting of the Sag Harbor Cinema being rebuilt. Painted en plein air during the Summer of 2019, Tina Orsolic Dalessio found herself captivated b...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Wood Panel, Oil

The Confab
Located in Fort Washington, PA
This charming scene of four boys sitting on a bench having a conversation is typical of the sentimentalized portrayals of street urchins that John George Brown...
Category

1880s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Board

"Ann" Hyperrealism Oil Painting 59" x 47" inch by Dmitriy Krestniy
Located in Culver City, CA
"Ann" Hyperrealism Oil Painting 59" x 47" inch by Dmitriy Krestniy ATTENTION: Painting ships rolled in a tube. A look through Dmitriy’s designs reveals a glamorous, feminine, provocative yet sensual style influenced by his natural Ukrainian exuberance. He understands and respects the art’s body which continuously is at the center of his paintings. His preference goes by drawing with pastels, oil and charcoal to create innovative paintings among which are such style as photorealism where the artist writes such paintings as the pictorial art...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Le mouchoir , oil painting on canvas , size with frame 85 x 85 cm
Located in Barbizon, FR
Frederic Blaimont, French artist and great observer of the human being. He translates in every canvas the truth that he finds in his observation. He is curious about the people in th...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique Painting, 19th Century, European Monogrammist, "The Emigration".
Located in Berlin, DE
Signed and dated. Dimensions are without frame. Including certificate of authenticity. Frame has slight damage in places.
Category

19th Century Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Kenneth Carpenter, Gold Medalist
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas Signed, 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 movement. He ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Realist figurative paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Realist 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, red, orange and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Su Yu, Janusz Szpyt, JC Spock, and Matt Talbert. 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 Realist figurative paintings, so small editions measuring 0.5 inches across are also available.

Recently Viewed

View All