Realist Paintings
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.
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2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Linen
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
A rustic blue cottage, weathered by time, nestles among vibrant wildflowers. It was once the home of a widow who lost her loving hus...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Realist Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Realist Paintings
Acrylic
1850s Realist Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil
Late 19th Century Realist Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil
1970s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Realist Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 19th Century Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 19th Century Realist Paintings
Wood Panel, Oil
1930s Realist Paintings
Ballpoint Pen
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Masonite
Artist Comments
A rare storm cloud looms over the rolling hills near California’s Central Coast, building tension in the sky. The painting delicately captures the power and b...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Oil
1970s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Board
19th Century Realist Paintings
Oil
1850s Realist Paintings
Wood, Oil, Wood Panel
Artist Comments
Ocean waves crash onto the shore beneath a dramatic, stormy sky, with colors dancing throughout the scene. This seascape evokes the idea of finding light in d...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Board
Early 2000s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1850s Realist Paintings
Watercolor, Handmade Paper
19th Century Realist Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
19th Century Realist Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Panel
Early 1900s Realist Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Realist Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Other Medium
2010s Realist Paintings
Linen, Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Realist Paintings
Wood, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Parchment Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Panel
20th Century Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1970s Realist Paintings
Oil, Board
Artist Comments
An enormous wave crashes against a buttress of weathered stone. It signals a storm brewing in the cold ocean depths despite the cloudless, calm sky. The winds...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Oil
1990s Realist Paintings
Oil
1910s Realist Paintings
Oil
1970s Realist Paintings
Gouache, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1980s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1970s Realist Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil