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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Late 19th Century Realist Paintings
Oil, Board
1990s Realist Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Realist Paintings
Gold Leaf
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Wood
2010s Realist Paintings
Linen, Oil, Panel
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 19th Century Realist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
1970s Realist Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
Late 19th Century Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1980s Realist Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
Early 20th Century Realist Paintings
Oil
Late 19th Century Realist Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Oil
1990s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
Early 1900s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Panel
18th Century Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 1900s Realist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1940s Realist Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Realist Paintings
Paper, Charcoal
Mid-19th Century Realist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
19th Century Realist Paintings
Oil, Board
18th Century Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Panel
Mid-19th Century Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
A couple stands outside a taco truck, inspired by a September evening on East 2nd Street in the East Village. Artist Nick Savides was drawn to their interaction...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Kent Sullivan captures the peaceful glow of early evening at a Colorado monument. Warm skies bathe the landscape in soft light, highlighting his admirati...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
A close-up view of plump red apples, their shiny skins catching the sunlight. Bright green leaves extend from the branches, framing the fruit in a lively contra...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
A sweeping landscape where rugged mesas rise beneath a vast, glowing sky. Layers of deep indigo and violet mountains fade into the distance, while golden and ...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1910s Realist Paintings
Oil
Early 20th Century Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
18th Century Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil
Late 20th Century Realist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
20th Century Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Board
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Egg Tempera
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Panel
1960s Realist Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1970s Realist Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1830s Realist Paintings
Oil
Late 19th Century Realist Paintings
Canvas, Pastel
19th Century Realist Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Resin, Acrylic
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 20th Century Realist Paintings
Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Paintings
Oil, Linen