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Realist Paintings

7,037 Results
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.

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Style: Realist
Portrait of a Young Boy Seen from Behind
Portrait of a Young Boy Seen from Behind

Portrait of a Young Boy Seen from Behind

By Emma Ekwall

Located in Stockholm, SE

This intimate oil painting presents a young boy viewed from a three-quarter rear angle, caught in a quiet, reflective moment. The child’s back is turned gently toward the viewer, ren...

Category

1890s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Board

Loch Eilt in the Scottish Highlands Realist Landscape Vintage Oil Painting
Loch Eilt in the Scottish Highlands Realist Landscape Vintage Oil Painting

Loch Eilt in the Scottish Highlands Realist Landscape Vintage Oil Painting

By William McGregor

Located in Preston, GB

Loch Eilt in the Scottish Highlands Landscape Vintage Painting. A beautiful realist oil painting of the Scottish Highlands from a highly respected British Artist. Art measures 33 x...

Category

20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil

Walker's Mill
Walker's Mill

Walker's Mill

Located in Greenville, DE

Wonderful representation of historic Delaware scene, featuring waterfall. 29" x 41.5" framed Signed lower right

Category

20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

New York City Nocturne Painting Michael Budden Empire Evening
New York City Nocturne Painting Michael Budden Empire Evening

New York City Nocturne Painting Michael Budden Empire Evening

By Michael Budden

Located in Chesterfield, NJ

Empire Evening Image is 16 x 12 unframed, 22.5 x 18.5 framed. An oil painting on canvas by award winning contemporary artist Michael Budden that showcases a beautiful nocturne in N...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Butterfly Watercolor on Silk, Signed, Handmade Paper, 31x40.5cm
Butterfly Watercolor on Silk, Signed, Handmade Paper, 31x40.5cm

Butterfly Watercolor on Silk, Signed, Handmade Paper, 31x40.5cm

By La Roche Laffitte

Located in Cotignac, FR

One from a set of four watercolours of butterflies on silk, applied to handmade paper, with hand cut edges, by French artist La Roche Laffitte. Signed bottom left. (The other 3 items are available separately) A beautifully observed and detailed study of a butterfly painted...

Category

Mid-20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Silk, Watercolor, Gouache, Handmade Paper, Carbon Pencil

"Farmers by the river"
"Farmers by the river"

"Farmers by the river"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

Unidentified Artist – 19th Century "Farmers by the River" Medium: Oil on canvas Framed Dimensions: 42 x 60 cm Canvas Dimensions: 51 x 70 cm Period: 19th Century This beautifully comp...

Category

19th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Portrait of a Woman"
"Portrait of a Woman"

"Portrait of a Woman"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

"Portrait of a Woman" by Yuriy Lyamin is a captivating artwork that beautifully explores the soft essence of the female form. Rather than focusing on strict realistic details, the ar...

Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

"Lake"
"Lake"

"Lake"

By Oleksandr Khrapachov

Located in Edinburgh, GB

Oleksandr Khrapachov. “Lake,” 2020 Canvas, oil. 51×76 cm --- Oleksandr Khrapachov invites us into the mysterious world of nature, where time seems to stand still and space is fill...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Round Portrait of a Black and White Terrier" French 19th Century
"Round Portrait of a Black and White Terrier" French 19th Century

"Round Portrait of a Black and White Terrier" French 19th Century

Located in SANTA FE, NM

"Round Portrait of a Black and White Terrier," French, 19th Century, circa 1850s Oil on wood panel Unsigned. 9 x 9 inches frame One of a pair of charming portraits of Black White Te...

Category

1850s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Tide Pools; Cabrillo Beach, California
Tide Pools; Cabrillo Beach, California

Tide Pools; Cabrillo Beach, California

By Stephen Mirich

Located in Pasadena, CA

Provenance Acquired by the gallery directly from the artist Signed "Mirich" on lower left Exhibited A Collector's Feast, American Legacy Fine Arts, November 16 – December 15, 2018 ...

Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Lullwater Bridge – Prospect Park
Lullwater Bridge – Prospect Park

Lullwater Bridge – Prospect Park

By Nick Savides

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
The setting is an arm of the Prospect Park Lake, known as the Lullwater for its stillness. In the foreground is the Prospect Park Audubon Center in the Boatho...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Still Life Cabbage
Still Life Cabbage

Still Life Cabbage

By Elizabeth Osborne

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Elizabeth Osborne (b.1936). Still Life Cabbage, 1983. Watercolor on paper, sheet measures 22.5 x 30 inches; 29.5 x 37 inches in custom frame. Original Fischbach Gallery label affixed...

Category

1980s Realist Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

"Gipsy Musicians"
"Gipsy Musicians"

"Gipsy Musicians"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

Kaspar Waldmann (1657–1720) – "Gypsy Musicians" Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 100 x 149 cm (unframed), 102 x 151 cm (framed) Provenance: Private collection Historical Context &...

Category

17th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Exit
Exit

Exit

Located in Edinburgh, GB

In "Exit", a solitary silhouette steps through a brilliantly illuminated doorway into an expansive, dark, and textured space. Executed through the artist's signature palette knife te...

Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Antique Italian Impressionist Venice Cityscape Framed Signed Watercolor Painting
Antique Italian Impressionist Venice Cityscape Framed Signed Watercolor Painting

Antique Italian Impressionist Venice Cityscape Framed Signed Watercolor Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage Italian painting. Watercolor on paper. Signed. Framed. Measuring: 18 by 25 inches overall, and 14.5 by 21 painting alone. Excellent condition, ready to hang and enjoy.

Category

1890s Realist Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Cup of coffee and tangerine
Cup of coffee and tangerine

Cup of coffee and tangerine

By Irina Trushkova

Located in Zofingen, AG

"Cup of coffee and tangerine” is a celebration of the beauty that can be found in the simplest of things. The style of the painting is inspired by the Holland masters of the 17th cen...

Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Tiger Barbs
Tiger Barbs

Tiger Barbs

Located in Edinburgh, GB

This oil painting brings together tiger barbs and lush tropical foliage in a vivid, symbolic composition. Deep green leaves and rich red flowers create a dense natural setting, while...

Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Gentleman in a Scottish Landscape, Romantic, Moody
Portrait of a Gentleman in a Scottish Landscape, Romantic, Moody

Portrait of a Gentleman in a Scottish Landscape, Romantic, Moody

Located in Grand Rapids, MI

john Pairman (Scottish, 1788 - 1843) Signed: J Pairman 1820 (Lower, Right) " Portrait of a Gentleman in a Scottish Landscape ", 1820 Oil on Canvas 22 1/4" x 18 5/8" Housed in a ...

Category

Early 19th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Rose in Glass with Marble
Rose in Glass with Marble

Rose in Glass with Marble

By Leon Olmo

Located in Atlanta, GA

Leon Olmo was born in Moron de la Frontera at the end of the 1940's beginning at a young age to study drawing and wax technique. He currently lives in Castilleja de la Cuesta where he paints out of his studio; a place that arouses the senses and inspires Olmo’s magnificent technique. From heightened stimulation incredible still-lifes are produced from the nearby aromas of lemons, jasmine, pomegranates, and medlars, fruits which often appear throughout his paintings. Olmo is a self-taught painter, reaching the status as one of Seville’s most talented artists through strict perseverence in drawing and painting. Working until complete exhaustion, Olmo attempts to capture all of himself with every image he creates. For Olmo, neatness and cleanliness go hand in hand when creating a work of art. Though he denies traditional academicism, Olmo does utilize a methodical approach in each painting that begins with strict preparation of the fibrapan board upon which he paints. Beginning with a primer composed of calcium sulfate and glue, he sands the board’s surface until smooth. This regimented routine is in accord with Olmo’s insistence of maintaining neatness and cleanliness for he has rejected the use of canvas where any imperfection is not up to standard. He then picks juicy fresh fruits from their trees and retrieves wooden boards from a collection that he has acquired over the years during walks with his father. Arranging the objects for the desired effect, the outcome will be a play of shadows between the background and brilliant center of the composition. With the brush he draws simple motifs and leaves layers of paint until he achieves a magic luminosity, where the observer can actually see through space, a transparent quality distinctly from the hand of Olmo. The recreation of natural elements in his paintings is to remind the observer of humanity’s material nature. The symbolic use of jasmine is special to the artist, in order to represent the grandeur of small things, six petals with an incredible scent which contain within them the magic of the artist and of his Andalusian land. Olmo’s dreamlike masterpieces contain human warmth that has an unsurpassable way of working their way into the hearts and minds of his collectors. Leon Olmo and his son Leon Reina make up a father and son painting...

Category

Early 2000s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

19th Century Oil Painting Sussex Coast Fishermen Returning Maritime Scene
19th Century Oil Painting Sussex Coast Fishermen Returning Maritime Scene

19th Century Oil Painting Sussex Coast Fishermen Returning Maritime Scene

Located in Stockholm, SE

This captivating mid 19th century oil on canvas depicts a touching maritime scene along England's Sussex coast, renowned for its dramatic white chalk cliffs and centuries-old fishing...

Category

Mid-19th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Wood, Oil

Mountain Lake Oil Painting of a Loch in the Scottish Highlands by British Artist
Mountain Lake Oil Painting of a Loch in the Scottish Highlands by British Artist

Mountain Lake Oil Painting of a Loch in the Scottish Highlands by British Artist

By Andrew Grant Kurtis

Located in Preston, GB

Mountain Lake Oil Painting of a Loch in the Scottish Highlands by British Artist, Andrew Grant Kurtis M.A.(Lon) B.Des.(Hons) L.S.I.A.D. Art measures 16 x 12 inches Frame measures ...

Category

20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Beach Ocean Impressionistic Seascape Oil Painting Oxford Md Boat Michael Budden
Beach Ocean Impressionistic Seascape Oil Painting Oxford Md Boat Michael Budden

Beach Ocean Impressionistic Seascape Oil Painting Oxford Md Boat Michael Budden

By Michael Budden

Located in Chesterfield, NJ

Oxford Light 11 x 14 unframed and 17.25 x 20.25 framed signed LR Oxford Light is an oil painting on panel by award winning contemporary artist Michael Budden that showcases a beauti...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Horse next to River in the Woods of the English Countryside by British Artist
Horse next to River in the Woods of the English Countryside by British Artist

Horse next to River in the Woods of the English Countryside by British Artist

By Michael Morris

Located in Preston, GB

Horse next to River in the Woods of the English Countryside by 20th Century British Artist, Michael Morris (1938-2010) Art measures 10 x 8 inches Frame measures 13 x 11 inches T...

Category

20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

That's Saying Something, Original Painting
That's Saying Something, Original Painting

That's Saying Something, Original Painting

By Emil Morhardt

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A realistic animal painting depicts three great blue herons. Two of the herons are scanning their surroundings, seemingly in search of good fortune, trouble, or...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

"Allegorical Mythological Winter"
"Allegorical Mythological Winter"

"Allegorical Mythological Winter"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

Allegorical Mythological Scene Unidentified Artist 17th–18th Century Oil on canvas Framed: 152 x 196 cm Canvas: 131 x 178 cm No signatured Description This masterfully executed B...

Category

17th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

British Chalk Pencil Sketch of a Horse Patiently Waiting at The Wooden Fence
British Chalk Pencil Sketch of a Horse Patiently Waiting at The Wooden Fence

British Chalk Pencil Sketch of a Horse Patiently Waiting at The Wooden Fence

By John Rabone Harvey

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

John Rabone Harvey ( 1966 - 1922) graphic and chalk deep green artist paper , unframed artist paper : 5.5 x 7 inches Provenance: private collection Condition: very good condition Ha...

Category

Mid-19th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Chalk, Graphite

"An Enchanted Star for Katie" - Whimsical Animal Portrait, Oil on Panel
"An Enchanted Star for Katie" - Whimsical Animal Portrait, Oil on Panel

"An Enchanted Star for Katie" - Whimsical Animal Portrait, Oil on Panel

Located in Denver, CO

"There is a legend known among the wee ones of the forest, that near the southeast of the center of the forest, when a new moon sets with the sun, tiny wishing stars fall to the eart...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Paper

Photorealistic Ocean Painting Print, Surf and Sand by Todd Kenyon
Photorealistic Ocean Painting Print, Surf and Sand by Todd Kenyon

Photorealistic Ocean Painting Print, Surf and Sand by Todd Kenyon

Located in Laguna Beach, CA

Todd Kenyon "Surf and Sand" Giclee Print on Canvas (Lead Time Varies) 40 x 67 inches __________________________ JoAnne Artman Gallery is pleased to present Endless Blue, a captivati...

Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Archival Pigment

Antique Oil Painting on canvas Still Life, books, candle, Signed Azuquita Framed
Antique Oil Painting on canvas Still Life, books, candle, Signed Azuquita Framed

Antique Oil Painting on canvas Still Life, books, candle, Signed Azuquita Framed

Located in Palm Coast, FL

This painting is a still-life composition featuring an arrangement of books and other objects on a table. The focal point is an open book, its pages splayed out as if it was recently...

Category

Early 20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Fromage
Fromage

Fromage

By Irina Trushkova

Located in Zofingen, AG

This original oil painting captures a still life scene viewed from above, inviting you to explore its intimate details. At the center, a wooden board showcases a variety of cheeses, ...

Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Realist paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Realist 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 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, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Michael Budden, Su Yu, Olga Antonova, and Mark Hunter. 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 paintings, so small editions measuring 0.5 inches across are also available.