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Realist 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.

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Style: Realist
Million Bells, Painting, Acrylic on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
Large Acrylic Painting Title: Million Bells Medium: Acrylic and Graphite Support: Bristol Paper (270 g) Size : 17?x 23? (43.18cm x 58.42 cm) Painting is signed and dated by th...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Climbing Plant, Painting, Acrylic on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
Large Acrylic Painting Title: Climbing Plant Medium: Acrylic Support: Bristol Paper 100 lb (270 g) Size : 19?x 24? (48.26cm x 60.96 cm) Painting is signed and dated by the ar...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Miles River Dawn, original 30x30 realist marine landscape
Located in Spring Lake, NJ
Nothing speaks natural beauty more than the dawn on the eastern sea coast of the U.S.! The Miles River is one of those unforgettable spots. A charmer located between St, Michaels an...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Summer Garden Study I by Dylan Lloyd, Contemporary art, Garden painting
Located in Deddington, GB
Summer Garden Study I by Dylan Lloyd [2022] original and hand signed by the artist Oil on Canvas Image size: H:30 cm x W:24 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:30 cm x W:24 cm x D:...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil, Board

Silver and Orange, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
The reflections are what stands out in this painting. The colours are classical portrayed and would nderful in a traditional home. The sides of the slim canvas have been painted and ...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Blue Bowl - Oil on Panel Contemporary Still Life, 2022
Located in Newport Beach, CA
Abigail Dudley is a keen observer of light and the complexities of interior space. A recent graduate from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia PA, her work has garnered acclaim for its subtle, sophisticated use of color and deeply sensitive vision of the world around her. Abigail utilizes different modes of perceptual painting and invention to capture the small moments in life where everything and nothing coexists on the same plane. Her figures often fade and merge with backgrounds and interiors, gentle silhouettes in repose or contemplation, entwined with the very environments in which they inhabit. Influenced by the colors found in Italian frescos...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

After Kupta, Portrait, Realism, Oil Painting, Texas Artist, Sawyer Yards
Located in Houston, TX
"After Kupta" 7 x 5 Framed 12 x 10 One of my favorite paintings is the Yellow Scales, a self portrait by Frantisek Kupka hanging in my home city museum, Houston Fine Arts, and whe...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

London Panorama - Greenwich Shoreline, cityscape art, urban art, Thames art
Located in Deddington, GB
John Duffin is a painter and printmaker whose work is based on the modern environments of cities and towns, creating dynamic, cinematic images of contemporary urban life. His unique images of architecture, lighting and figures have been greatly praised and awarded, recently receiving The Most Outstanding Print Award from Sir peter Blake, he has a distinctive artistic voice and has much to say in his work about contemporary life in all of it’s manifestations. His work is in the tradition of LS Lowry in Britain and Edward Hopper in America and like these artists he creates unique views of contemporary urban life, a combination of his ability as a draughtsman, his imagination and his personal use of perspective and colour. He makes drawings and watercolours in front of his chosen subject and takes these sketches back to his London studio where he creates from them his own imaginative interpretation of the site, recreating the place anew via his own imagination. His work is redolent with influences from cinema, graphic novels and the history of figurative painting, but from this comes a vision that is his alone. London Panorama...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Girl In Red
Located in Milford, NH
A fine watercolor portrait of a girl with a red wide brim hat and dress by American artist Lee Lufkin Kaula (1865-1957). Kaula was born in Erie, PA ...
Category

Early 20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Morning Drink, 12x16 oil on paper on panel , Southwest Art Magazine, Free Ship
Located in Houston, TX
Morning Drink, 12x16 oil on paper on panel . Also shown in images are two other available paintings. Julian Tejera is a contemporary realist from New ...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Wood Panel, Paper, Oil

Winter - seascape winter seasonal coastal original artwork acrylic painting view
Located in London, Chelsea
Contemporary artist Lenny Cornforth paints a pleasing seascape scene conveyed during the season of winter. Presenting an aerial perspective of a beach setting, this piece captures th...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

To Be Safe
Located in Detroit, MI
To be safe in the world you must first be safe with yourself. This piece represents the energy of the solar plexus chakra, an energy center located in the stomach just below the ribs. Solar plexus energy is that of gut feelings, personal power, and self-regard. The mirror image depicts the egoic self with eyes closed and the higher self smiling knowingly at the ego with eyes open.
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, LED Light, Canvas

Summer - seascape winter seasonal coastal original artwork acrylic painting view
Located in London, Chelsea
Contemporary artist Lenny Cornforth paints a pleasing seascape scene conveyed during the season of summer. Presenting an aerial perspective of a beach setting, this piece captures th...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

"Interior with portrait of a painter" Homage to J.S. Sargent Oil cm. 40 x 70
Located in Torino, IT
Interior ,Yellow,Italian living room, Luisa Albert was born in Turin, Italy where she currently lives and works. In 1989 she enrolled at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan and around that time she began working for publishing houses as an illustrator. In 1992 she graduated with a degree in Illustration. She began to study painting with Ottavio Mazzonis...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Realistic Floral Oil Painting, "Tea For Two"
Located in San Diego, CA
This is a one of a kind original oil on canvas painting by southern California artist, Bronle Crosby. Its dimensions are 24" x 24" x 1.5". It is unframed. A certificate of authentici...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Summer Landscape Cows Salmagundi Club Award Winning Oil Painting Michael Budden
Located in Chesterfield, NJ
Cunningham Road is an oil painting on canvas by award winning contemporary artist Michael Budden that showcases a beautiful summer landscape with cows in a soft mid day light bathing...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Sarah, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Female portrait. Inspired by sculpture by Frans Stracké in Rijksmuseum Amsterdam :: Painting :: Realism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by th...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Autumn Landscape", Sunset Landscape Scene of Creek in Autumn
Located in Austin, TX
This serene landscape by A.D. Greer depicts an Autumn scene of a waterfall in a creek during sunset. This painting is executed in oil on canvas and measures 24" x 30". About the Art...
Category

20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

#16@ Croton on Hudson County Club
Located in Raleigh, NC
#16 Croton on Hudson County Club. Beautifully rendered golf view by illustrator Donald Moss. He is well known for his golf views and many have been made into offset lithographic prin...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Arch of Ice, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Hard edge realism. Boat traversing a large rocky arch. :: Painting :: Realism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: ...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Pocket Yellow Plum by Dani Humberstone, Small Scale Art, Realist, Still life
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Yellow Quince by Dani Humberstone [2022] original and hand signed by the artist Oil paint on canvas Image size: H:5 cm x W:5 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:5 cm x W:5 cm x D:3cm Frame Size: H:16 cm x W:16 cm x D:3.5cm Sold Framed Please note that insitu images are purely an indication of how a piece may look Please note that insitu images are purely an indication of how a piece may look. Pocket Yellow Quince is an original oil painting bay Dani Humberstone as part of her pocket fruit series.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Fine Quality English late 20th century Still life of wild flowers in a vase
Located in Woodbury, CT
Bennett Oates, Fine Quality English late 20th century Still life of wild flowers in a vase. Oates was an English painter of flower subjects during the last half of the 20th centur...
Category

1990s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

View of Bay of Naples; View of Bellagio (Lake Como) -- pair
Located in Washington, DC
Charles Rowbotham was the son of the British painter Thomas Leeson Rowbotham. Charles specialized in landscape views executed in watercolor and gouache. He is best known for his imag...
Category

Late 19th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Tango - Contemporary Portrait Oil Painting, Realistic, Polish artist
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 Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'Lunchtime already?'
Located in Washington, DC
Signed and dated lower left: Geo 1883
Category

1880s Realist Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Sunrise Tug, original realist impressionist nocturnal marine landscape
Located in Spring Lake, NJ
Weary from the drive to the coast, you are rewarded by a sunrise that you will recall for years to come! The realist impressionist nocturnal setting at the marina is so exacting in ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Almazan Bicycle Still-Life Acrylic Painting
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
Almazan Realistic Still Life Acrylic Painting MIQUEL was an artist focused on the art of realism. His structured works on his great mastery of drawing, are romantic and translates us to past times...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Wood, Oil

Lace
Located in Pasadena, CA
Provenance On consignment to the gallery FRAMED: 28.125 x 24.125" x 1.625" UNFRAMED:20" x 16"
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Panel

Homage to Gericault
Located in Woodbury, CT
Oil on panel, signed and dated 2012. French handmade wooden Delf frame, raised panel with dark gold/bronze patina and gold leaf. Unframed size: 19.09 inches high x 15.75 inches wide. Framed size: 29.5 inches high x 25.125 inches wide x 1.63 inches deep. Sold framed. Stefaan’s tribute to the great French neoclassical painter stems from first seeing Gericault’s horses...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Snowy Mountain Landscape by Otto Planding, Signed
Located in Larchmont, NY
Otto Planding (German-Canadian, 1887-1964) Untitled (Snowy Mountain Landscape), 20th century Oil on board 16 x 22 1/4 in. Framed: 21 1/8 x 27 1/8 in. Signed lower left: O. Planding Otto Planding came to Canada from Germany in 1913. From the moment of his arrival from Germany until his death in 1964, he supported himself exclusively by painting. He lived very humbly in Toronto and eschewed luxuries. He painted mostly in the countryside north of Toronto, in the Georgian Bay...
Category

20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Vedutist Venetian painter - 19th century landscape painting - Venice view
Located in Varmo, IT
Venetian painter (c. 1850) - View of Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice. 40 x 63 cm without frame, 49 x 70.5 cm with frame. Oil on canvas, in an antique giltwood frame. Condit...
Category

Mid-19th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Cedaring V
Located in Zürich, ZH
Angela Lyn was born in Windsor, England in 1955 to a Chinese father and an English mother. In 1968 her family emigrated to the USA. In 1972 she traveled to Taiwan to explore her Asi...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Austin Mini Cooper, Painting, Acrylic on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
My painting of a 1966 Austin Mini Cooper, a UK car ( right hand drive) :: Painting :: Realism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authentic...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

French Contemporary Art by Claudine Picard - Kaki
Located in Paris, IDF
Claudine Picard is a French artist born in 1949 who lives & works in Sainte Marie, France. She is graduated from the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in 1973 (ENSAD).
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Dog Painting of a Beautifully Feathered Golden Retriever a in Country Landscape
Located in Charleston, US
"Golden Pond" a charming dog painting by Beth Carlson of a beautiful Golden Retriever resting next to a pond in a country landscape. The painting combines her talent depicting dogs b...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Field 1967, paper/watercolor, 20.5x29.5 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Field 1967, paper/watercolor, 20.5x29.5 cm Herberts Mangolds (1901-1978) Graphic, army officer. In 1920 he graduated from the Artillery Cadet School of Latvian and many military co...
Category

1960s Realist Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

To Be Alone (With You)
Located in Detroit, MI
This painting features a light portal in the subject’s “crown” chakra, the body’s physical connection to the universal or divine. The figure is isolated in a bubble, but the “you” in...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Resin, LED Light

Side Lit Butterscotch, candy. Super realistic Still life
Located in Brooklyn, NY
I love painting the colors in butterscotch and the reflections and transparency of their cellophane wrappers The side lighting enhances the colors and the transmitted color of the ye...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

To Be Loved
Located in Detroit, MI
The subject in this painting has his arms crossed over his heart chakra, closing it off from view. Despite this physical closure, a powerful energetic force still radiates from the c...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

New York City Theater Painting Michael Budden Phantom of the Opera Study
Located in Chesterfield, NJ
Mystical Phantom is an oil painting study on canvas panel by award winning contemporary artist Michael Budden. It is a "play" on "drama" that is unfolding as theater goers pass on a...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Objects on orange tablecloth" Oil cm.40 x 40 2011
Located in Torino, IT
spheres, orange, black, silver Luisa Albert was born in Turin, Italy where she currently lives and works. In 1989 she enrolled at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan and around that time she began working for publishing houses as an illustrator. In 1992 she graduated with a degree in Illustration. She began to study painting with Ottavio Mazzonis...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Antique Dog Portrait: "Mops" a Seated Pug, Norbert Schrödl (Vienna, 1842-1912)
Located in SANTA FE, NM
"Mops" Antique Dog Portrait of a Seated Pug Norbert Schrödl (Vienna, 1842-1912) Oil on canvas, lined, signed and dated lower left Norbert Schrö...
Category

1870s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

THE NEW MODEL . Vicente Romero Redon Spanish contemporary artist
Located in Pollenca, Illes Baleares
Vicente Romero Redondo was born in Madrid as the eldest of four sons. Due to the work of his father, he grew up in many different towns all over...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Pastel

Still life - Figurative Oil Painting, Realism, Polish art
Located in Warsaw, PL
ZBIGNIEW WOZNIAK (b. 1952) Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, at the Department of Glass and Ceramics. He is involved in painting, graphics and artistic glass design. He...
Category

Early 2000s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Nude, Original Figurative Realist Woman Oil Painting by Simon Kozhin
Located in Sempach, LU
The mystery of female beauty. Naked body beauty, its delicate shades and plastic lines. The image of the girl from the back echoes the classics. The product...
Category

Early 2000s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Apple tree twig- Realistic Figurative Still life Oil Painting, Polish art
Located in Warsaw, PL
Gabryela Wasowicz is a Polish painter born in 1947. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Warsaw and then at the Gerrit Rietveld Akademie in Amste...
Category

Early 2000s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Oil landscape with Horse in old master realist style by Hans Guerin, framed
Located in Charleston, US
The horse portrait, "Trot", is an oil landscape with a beautiful white horse painted by Hans Guerin, a descendent of the founder of the respected Schuler ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Sean Farrell, "Fresh Pick", 10x8 Peach Fruit Still Life Oil Painting on Board
Located in Saratoga Springs, NY
"Fresh Pick", is a 10x8 oil painting on board by artist Sean Farrell. Featured is an arrangement of three freshly harvested peaches, still on the stem with their leaves. The gentle o...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Forest Triptych, Looking Up Through The Trees, Blue Nature, Handmade Cyanotype
Located in Barcelona, ES
This series of cyanotype triptychs showcases the beauty of nature scenes, including stunning beaches and oceans, as well as the intricate textures of w...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Photographic Film, Photogram, Emulsion, Watercolor, Photographic Paper, ...

DOUBLE DAMBLE..Colin Fraser contemporary Scottish artist
Located in Pollenca, Illes Baleares
There is no greater pleasure than seeing artwork from the gallery come to life in a collector’s home. A great painting activates the four walls of a space and can complete a room. Th...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

Egg Tempera

Landscape 1967, paper/watercolor, 23x43.5 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Landscape 1967, paper/watercolor, 23x43.5 cm Herberts Mangolds (1901-1978) Graphic, army officer. In 1920 he graduated from the Artillery Cadet School of Latvian and many military ...
Category

1960s Realist Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

A toe - Contemporary Portrait Oil Painting, Realistic, Polish artist
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 Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Rural Mountain Scene with Sheep in Ireland by Post War Modern Irish Artist
Located in Preston, GB
Rural Mountain Scene with Sheep in Ireland by Post War Modern Irish Artist, David Overend. Art measures 16 x 12 inches Frame measures 25 x 21 inches ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

French Seascape Ships off Saint Vaast la Hougue Masterwork Ferdinand Perrot
Located in Stockholm, SE
Highly informative and masterly painted picture off coast scenery was done by acknowledged French master Ferdinand Perrot (1808-1841), also the name of the artist is written as: Ferd...
Category

1830s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Wood, Oil

Apple tree twig- Realistic Figurative Still life Oil Painting, Polish art
Located in Warsaw, PL
Gabryela Wasowicz is a Polish painter born in 1947. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Warsaw and then at the Gerrit Rietveld Akademie in Amste...
Category

Early 2000s Realist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Parisian Chandeliers, landscape art, original art, interior art, still-life
Located in Deddington, GB
Parisian Chandeliers by Lesley Ann Derks [2017] original Oil and enamel on canvas Image size: H:40 cm x W:50 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Paintings

Materials

Enamel

Modernist Portrait by African American Artist Charleston Wilson
Located in Larchmont, NY
Charleston Wilson (1919-?) Untitled (Modernist Portrait), 1970 Oil on board 19 1/4 x 14 3/4 in. Framed: 25 1/4 x 21 1/4 in. Signed lower left: Charleston Wilson '70 Charleston Wilson was born 1919. Death date and place are unknown. He was a portrait sketch artist...
Category

1970s Realist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Winter Morning, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Mild winter morning in light turquoise, purple and gray. Water that has not yet frozen from, the light of the winter sun, which breaks through the treetops, the stones on the pond - ...
Category

2010s Realist Paintings

Materials

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.

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