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Realist Abstract Photography

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
Untitled (2917): still life photograph w/ vases, cast hands & feet, and shadows
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This is an archival pigment print depicting an abstracted still life printed on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308 gsm by artist Paul Cava. It is from the artist's "Still Life" series, which i...
Category

2010s Realist Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment

Floral Study 13: still life color photograph w/ dried flowers on black field, lg
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This is an archival pigment print depicting an abstracted still life printed on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308 gsm by artist Paul Cava. It is from the "Flora" series, which is one of three...
Category

2010s Realist Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment

Untitled (2845): still life photograph w/ white vases, bone & cast hands & feet
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This is an archival pigment print depicting an abstracted still life printed on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308 gsm by artist Paul Cava. It is from the artist's "Still Life" series, which i...
Category

2010s Realist Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment

Pico Garcez - Atacama #1, Landscape Photography
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Pico Garcez (b.1963, São Paulo, Brazil) In Love with Photography, Iconography and Painting, exercises his gaze from childhood when he began to play with his first camera. Practicing freedom of look and intuition, seeking aesthetic challenges linked to the observation of the image in subjects such as: solitude, reflections of emptiness and behavior. Awarded by The Art of Intuitive Photography in NY for 4 times, Pico also find his work in the permanent collections of: The Rio Art Museum (MAR), Museum of Modern Art of Bahia (MAM-BA) and Museum of Photography of Fortaleza among other international collections. Having contact with a work of art has to be transformative. This photographic essay by Pico Garcez leads us to this, puts the gaze, sees and sees in constant dispute. The meaning is hidden and this leads us to be co-authors. In Pico's UNCONSCIOUS-NEST, work is not the aesthetics or the colors that speak the most, instead they fog our critical eye, trying to distract us in the central core of which it treats. It is an experience to observe these images. Pico puts us & leaves us in a void where our own inner solitude surfaces - Not having to share with. Where is life, if not ours? We are part of this work for empathy, and in that, Pico was generous - letting us in. UNCONSCIOUS-NEST is not a geographical place, instead it lives in us and everywhere. It shows what we've done for ourselves - it's a pool without a ledge. – “I can but I will not ... - I am here! I want to die and die where I've touched my heart...
Category

2010s Realist Abstract Photography

Materials

Cotton, Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment

Big Sight, Large Scale Limited Photography by Pico Garcez
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Pico Garcez (b.1963, São Paulo, Brazil) In Love with Photography, Iconography and Painting, exercises his gaze from childhood when he began to play with his first camera. Practicing ...
Category

2010s Realist Abstract Photography

Materials

Cotton, Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment

Atacama Mountains - Bright Landscape Photography by Brazilian Photographer
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Pico Garcez (b.1963, São Paulo, Brazil) In Love with Photography, Iconography and Painting, exercises his gaze from childhood when he began to play with his first camera. Practicing ...
Category

2010s Realist Abstract Photography

Materials

Cotton, Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment

Pico Garcez - Atacama #1, Landscape Photography
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Pico Garcez (b.1963, São Paulo, Brazil) In Love with Photography, Iconography and Painting, exercises his gaze from childhood when he began to play with his first camera. Practicing ...
Category

2010s Realist Abstract Photography

Materials

Cotton, Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment

Big Sight, Photography by Pico Garcez
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Pico Garcez (b.1963, São Paulo, Brazil) In Love with Photography, Iconography and Painting, exercises his gaze from childhood when he began to play with his first camera. Practicing freedom of look and intuition, seeking aesthetic challenges linked to the observation of the image in subjects such as: solitude, reflections of emptiness and behavior. Awarded by The Art of Intuitive Photography in NY for 4 times, Pico also find his work in the permanent collections of: The Rio Art Museum (MAR), Museum of Modern Art of Bahia (MAM-BA) and Museum of Photography of Fortaleza among other international collections. Having contact with a work of art has to be transformative. This photographic essay by Pico Garcez leads us to this, puts the gaze, sees and sees in constant dispute. The meaning is hidden and this leads us to be co-authors. In Pico's UNCONSCIOUS-NEST, work is not the aesthetics or the colors that speak the most, instead they fog our critical eye, trying to distract us in the central core of which it treats. It is an experience to observe these images. Pico puts us & leaves us in a void where our own inner solitude surfaces - Not having to share with. Where is life, if not ours? We are part of this work for empathy, and in that, Pico was generous - letting us in. UNCONSCIOUS-NEST is not a geographical place, instead it lives in us and everywhere. It shows what we've done for ourselves - it's a pool without a ledge. – “I can but I will not ... - I am here! I want to die and die where I've touched my heart...
Category

2010s Realist Abstract Photography

Materials

Cotton, Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment

Atacama Desert, Chile Pico Garcez
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Pico Garcez (b.1963, São Paulo, Brazil) In Love with Photography, Iconography and Painting, exercises his gaze from childhood when he began to play with his first camera. Practicing freedom of look and intuition, seeking aesthetic challenges linked to the observation of the image in subjects such as: solitude, reflections of emptiness and behavior. Awarded by The Art of Intuitive Photography in NY for 4 times, Pico also find his work in the permanent collections of: The Rio Art Museum (MAR), Museum of Modern Art of Bahia (MAM-BA) and Museum of Photography of Fortaleza among other international collections. Having contact with a work of art has to be transformative. This photographic essay by Pico Garcez leads us to this, puts the gaze, sees and sees in constant dispute. The meaning is hidden and this leads us to be co-authors. In Pico's UNCONSCIOUS-NEST, work is not the aesthetics or the colors that speak the most, instead they fog our critical eye, trying to distract us in the central core of which it treats. It is an experience to observe these images. Pico puts us & leaves us in a void where our own inner solitude surfaces - Not having to share with. Where is life, if not ours? We are part of this work for empathy, and in that, Pico was generous - letting us in. UNCONSCIOUS-NEST is not a geographical place, instead it lives in us and everywhere. It shows what we've done for ourselves - it's a pool without a ledge. – “I can but I will not ... - I am here! I want to die and die where I've touched my heart...
Category

2010s Realist Abstract Photography

Materials

Cotton, Archival Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment

Street People. Old Man On Park Bench New York City, Monochromatic
Located in Miami, FL
Street Photographer Mitchell Funk breaks with tradition and shoots street photography in color. Today in 2022, this does not seem like a big deal. But 52 years ago, in 1971, it was q...
Category

1970s Realist Abstract Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

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Realist abstract photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Realist abstract photography 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 abstract photography created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of purple and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Pico Garcez, Mitchell Funk, and Kristy Sparrow. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, and Archival Paper 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 abstract photography, so small editions measuring 17 inches across are also available. Prices for abstract photography made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,200 and tops out at $5,500, while the average work sells for $2,800.

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