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Photorealist Black and White Photography

PHOTOREALISM

A direct challenge to Abstract Expressionism’s subjectivity and gestural vigor, Photorealism was informed by the Pop predilection for representational imagery, popular iconography and tools, like projectors and airbrushes, borrowed from the worlds of commercial art and design.

Whether gritty or gleaming, the subject matter favored by Photorealists is instantly, if vaguely, familiar. It’s the stuff of yellowing snapshots and fugitive memories. The bland and the garish alike flicker between crystal-clear reality and dreamy illusion, inviting the viewer to contemplate a single moment rather than igniting a story.

The virtues of the “photo” in Photorealist art — infused as they are with dazzling qualities that are easily blurred in reproduction — are as elusive as they are allusive. “Much Photorealist painting has the vacuity of proportion and intent of an idiot-savant, long on look and short on personal timbre,” John Arthur wrote (rather admiringly) in the catalogue essay for Realism/Photorealism, a 1980 exhibition at the Philbrook Museum of Art, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At its best, Photorealism is a perpetually paused tug-of-war between the sacred and the profane, the general and the specific, the record and the object.

Robert Bechtle invented Photorealism, in 1963,” says veteran art dealer Louis Meisel. “He took a picture of himself in the mirror with the car outside and then painted it. That was the first one.”

The meaning of the term, which began for Meisel as “a superficial way of defining and promoting a group of painters,” evolved with time, and the core group of Photorealists slowly expanded to include younger artists who traded Rolleiflexes for 60-megapixel cameras, using advanced digital technology to create paintings that transcend the detail of conventional photographs.

On 1stDibs, the collection of Photorealist art includes work by Richard Estes, Ralph Goings, Chuck Close, Audrey Flack, Charles Bell and others.

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Style: Photorealist
Period: 1980s
DER DEUSCHER VOLKE - Photograph on baryta paper, Nino La Rocca , Italy 1987
Located in Napoli, IT
Analog photograph on baryta paper in black and white titled "Der Deuscher Volke" , the photo depicts the German Parliament and the Berlin Wall before the fall . The photograph is by ...
Category

1980s Photorealist Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Bernard Sumner of New Order
Located in Austin, US
Signed limited edition 16x20" silver gelatin print of Bernard Sumner by Kevin Cummins. This stunning shot of the New Order frontman was taken in New York Cit...
Category

1980s Photorealist Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Bette Midler Film Set Backstage Baby Daughter Vintage b&w Print Contemporary
Located in New York, NY
Bette Midler Film Set Backstage Baby Daughter Vintage b&w Print Contemporary Roddy McDowall (British-American, 1928-1998)m "Bette Midler & Daughter Sop...
Category

1980s Photorealist Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Morrissey
Located in Austin, US
Signed limited edition 16x20" silver gelatin print of Morrissey by Kevin Cummins, taken at Rochdale Canal, Manchester England, 5th September 1989. Limited edition number 36/50 This ...
Category

1980s Photorealist Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Rocket Men Bernie Taupin and Elton John 1985 limited edition photograph
Located in London, GB
Elton John with lyricist Bernie Taupin at Elton’s home in Old Windsor taken in 1985 taken by British photographer Arthur Steel. Arthur's archive of iconi...
Category

1980s Photorealist Black and White Photography

Materials

Digital

John and Yoko at the Dakota, 1980
Located in White Plains, NY
'John and Yoko at the Dakota,' 1980 by famed American photographer, Allan Tannenbaum. Silver gelatin print, 1982. 15 x 10 inch photo on 22 x 17 inch on t...
Category

1980s Photorealist Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Jerry Hall models Thierry Mugler, 1980
Located in White Plains, NY
'Jerry Hall models Thierry Mugler,' 1980 by famed American photographer, Allan Tannenbaum. Archival pigment print, 10 x 15 inch photo on 17 x 22 inch on the finest satin photo paper, Ed. of 50. This black and white photograph captures Jerry Hall modeling Thierry Mugler at Bond's disco in 1980. From the artists' 4th hardcover book 'Grit and Glamour: The Street Style, High Fashion, and Legendary Music of the 1970s,' published in 2016. This image was taken during Tannenbaum's tenure at The SoHo Weekly News in New York City from 1973 to 1982 where he served as Chief Photographer and Photo Editor. Allan Tannenbaum's career in photography spans more than four decades. Born in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1945, he received a B.A. in Art from Rutgers University in 1967, where he photographed for The Targum – the campus newspaper – and made films for his art courses. Gravitating to the nascent art scene in the SoHo district of Manhattan in 1972, Tannenbaum worked as a taxi driver and bartender while looking for work as a photographer. In 1973, when the SoHo Weekly News commenced publication, Tannenbaum became the Photo Editor and Chief Photographer. The newspaper started out as an eight-page free paper, but soon became a popular newsstand seller that rivaled the established Village Voice. Tannenbaum relentlessly covered the art world, music scene, politics, show business, and nightlife until 1982 when the SoHo News folded. Tannenbaum has also done documentary and feature photography in places like Thailand, Indonesia, Palau, Jordan, Bahrain, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Brazil, Israel, Iceland, and Mexico. He has covered numerous political campaigns, nominating conventions and news stories in the U.S. such as the Oklahoma City bombing and the Columbine massacre. His work has appeared in many photo books and exhibitions, as well as appearing regularly in NEWSWEEK, TIME, LIFE, ROLLING STONE, PARIS MATCH, and STERN. His photographs have graced the covers of TIME three times, and NEWSWEEK five times. He now works as an international photojournalist contributing to various noted publications including Time, Life, and Newsweek. He is the author of three books of his photography, including New York in the 70s (Feierabend, 2003), New York (Feierabend, 2004), and John and Yoko: A New York Love Story...
Category

1980s Photorealist Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

John and Yoko on a bench in Central Park, 1980
Located in White Plains, NY
'John and Yoko on a bench in Central Park,' 1980 by famed American photographer, Allan Tannenbaum. Silver gelatin print, 1982. 10 x 15 inch photo on 16 x...
Category

1980s Photorealist Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

The Clash arrive at JFK - Joe Strummer getting into a taxi, 1981
Located in White Plains, NY
'The Clash arrive at JFK - Joe Strummer getting into a taxi,' 1981 by famed American photographer, Allan Tannenbaum. Archival pigment print, 10 x 15 inch photo on 17 x 22 inch on the...
Category

1980s Photorealist Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

"Sand Dunes Death Valley" - Minimal Desert Black & White Landscape Photograph
By Harry R. Kimball
Located in Soquel, CA
"Sand Dunes, Death Valley", a starkly beautiful black & white desert landscape photograph by Dr. Harry R. Kimball (American, 20th C). Signed lower right "H.R. Kimball", studio stamp on verso with title, date, and signature. On an acid free mat and aluminum frame. Image, 6.88"H x 9"W. Mat, 14"H x 18"W. Following retirement after five decades of medical teaching, research and clinical care, Dr. Kimball devoted a full time effort to fine art landscape and nature photography. In the film era, he had the good fortune to study with the black and white masters of the late 20th century including John Sexton...
Category

1980s Photorealist Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

The Cure gets caught on Columbus Ave., NYC
Located in White Plains, NY
The Cure gets caught on Columbus Ave., NYC, 4/11/80 by famed American photographer, Allan Tannenbaum. Archival pigment print, 10 x 15 inch photo on 17 x 22 inch paper on the finest s...
Category

1980s Photorealist Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment, Photographic Film

The Rolling Stones visit Danceteria in New York City, 1980
Located in White Plains, NY
'The Rolling Stones visit Danceteria in New York City,' July 1980 by famed photographer, Allan Tannenbaum. Archival pigment print, 10 x 15 inch photo on 17 x 22 inch paper, Ed. of 50...
Category

1980s Photorealist Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

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Previously Available Items
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Morning Merced River Canyon Yosemite - Special Edition
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Silver gelatin photograph by Ansel Adams (American, 1902-1984), printed by Alan Ross (American, b. 1948). Stamped with Adams' signature and "YOSEMITE SPECIAL EDITION" on the front, with additional information stamped on verso. © 2/02 and dated April 2002. Presented in a grey metal frame with a white mat and Plexiglas. Image size: 8"H x 10"W Ansel Adams launched the Yosemite Special Edition series in 1958. Alan Ross made each Special Edition Photograph by hand from Adams ' original negative on gelatin silver fiber paper. Yosemite Special Edition Photographs are the closest photographic reproductions to Ansel’s original masterpieces, painstakingly handcrafted from his negatives by former assistant Alan Ross. Alan Ross worked under Ansel’s direct observation from 1975 until 1984, and has been producing the series in accordance to Ansel's instructions ever since. Ross, a master printer and fine art photographer in his own right, began working side-by-side with Adams as his photographic assistant in 1974; he's been the exclusive printer of this series since 1975. Each of the prints in this limited series bears an identifying stamp. Each silver photograph shimmers with brilliance, with richly perfected black and white tones. From a selection of 29 stunning images of Yosemite, this photograph is printed at 8” x 10” inches and authorized by the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust. Of all the American landscapes that Ansel Adams immortalized through his images, Yosemite was the most deeply personal. In Yosemite he discovered his spiritual home and built his family. He first visited the Park in 1916 and he returned every year thereafter, meeting his wife there and then raising his family within Yosemite's splendor. Ansel hoped his images would inspire park visitors to become activists for Yosemite's preservation, instilled with a deeper connection to the natural world and desire to protect it. With that as his main goal, Ansel conceived this series of Yosemite Special Edition Photographs in the late 1950s. With images of Half Dome, Lake Tenaya, Merced River and more, he invited everyone to be of part of his 'art as activism" by pricing the prints at an affordable cost. We honor that intention today, offering these stunning silver prints to all who wish to express their love for Yosemite and desire to protect it as a natural wonder. Today, with America’s wild spaces increasingly under threat, Ansel’s vision for the Special Edition Photographs remains as relevant as ever Ansel Adams (American, 1902-1984), photographer and environmentalist, was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Charles Hitchcock Adams, a businessman, and Olive Bray. An only child, Adams was born when his mother was nearly forty. He was raised in an environment that was deeply Victorian, and Adams was a solitary child; at the age of twelve, he taught himself to play the piano and read music. Although he ultimately gave up music for photography, the piano brought substance, discipline, and structure to his frustrating and erratic youth. Moreover, the careful training and exacting craft required of a musician profoundly informed his visual artistry, as well as his influential writings and teachings on photography. Always a lover of nature, Adams life was, in his words, "colored and modulated by the great earth gesture" of the Yosemite Sierra; he spent substantial time there every year from 1916 until his death. There, he began using the Kodak No. 1 Box Brownie his parents had given him, joined the Sierra Club, and met his wife, Virginia Best; they were married in 1928. The couple had two children. The 1920's and 30's were busy years for Adams. He made his first fully visualized photograph, Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, and gained his first patron in the person of Albert M...
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Wood River, Idaho 1983
By Harry R. Kimball
Located in Soquel, CA
A classic Silver photographic print of Wood River, Idaho in the winter by Dr. Harry R. Kimball (American, 20th C). Following retirement after five decades of medical teaching, research and clinical care, Dr. Kimball devoted a full time effort to fine art landscape and nature photography. In the film era, He had the good fortune to study with the black and white masters of the late 20th century including John Sexton...
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Arches
By Mauro Fichman
Located in Paris, FR
This photography has the perfect balance among geometric still shapes of the Architecture, the contrasts of the grey, black and white tons and a gracious mouvement of the men walking by this world 0f perspective. The place, the famous Lapa arches, the Carioca aqueduct, better known as Arcos da Lapa, was built by Governor Ayres Saldanha in 1723 to bring water from the Rio Carioca to Largo da Carioca as a solution to the lack of water in the city. The Roman style construction is 17.6m high and 270m long with 42 arches, and connects Santa Teresa...
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Arches
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Nuns in the arches
By Mauro Fichman
Located in Paris, FR
The Carioca aqueduct, better known as Arcos da Lapa, was built by Governor Ayres Saldanha in 1723 to bring water from the Rio Carioca to Largo da Carioca as a solution to the lack of water in the city. The Roman style construction is 17.6m high and 270m long with 42 arches, and connects the Morro do Desterro (now Santa Teresa...
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Nuns in the arches
H 35.44 in W 26.38 in D 0.4 in
Jack Nicholson on the sofa in his room at the Carlyle Hotel in 1981
Located in White Plains, NY
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Photorealist black and white photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Photorealist black and white 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. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Alex Sher, Allan Tannenbaum, Jake Chessum, and Kevin Cummins. Frequently made by artists working with Pigment Print, and Archival Pigment Print and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Photorealist black and white photography, so small editions measuring 5.5 inches across are also available. Prices for black and white 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 $11 and tops out at $200,247, while the average work sells for $1,815.

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