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Realist Color 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
Slim Aarons 'Beauty and the Beast'
Located in New York, NY
Lady Daphne Cameron (Mrs George Cameron) on a tiger skin rug in the trophy room at socialite Laddie Sanford's home in Palm Beach, Florida. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition o...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Julie London (Aarons Estate Print)
Located in New York, NY
1957: Singer Julie London enjoying breakfast in bed at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authe...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Skiing Waiters'
Located in New York, NY
Three skiing waiters on a ski slope, with the man in the foreground carrying a bird on a tray, the second man carrying a wine in an ice bucket and the third carrying a menu, circa 19...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Saint-Tropez Boucherie' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in New York, NY
A boucherie or butcher's shop on Rue des Commercants in Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera, 1971. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity f...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Juvenile American Cow Found in Backyard (Corvus Brachyrhrnchos)
Located in Columbia, MO
Composing non-living objects is completely different- especially when it comes to birds. I know it can maybe seem macabre at first, but I love photographing both living and non-livin...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Color Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Barn Owl (Tyto alba) Bating
Located in Columbia, MO
Composing non-living objects is completely different- especially when it comes to birds. I know it can maybe seem macabre at first, but I love photographing both living and non-livin...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Color Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Slim Aarons 'Westin Excelsior, Venice'
Located in New York, NY
Portofino 1957 C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. The Westin Excelsior Hotel on the Lido in Venice, 1957. (...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Slim Aarons 'Lido Life, Venice'
Located in New York, NY
Lido Life, Venice 1957 C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. A waiter serves fruit to...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Joan Collins Relaxes - (Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in New York, NY
Film star Joan Collins relaxes with her pink poodle on her pink bed. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Slim Aaron...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons, Roca Llisa
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Roca Llisa, 1978 (printed later) C print estate edition of 150 Fosca, Vera, and Fiona Bertran holidaying in Roca Llisa, on the island of Ibiza, Spain, 1978. Estate stamp...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Lake Tahoe Ladies'
Located in New York, NY
Caption: A group of young women in their bathing suits on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, 1959. Slim Aarons worked mainly for society publications, taking pictures of the rich and f...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons, Sunbathers at Il Canille
Located in New York, NY
Sunbathers lounge on the white-painted terrace of Il Canille, built into the rocks of Pizzolungo overlooking the waters off the coast of the island of Capri, Italy, in August, 1980. ...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Hotel Taormina Pool'
Located in New York, NY
The seaside swimming pool at the Hotel Taormina, Sicily, August 1975. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Slim Aaro...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Sarah Marson Williams, Barbados, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Sarah Marson Williams enjoying a cocktail on the beach at the Hilton Hotel, Needhams Point,...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Julie London (Aarons Estate Print)
Located in New York, NY
Julie London 1957 C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. 1957: Singer Julie London enjoying breakfast in bed at t...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Zephyria I, Estate Edition. Monte Carlo French Riviera Speedboat Seascape
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Monte Carlo, 1970: This classic landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a vintage wooden and red painted speedboat carrying holidaygoers in the ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Untitled #3569 from "Leaves" series: nature still-life leaf photograph w/ gold
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This is an archival pigment photograph by artist Paul Cava depicting a highly detailed autumn leaf in a minimalist arrangement on a textured background. It is printed on Hahnemuhle P...
Category

2010s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Untitled #3618 from "Leaves" series: nature still-life leaf photograph w/ orange
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This is an archival pigment photograph by artist Paul Cava depicting a highly detailed autumn leaf in a minimalist arrangement on a textured background. It is printed on Hahnemuhle P...
Category

2010s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Untitled #3484 from "Leaves" series: nature still-life leaf photograph w/ green
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This is an archival pigment photograph by artist Paul Cava depicting a highly detailed autumn leaf in a minimalist arrangement on a textured background. It is printed on Hahnemuhle P...
Category

2010s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Untitled #3440 from "Leaves" series: nature still-life leaf photograph w/ red
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This is an archival pigment photograph by artist Paul Cava depicting a highly detailed autumn leaf in a minimalist arrangement on a textured background. It is printed on Hahnemuhle P...
Category

2010s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Untitled #1940 from "Leaves" series: nature still-life leaf photograph w/ green
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This is an archival pigment photograph by artist Paul Cava depicting a highly detailed autumn leaf in a minimalist arrangement on a textured background. It is printed on Hahnemuhle P...
Category

2010s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Slim Aarons 'Verbier Skier'
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Verbier Skier 1964 C print Estate edition of 150 A blonde skier on the slopes at Verbier, February 1964. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certific...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Joan Collins Relaxes - (Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in New York, NY
Film star Joan Collins relaxes with her pink poodle on her pink bed. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Slim Aaron...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Hotel Taormina Pool
Located in New York, NY
The seaside swimming pool at the Hotel Taormina, Sicily, August 1975. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Slim Aaro...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Vuccino and Rava in Capri' (Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in New York, NY
Vuccino and Rava in Capri 1958 C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Carla Vuccino, wearing a swimming cap, and...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Droulers And Daughters (Estate Edition)
Located in New York, NY
Roberta Droulers sitting with her daughters, Nathalie and Virginie, in the lobby of the Villa D'Este on Lake Como, Tivoli, near Rome, Italy, circa 1984. Estate stamped and hand numb...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Porto Ercole'
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Porto Ercole 1980 C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. A jetty juts out from a rocky shoreline in...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Minny Crushing Surfing'
Located in New York, NY
American society girl Minnie Cushing carries her surfboard under her arm, September 1965. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the e...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Fabrizia Lanza di Mazzarino (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in New York, NY
Donna Fabrizia Lanza di Mazzarino relaxing in a boat on a small lake in the grounds of the Villa Tasca d'Almerita in Sicily, Italy, in October 1984. Printed Later. Estate stamped an...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons, El Venero
Located in New York, NY
El Venero, the Moorish villa of Hector and Chico de Ayala in Marbella, Spain, 1971. Slim Aarons worked mainly for society publications, taking pictures of t...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Skiing Waiters'
Located in New York, NY
Three skiing waiters on a ski slope, with the man in the foreground carrying a bird on a tray, the second man carrying a wine in an ice bucket and the third carrying a menu, circa 19...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Portofino Villa (Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in New York, NY
Guests by the pool at Klaus Pudel's villa, the Casa Montefino, overlooking Portofino harbour, Portofino, Italy, August 1977. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with c...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Portofino Harbor'
Located in New York, NY
Portofino 1955 C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Yachts moored in the Italian fishing village of Portofino...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Cuba 159, Limited Edition, Color Photograph, Cuba, Travel, Graffiti
Located in Riverdale, NY
John Conn, Cuba 159, limited edition Color Photograph taken in Cuba in 2016. It is a photograph, printed on 13x19 archival paper. Signed and Numbered. This is currently unframed. Edition of 15. This gold toned photograph is filled with a vintage car, people and the Cuban cityscape and buildings. John Conn got his start as a Marine Combat photographer, and later earned his BFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York. As a freelance photographer and writer, he has captured a range of subjects photojournalism delving into political and social issues, nature and landscapes, architecture, and underwater images. His work has appeared in: New York Times Sunday Magazine; Time/Life Books; IMAX Films; Village Voice; Human Rights Magazine; Shutterbug Magazine; Hasseleblad Magazine; American Photographer; RangeFinder Magazine; LensWork Magazine; Ocean Realm; Dive Travel Magazine; Picture Magazine; Discover Diving Magazine; Picture Magazine; Popular Photography; Nikon World; Black & White Photography; B&W Magazine; Studio Photography, to name a few. Starting in 1970, John travelled to South Africa capturing images of the people and social divide of Aparteid. His iconic Subway series shot between 1970 and 1982 in New York City is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of the City of New York, The New York Historical Society and Hoboken Historical Museum. In 2010, John Conn spent 45 days in Antarctica and Patagonia, traveling and hiking to capture the land and seascapes. He spent over 20 days journeying over 3,200 nautical miles in Antarctica before heading to Patagonia for the second part of his expedition. In 2014 John began a series of treks across the US photographing Americans, similar to what Robert Frank did in the late 1950’s. In 2015/16, he spent a month in Cuba photographing...
Category

2010s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Slim Aarons 'Westin Excelsior, Venice'
Located in New York, NY
Portofino 1955 C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Yachts moored in the Italian fishing village of Portofino...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Slim Aarons, Skiing In Seefeld
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Skiing In Seefeld, 1985 C print estate edition of 150 A group of men and women go cross-country skiing in Seefeld, Austria, 1985. Estate stamped and hand numbered editi...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Hotel De Paris In Monaco (Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in New York, NY
The entrance to the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, Monaco, June 1977. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity ...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons, Poolside Party (Estate Edition)
Located in New York, NY
Guests by the pool at Nelda Linsk's desert house in Palm Springs, January 1970. The house was designed by Richard Neutra for Edgar Kaufman Estate stamped and hand numbered edition ...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Pop and Society: Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, and Desmond Guinness
Located in New York, NY
1968: From left to right; singer Marianne Faithfull, the Honorable Desmond Guinness and Mick Jagger (of the Rolling Stones) sit on a sofa under a large gilt framed painting of a woma...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Pool At Porto Rotondo'
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Pool At Porto Rotondo 1982 C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. A sw...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Tania Mallet'
Located in New York, NY
1961: Actress Tania Mallet relaxes on a red-curtained four poster in Eleuthera, in the Bahamas. She is best known for her role as the unfortunate Tilly Ma...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Skiing Waiters (Slim Aarons)
Located in New York, NY
Three skiing waiters on a ski slope, with the man in the foreground carrying a bird on a tray, the second man carrying a wine in an ice bucket and the third carrying a menu, circa 19...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons, Roca Llisa
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Roca Llisa, 1978 (printed later) C print estate edition of 150 Fosca, Vera, and Fiona Bertran holidaying in Roca Llisa, on the island of Ibiza, Spain, 1978. Estate stamp...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Beauty and the Beast'
Located in New York, NY
Lady Daphne Cameron (Mrs George Cameron) on a tiger skin rug in the trophy room at socialite Laddie Sanford's home in Palm Beach, Florida. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition o...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Tyrolean Churches, Tyrol, Estate Edition, Winter Landscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1990 winter landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Andreas Kirche and Liebfrauen Kirche in Kitzbuhel in the Austrian Tyrol, 1990. This is ...
Category

1990s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Tyrolean Churches, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1990 winter landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Andreas Kirche and Liebfrauen Kirche in Kitzbuhel in the Austrian Tyrol, 1990. This is ...
Category

1990s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

El Dorado Beach, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
El Dorado Beach on the south side of Lake Tahoe in El Dorado County, California, circa 1959. Slim Aarons Mittersill Castle, Slim Aarons Estate Edition Chromogenic Lambda print 1959,...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

El Dorado Beach, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
El Dorado Beach on the south side of Lake Tahoe in El Dorado County, California, circa 1959. Slim Aarons Mittersill Castle, Slim Aarons Estate Edition Chromogenic Lambda print 1959,...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Tania Mallet'
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Tania Mallet 1961 C print Estate signature stamped edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity. 1961: Actress Tania Mallet relaxes on a ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Boating In Antigua'
Located in New York, NY
American actor Hugh O'Brian (left) hoists the sail on a dinghy, Antigua, West Indies, 1961. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda, Acrylic Polymer

Skiing At Courchevel, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Skiers on the slopes at Courchevel, France, 1963. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Modern estate edit...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Paradise Island, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Versailles Gardens and the French Cloister at the Ocean Club on Paradise Island, opposite Nassau on the Bahamas, May 1968. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity in...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons, Fabrizia Lanza di Mazzarino (estate)
Located in New York, NY
Donna Fabrizia Lanza di Mazzarino relaxing in a boat on a small lake in the grounds of the Villa Tasca d'Almerita in Sicily, Italy, in October 1984. Estate stamped and hand numbered...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Borneo 7: urban city architecture landscape in dark night, Southeast Asia
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This photograph is from among Vincent Dixon's series created in Borneo, Myanmar, Paris, Pushkar, Los Angeles, New York, London, Miami, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid,...
Category

2010s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Borneo 3: photograph of urban city architecture with graffiti, Southeast Asia
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This photograph is from among Vincent Dixon's series created in Borneo, Myanmar, Paris, Pushkar, Los Angeles, New York, London, Miami, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid,...
Category

2010s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Borneo 2: photograph of urban city architecture landscape, Southeast Asia
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This photograph is from among Vincent Dixon's series created in Borneo, Myanmar, Paris, Pushkar, Los Angeles, New York, London, Miami, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid,...
Category

2010s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment

Joan Collins Relaxes, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Film star Joan Collins relaxes with her pink poodle on her pink bed. Slim Aarons Joan Collins Relaxes, Estate Edition Chromogenic Lambda print 1955, Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Joan Collins Relaxes, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Film star Joan Collins relaxes with her pink poodle on her pink bed. Slim Aarons Joan Collins Relaxes, Estate Edition Chromogenic Lambda print 1955, Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Pebble Beach Hunt, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Riders gather in the courtyard of Richard Collins' House for the stirrup cup libation, before the start of the Pebble Beach Hunt of English and American foxhounds, November 1976. The...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Pink Accessory, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1955: Film star Joan Collins in a pink and white bedroom with an accessory pink poodle. Slim Aarons Pink Accessory, Estate Edition Chromogenic Lambda print 1955, Printed Later...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Realist color photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Realist color 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 color photography 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, pink, orange and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Slim Aarons, Massimo Listri, Sean Scully, and John Conn. Frequently made by artists working with Digital Print, and Lambda 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 Realist color photography, so small editions measuring 8.5 inches across are also available. Prices for color 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 $200 and tops out at $28,500, while the average work sells for $3,350.

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