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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
Marisa Berenson, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress Marisa Berenson sunbathing in Capri, 1968. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Patrick Lichfield, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
September 1968: Patrick, Earl of Lichfield, with a friend in Capri, Italy. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Fontana di Trevi, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Trevi Fountain in Rome, September 1978. The Roman god Nepture stands in the central niche, framed by the facade of the Palazzo Poli. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of ...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Fontana di Trevi, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Trevi Fountain in Rome, September 1978. The Roman god Nepture stands in the central niche, framed by the facade of the Palazzo Poli. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of ...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Fontana di Trevi, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Trevi Fountain in Rome, September 1978. The Roman god Nepture stands in the central niche, framed by the facade of the Palazzo Poli. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of ...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Marisa Berenson, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress Marisa Berenson sunbathing in Capri, 1968. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Marisa Berenson, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress Marisa Berenson sunbathing in Capri, 1968. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Marisa Berenson, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress Marisa Berenson sunbathing in Capri, 1968. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Cortina d'Ampezzo, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A chairlift up the mountain in Cortina d'Ampezzo, February 1962. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Col...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

David Bailey, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
September 1968: English photographer David Bailey on the Italian island of Capri. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Lord Lichfield, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
British photographer Lord Lichfield holding a Hasselblad camera. On his arm is Marina Lante della Rovere, to the left is Ines Torlonia, and reclining is...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

David Bailey, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
September 1968: English photographer David Bailey on the Italian island of Capri. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

David Bailey, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
September 1968: English photographer David Bailey on the Italian island of Capri. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

San Vicenzo, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1984, Donna Stefanella Vanni Calvello di San Vicenzo in the Hall of Mirrors at her family's palazzo in Palermo, Sicily. The focal point of Sicilian Belle-Epoque society, this eightee...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Porto Ercole, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Boats in the harbour of Porto Ercole (Port'Ercole), Tuscany, August 1967. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Porto Ercole, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Boats in the harbour of Porto Ercole (Port'Ercole), Tuscany, August 1967. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Twice Blessed, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1960: Framed in a rustic window, member of the so called 'black aristocracy' who trace their ancestry back to the papal courts, Princess Laudomia Hercolani, wife of Prince Hercolani and daughter of Prince and Princess del Drago...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Twice Blessed, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1960: Framed in a rustic window, member of the so called 'black aristocracy' who trace their ancestry back to the papal courts, Princess Laudomia Hercolani, wife of Prince Hercolani and daughter of Prince and Princess del Drago...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Loving Look?, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
September 1968: Film star Tony Curtis (Bernard Schwartz) gazes at his third wife Leslie Allen while relaxing at the Quisisana Hotel, Capri. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Windsors In Portofino, Italy, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1950s figurative photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the Duke and Duchess of Windsor walking their dog in Portofino in 1951. This is an est...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Marisa Berenson, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress Marisa Berenson in Capri, 1968. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collector will rece...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Yachting Trip, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Selvaggia Borromeo wades ashore from her yacht during a holiday on the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, August 1967. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Num...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Prince Filippo Corsini, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Prince Filippo Corsini sits in the gardens of the Palazzo Corsini sul Prato in Florence, 1983. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Montecatini, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Marie-Louise Scio at the Tettuccio Terme in Montecatini, Italy, June 1980. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons ...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Poolside Bar, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests seen from a poolside bar at the Hotel Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole, Italy, August 1980. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped ...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Caprice On Capri, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1958: Singer and actress Caprice Chantal (right) on the Italian island of Capri. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aa...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Poolside Bar, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests seen from a poolside bar at the Hotel Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole, Italy, August 1980. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped ...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Poolside Bar, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests seen from a poolside bar at the Hotel Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole, Italy, August 1980. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped ...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Hotel Excelsior, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The beach front of the luxurious Excelsior Hotel on the Venice Lido, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons ...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Hotel Excelsior, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The beach front of the luxurious Excelsior Hotel on the Venice Lido, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons ...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Holiday In Capri, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Carla Vuccino and Bianca Volpato holiday with their friends on Capri, Italy, July 1958. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Porto Ercole, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of the Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, Italy, August 1973. Slim ...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Porto Ercole, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of the Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, Italy, August 1973. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certi...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Laudomia Pucci, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Italian fashion designer and daughter of Emilio Pucci, Laudomia Pucci, Florence, Italy, 1983. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped ...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Lucy Hamilton, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Princess Lucy Ruspoli in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, 1982. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collector w...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Lucy Hamilton, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Princess Lucy Ruspoli in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, 1982. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collector w...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Ursula Pacelli, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ursula Pacelli poses at the Venice Lido, Venice, Italy, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collect...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Ursula Pacelli, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ursula Pacelli poses at the Venice Lido, Venice, Italy, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collect...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Ursula Pacelli, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ursula Pacelli poses at the Venice Lido, Venice, Italy, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collect...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Armando Orsini, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Armando Orsini, a New York restaurateur, poses in a Tuscan olive grove, with a table displaying dishes of olives and a bottle of olive oil, Italy, in August 1975...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Belvedere Pool, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The swimming pool at the Hotel Belvedere, Amalfi, Italy, August 1984. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estat...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Belvedere Pool, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The swimming pool at the Hotel Belvedere, Amalfi, Italy, August 1984. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estat...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Massimo Family, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1960, Prince and Princess Massimo with five of their six children in their residence, Palazzo Massimo all Colonne, Rome, Italy. Slim Aarons Estate Ed...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Venice Gondolier, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Premium Rates Apply. A gondolier on the Grand Canal in Venice, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Massimo Family, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1960, Prince and Princess Massimo with five of their six children in their residence, Palazzo Massimo all Colonne, Rome, Italy. Slim Aarons Estate Ed...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Venice Gondolier, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Premium Rates Apply. A gondolier on the Grand Canal in Venice, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Natale Rusconi, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Cipriani motor launch with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore on San Giorgio Maggiore island beyond, in Venice, Italy, in September 1978. Slim Aarons ...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Natale Rusconi, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Natale Rusconi riding a Hotel Cipriani motor launch with the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore on San Giorgio Maggiore island beyond, in Venice, Italy, in September 1978. Slim Aarons ...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Smeralda Architect, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1978: Architect Jacques Couelle at the Costa Smeralda, Karim Aga Khan's development in Sardinia which Couelle designed. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticit...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Smeralda Architect, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1978: Architect Jacques Couelle at the Costa Smeralda, Karim Aga Khan's development in Sardinia which Couelle designed. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticit...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Smeralda Architect, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1978: Architect Jacques Couelle at the Costa Smeralda, Karim Aga Khan's development in Sardinia which Couelle designed. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticit...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Unghia Marina, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A group of people stand on a terrace, at the Unghia Marina on the island of Capri, Italy, in September 1989. Trees dot the side of the marina while a flagpole rises up from the edge ...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Unghia Marina, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A group of people stand on a terrace, at the Unghia Marina on the island of Capri, Italy, in September 1989. Trees dot the side of the marina while a flagpole rises up from the edge ...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Private Stage, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1960: Countess Anna Laetitia Pecci-Blunt (1885 - 1971) sits on the stage of her own private theatre in Rome. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbere...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Barone Bettino Ricasoli, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Winemaker Barone Bettino Ricasoli poses holding up a wine glass beside a table, on which stands three bottles of wine and a basket of grapes, in a vineyard in Siena, Italy, 1983. The...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Private Stage, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1960: Countess Anna Laetitia Pecci-Blunt (1885 - 1971) sits on the stage of her own private theatre in Rome. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbere...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Barone Bettino Ricasoli, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Winemaker Barone Bettino Ricasoli poses holding up a wine glass beside a table, on which stands three bottles of wine and a basket of grapes, in a vineyard in Siena, Italy, 1983. The...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Barone Bettino Ricasoli, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Winemaker Barone Bettino Ricasoli poses holding up a wine glass beside a table, on which stands three bottles of wine and a basket of grapes, in a vineyard in Siena, Italy, 1983. The...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Maccioni By His Pool, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Restaurateur Sirio Maccioni at his villa in Montecatini, Italy, July 1991. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons ...
Category

1990s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Maccioni By His Pool, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Restaurateur Sirio Maccioni at his villa in Montecatini, Italy, July 1991. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons ...
Category

1990s 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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