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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
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

Slim Aarons, Coral Beach, Bermuda
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Coral Beach, Bermuda, 1977. C print estate edition of 150 A view of Coral Beach, Bermuda, 1977. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of aut...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Crespi Family Members, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Left to right: Brando Crespi and daughter Chloe, with his sister Pilar Crespi Echavarria and her son Sebastian, at Monte Argentario Polo Club, Porto Ercole, Tuscany, Italy, September...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Scotti's Yacht
Located in New York, NY
Guests on board Italian Count Hannibal Scotti's yacht, 'Scotland Cay', Monte Carlo harbour, Monaco. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 wit...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Party on the Steps, Estate Edition, Palm Springs Poolside series
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Step into the world of 1970s elegance with this extraordinary Slim Aarons photograph. Taken in January 1970, it encapsulates the essence of vintage 1970s glamour at a pool party at N...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Capri Bay, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1958: Faraglioni Rocks on the Italian island of Capri. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collector wil...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Skiing In Vail, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A group of skiers stand in line waiting for the ski lift in Vail, Colorado, USA, 1964. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Waiting in the Shade, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A woman shelters under a parasol on a beach on the Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, 1967. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

New York Picnic, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Premium Rates Apply. A chauffeur unpacks a picnic hamper from a Rolls Royce, against the New York skyline. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Skiing at St. Moritz, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Skiers on a slope in St Moritz, Switzerland, March 1978. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collector w...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Mustique Tranquility, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Meg O'Neill, a writer for Town and Country magazine, relaxing by the infinity pool at Colin Tennant's home on the West Indies island of Mustique, February 1989. Slim Aarons Estate E...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Mustique Tranquility, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Meg O'Neill, a writer for Town and Country magazine, relaxing by the infinity pool at Colin Tennant's home on the West Indies island of Mustique, February 1989. Slim Aarons Estate E...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Holiday in Mustique, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pierre Vincent Marais and his wife Isabelle holiday with friends at Gelliceaux House, their home on the island of Mustique in the Grenadines, February 1...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Holiday in Mustique, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pierre Vincent Marais and his wife Isabelle holiday with friends at Gelliceaux House, their home on the island of Mustique in the Grenadines, February 1...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Mustique, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
March 1973: Linda Ashland relaxes in a beach hammock on the island of Mustique in the Grenadines. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stam...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Mustique, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
March 1973: Linda Ashland relaxes in a beach hammock on the island of Mustique in the Grenadines. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stam...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Tropical Mustique, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
February 1989: Pierre Vincent Marais holidays with friends on the island of Mustique in the Grenadines. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Aut...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Buckleys in Switzerland, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American author and journalist William F. Buckley Jr. and his wife Patricia take a sleigh ride from the Chateau de Rougemont in Switzerland, 1986. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certi...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Buckleys in Switzerland, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American author and journalist William F. Buckley Jr. and his wife Patricia take a sleigh ride from the Chateau de Rougemont in Switzerland, 1986. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certi...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Ice Bar in Lech, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Customers at the Ice Bar at the Hotel Krone in Lech, Austria, 1960. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate C...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Poolside Scenery, Palm Springs, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Nelda Linsk (left, in yellow), wife of art dealer Joseph Linsk with guests by the pool at the Li...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Hotel Taormina, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons' Hotel Taormina, an Estate Edition photograph, is a vintage depiction of the seaside swimming pool at the Hotel Taormina in Taormina, Sicily, August 1975...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Palm Beach Arts Festival (Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in New York, NY
The Palm Beach Arts Festival Procession, Florida, 1964. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. ...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Alpine Skiing, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Alpine Skiing, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph This late 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Skiers waiting for the c...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Gasthof Post Pool, Estate Edition)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests lounging by the indoor swimming pool of the Gasthof Post in Lech, Austria, February 1979. Slim Aarons Gasthof Post Pool Chromogenic Lambda print Printed Later Slim Aarons Est...
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

Slim Aarons 'Marbella Pool' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Laura Hawk, assistant to the Slim Aarons, relaxes by the pool at El Rincon, the von Pantz's Marbella home, September 1st, 1985. Slim Aarons Marbella Pool Chromogenic Lambda print Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate Edition Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Stamped and hand numbered by the Slim Aarons Estate. Certificate of Authenticity included. Additional sizes offered: 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 24 x 20 inches $2500 Over the course of a career lasting half a century, Slim Aarons (1916-2006) portrayed high society, aristocracy, authors, artists, business icons, the celebrated and their milieu. In doing so, he captured a golden age of wealth, privilege, beauty and leisure that occurred alongside—but quite separate from—the cultural and political backdrop of the second half of the Twentieth Century. The Slim Aarons Estate has released the limited Estate edition as a Lambda print, which is a modern c-type prints. They have chosen Lambda prints for their sharpness, clarity, colour saturation and quality, compared to archival inkjet prints. Lambda printing gives true continuous tone. Photograph is unframed Slide show includes a close-up of the Slim Aarons estate's stamp. Collector will get the next number in the edition * We are pleased to offer the entire archive of the Slim Aarons Estate, offering the official Slim Aarons Estate Edition (only offered in this edition of 150). * Internal: Vintage Marbella, Vintage Bathing...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Nicely Coiffed, France, Estate Edition, Cityscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970s urban photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a poodle entering a barber shop on a street in Deauville, Normandy, France. This is an estate sta...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Social Call' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1972—Charley Weaver at the Las Brisas resort in Acapulco, Mexico. Social Call 30 x 40 inches Estate Edition Slim Aarons Estate Edition Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate...
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

Marbella House Party, Spain, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests at a party at the home of Sebastiano Bergese in Marbella, Spain. This is an estate...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons, Estate Edition, Self Portrait with Cigarette in Capri, 1960s
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Photographer Slim Aarons (right) on board a yacht off Capri, Italy, September 1968. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc, France, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests round the swimming pool at the Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc, Antibes, France, August. Th...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Nicely Coiffed, France, Estate Edition, Cityscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970s urban photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a poodle entering a barber shop on a street in Deauville, Normandy, France. This is an estate sta...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

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

Caleta Beach, Acapulco, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a couple walking on Caleta Beach holding hands, Acapulco, Mexico, 1968. This is an esta...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Sunbathing In Burgenstock'
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Sunbathing In Burgenstock 1955 C print estate edition of 150 Lilian Hanson, sunbathing by a pool at the Brgenstock Resort in Can...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Nicely Coiffed, France, Estate Edition, Cityscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970s urban photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a poodle entering a barber shop on a street in Deauville, Normandy, France. This is an estate sta...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc, France, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests round the swimming pool at the Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc, Antibes, France, August. Th...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Snorkelling In The Shallows, Malta, Estate Edition, Aerial Waterscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s aerial landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of people snorkelling off a small boat in Malta. This is an estate stampe...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Sailing In Lyford Cay, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a crew member tending to the rigging on a yacht in Lyford Cay, Bahamas. This is an estate...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Alice In Acapulco, Mexico, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Alice Topping and Minnie Cushing (left) relaxing with friends in Acapulco, Mexico. This is...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Keep Your Cool' Midcentury Modern Photography - Backgammon
Located in New York, NY
Carmen Alvarez enjoying a game of backgammon with Frank 'Brandy' Brandstetter in a swimming pool at Acapulco. Keep Your Cool 1978 C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Skiing In Stowe, Vermont, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a young woman waiting to go on a ski run in Stowe, Vermont, USA. This is an estate stamp...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Snorkelling In Malta, Estate Edition, Aerial Waterscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s aerial landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features group of people snorkelling off a small boat in Malta. This is an estate stamped ...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Snorkelling In The Shallows, Malta, Estate Edition, Aerial Waterscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s aerial landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of people snorkelling off a small boat in Malta. This is an estate stampe...
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

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

Slim Aarons 'Catherine Wilke' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1980s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Catherine Wilke joining the topless sunbathers at the Hotel Punta Tragara on the island of Capr...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Skiing In Stowe, Vermont, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a young woman waiting to go on a ski run in Stowe, Vermont, USA. This is an estate stamp...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Marbella House Party, Spain, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests at a party at the home of Sebastiano Bergese in Marbella, Spain. This is an estate...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Snorkelling In The Shallows, Malta, Estate Edition, Aerial Waterscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s aerial landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of people snorkelling off a small boat in Malta. This is an estate stampe...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Snorkelling In Malta, Estate Edition, Aerial Waterscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s aerial landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features group of people snorkelling off a small boat in Malta. This is an estate stamped ...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Skiing in Gstaad, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features (from left to right) Christine Camerana, Caroline Stoop, and Christine Semenenko Warrender...
Category

1970s 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

Californian Party, San Francisco, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1990s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the Belgian born actress Audrey Hepburn (1929 - 1993) socialising at a party in San Francisco. This is an estate stamp...
Category

1960s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Welcoming Guests La Casinella'
Located in New York, NY
Giacorno and Stefania Montegazza welcome guests La Casinella, on Lake Como, 1983 Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of ...
Category

1980s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Marsha Gayle, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Marsha Gayle (in red stripes) and a friend relax on a deserted beach near Calabash Bay, An...
Category

1950s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Sailing In The Bahamas, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a crew member tending to the rigging on a yacht in Lyford Cay, Bahamas. This is an estate...
Category

1970s Realist Color Photography

Materials

Lambda

Skiing In Stowe, Vermont, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a young woman waiting to go on a ski run in Stowe, Vermont, USA. This is an estate stamp...
Category

1960s 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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