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Contemporary Figurative Photography

CONTEMPORARY STYLE

Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Contemporary
Period: 1940s
Historical Photo - Beijing 1940s, Muslim Shop - Vintage photo - 1940s
Located in Roma, IT
Historical Photo - Beijing 1940s, Muslim Shop is a black and white vintage photo. It belongs to a historical album including historical moments, royal families, and political events...
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1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Old Days - Historical Photo - Vintage Photo - 1940s
Located in Roma, IT
Old Days  - Historical Photo is a vintage black and white photograph realized in the 1940s. Good conditions.
Category

1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Luchino Visconti on the Set of the Film Ossessione - Vintage Photo - 1943
Located in Roma, IT
Lucchino Visconti on the Set of the Film Ossessione is a vintage black and white photograph realized in 1943. Good conditions.
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1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Autographed Portrait of Leonardo Cortese - Vintage Photograph - 1942
Located in Roma, IT
Leonardo Cortese is a vintage photograph realized in 1942, with a signature. Good conditions.
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1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

The American Actor Humphrey Bogart - Vintage Photo - 1940s
Located in Roma, IT
The American Actor Humphrey Bogart is a black and white photograph realized in 1940s Vintage Photo depicting Humphrey Bogart on the set of one of his...
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1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Observant Father, 1949, Chicago, Vintage Silver Gelatin Print
Located in Chicago, IL
Street photography was Art's true passion. He never went anywhere without his camera so he could capture moments like this one - a priest on a Chicago street "observing" one of his parishioners. Art saw humor in everyday life catching moments that the casual observer probably would have missed. Art Shay Observant Father, 1949 vintage silver gelatin print...
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1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Young Pool Shark, Chicago 1949, Black & White Photograph, Framed, Signed
Located in Chicago, IL
“Art Shay’s photography shakes you up, sets you down gently, pats you on the head and then kicks you in the ass.” Roger Ebert “[Shay’s work] ranks with some of the greats of the 20...
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1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Boxing Great, Rocky Graciano in Locker Room After Fight, 1948
Located in Chicago, IL
Rocky Graziano was an American professional boxer who held the World Middleweight title. Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing history, often displayi...
Category

1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

George Rodger - Two Men, Photography 1942, Printed After
Located in Greenwich, CT
Two men in a bamboo house built on stilts in the Inle Lake, Shan States, Burma, 1942 All available sizes and editions: 16" x 20", Edition size 25 30"x 40", Edition size 25 40" x 60"...
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1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

George Rodger - Reconstruction, Photography 1945, Printed After
Located in Greenwich, CT
Reconstruction after the war. Winegrowers in the Village of Arganda, Spain All available sizes and editions: 16" x 20", Edition size 25 30"x 40", Edition size 25 40" x 60", Edition ...
Category

1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

George Rodger - American GI, Photography 1943, Printed After
Located in Greenwich, CT
An American GI stationed in Naples spruces himself up with the help of the locals, 1943. All available sizes and editions: 16" x 20", Edition size 25 30"x 40", Edition size 25 40" x...
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1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

George Rodger - Directing Landings, Photography 1943, Printed After
Located in Greenwich, CT
An American GI directs landings at Salerno, Italy, 1943. All available sizes and editions: 16" x 20", Edition size 25 30"x 40", Edition size 25 40" x 60", Edition size 25 This phot...
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1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

George Rodger - Tulips are growing again, Photography 1946, Printed After
Located in Greenwich, CT
Tulips are growing again in Alsmeer, documented for Life Magazine by photojournalist George Rodger, 1946. All available sizes and editions: 16" x 20", Edition size 25 30"x 40", Edit...
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1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

George Rodger - Running Home, Photography 1945, Printed After
Located in Greenwich, CT
Children run home from school in the small Spanish village of Brunete, 1945. All available sizes and editions: 16" x 20", Edition size 25 30"x 40", Edition size 25 40" x 60", Editio...
Category

1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

George Rodger - Winston Churchill with General Montgomery, 1945, Printed After
Located in Greenwich, CT
Winston Churchill with General Montgomery on the Rhine in Germany, 1945 All available sizes and editions: 16" x 20", Edition size 25 30"x 40", Edition size 25 40" x 60", Edition siz...
Category

1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

George Rodger - Bracelet Fighters, Photography 1949, Printed After
Located in Greenwich, CT
Kao-Nyaro Nuba bracelet fighters, Kordofan, Southern Sudan, 1949. All available sizes and editions: 16" x 20", Edition size 25 30"x 40", Edition size 25 40" x 60", Edition size 25 ...
Category

1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Street Transaction, 1949 Vintage Silver Gelatin Print, Signed, Matted and Framed
Located in Chicago, IL
Street Photography was a true love of Art Shay as is clearly evident in this 1949 Vintage Photo of a street transaction. The photograph is matted and framed in a simple black metal ...
Category

1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Related Items
Mercer Street, 1992
Located in Hudson, NY
Listing is for UNFRAMED print. Inquire within for framing. Edition of 1 of 10 If the exhibition piece is sold or the customer orders a different print size, the photograph is produced upon purchase. Please allow two weeks for production. Shipping time depends on method of shipping. Price is subject to availability. The Robin Rice Gallery reserves the right to adjust this price depending on the current edition of the photograph This exhibition is a visual dance of contradictions. Whimsical and sophisticated. Stylistic and simple. Studied and carefree. That’s what emerges when you take a photojournalist by study, fashion photographer by trade and fine artist by instinct and leave him alone with his camera and a muse. Burris’ work is influenced by his early career spent working with fashion photographer Bill King and inspired by the decisive moment made known by the Henri Cartier Bresson. He defies the confines of either discipline. It is not fashion photography, which is by nature produced, but rather purely spontaneous. Todd left the world of fashion photography after building his own career in Milan and New York to go to LA and find his niche. He embraced his fascination with flea markets and penchant for discarded items that wouldn’t ever be chosen because they were trendy but because they were interesting. Burris packed his 1979 white Pontiac station wagon with his finds. When he came upon a stage that fit the props, he called on his muses and created a visual story on the spur of a moment. The collection of black and white images conveys a sense of effervescence and Élan. It includes photographs from Burris' time in Los Angeles as well as earlier experimental work in Milan and New York City. Anything but superficial, the invitational image, "Paget #1" challenges the traditional symmetry of beauty. We see a dramatic close up of a woman’s face, her intense eyes framed by the stark contrast between her porcelain skin and jet black hair. The lighting is such that her face is divided by shadow, one half dark and mysterious, the other half light and classically beautiful. The effect is deeply engaging. The viewer doesn’t know when the photo was taken but you want to know more. In “Mercer Street...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Roger Jackson 'Park Stones" Rolling Stones Limited Edition Photograph 16x12
Located in San Rafael, CA
January 11, 1967: Top British pop group the Rolling Stones taking a stroll through London's Green Park, from left to right, Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Brian Jones (1942 ...
Category

1960s Contemporary Figurative Photography

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Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

#114, 1970s Nightclubs of Chicago South Side - Rare Vintage Silver Gelatin Print
Located in London, GB
"Abramson comes much closer to recording the sound of these clubs than we would have any right to expect from a photographer." - Nick Hornby (London, 2009), Light On the South Side, ...
Category

1970s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Stripper Crazy Horse, Paris France, Black and White Photography Night Life 1950s
Located in New york, NY
American photographer Burt Glinn's Stripper, Crazy Horse Saloon, Paris, 1956, is a 16" x 20" gelatin silver print, signed and authenticated by the Glinn estate. This photo offers an ...
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1950s Contemporary Figurative Photography

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Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper

In white, blue, red - Contemporary photography, Limited edition, Polish art
Located in Warsaw, PL
The Gallery of Katarzyna Napiorkowska is one of the first commercial art galleries in Poland. For over 30 years, the gallery has been presenting contemporary paintings, graphics, dra...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Photography

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Photographic Paper, Digital

"Bruce 'The Boss' Springsteen, New York City, 1976" Allan Tannenbaum photograph
Located in Boca Raton, FL
"Bruce 'The Boss' Springsteen, New York City, 1976" photograph by Allan Tannennbaum. This framed photograph was originally displayed in a guest room at the original Hard Rock Hotel ...
Category

1970s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

"The Beatles at Candlestick Park" 1966 framed photograph by Jim Marshall
Located in Boca Raton, FL
"The Beatles at Candlestick Park" photograph by Jim Marshall depicts George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and John Lennon at their final concert at Candlestick Park in San Fr...
Category

1960s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Oblivion. Hidden identity - Contemporary black & white photography, Figurative
Located in Warsaw, PL
Signed, numbered out of 10 JOANNA CHUDY Graduated from Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow in 2002, National Film School in Łódź in 2009 and Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw where she achi...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Digital, Photographic Paper

Henry watching Athena Dance II - 21st Century, Contemporary, Ryan Gosling
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Henry watching Athena Dance (Stay) - 2006 With Ryan Gosling. 48x46cm, Edition 1/10. Archival C-Print, printed on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper, matte surface, based on a Polaroid. ...
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Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid

"Untitled (Boys on Shoulders)", New York, NY, 1995
Located in Hudson, NY
This photograph is printed on Japanese Paper. The price is for an unframed photograph. The Robin Rice Gallery is pleased to announce, 25 Years of Polaroids, a new exhibit by Jose ...
Category

1990s Contemporary Figurative Photography

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Photographic Paper

Murray Garrett 'Frank Sinatra' Limited Edition Photograph by Getty, 16x20
Located in San Rafael, CA
American singer and actor Frank Sinatra (1915 - 1998) gestures with his hands while singing into a microphone during a recording session in a studio at Capitol Records, early 1950s. ...
Category

1950s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Silver Gelatin

Hung Out to Dry_Brooke Shaden_Photo on Velvet Fine Art Paper, ed 3/15_Figurative
Located in 326 N Coast Hwy. | Laguna Beach, CA
BROOKE SHADEN Hung Out to Dry, 2021 Photo on Velvet Fine Art Paper 10 × 10 in. Image 18.25 x 18.25 in. Framed Edition 3 of 15 Channeling the light and darkness inherent in humanity...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Previously Available Items
Rangoon, Burma, vintage gelatin silver print, stamped
Located in New york, NY
Rangoon, Burma, 1948 by legendary French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson is a vintage gelatin silver print, stamped verso. Burmese girl...
Category

1940s Contemporary Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Contemporary figurative photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Contemporary figurative 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 figurative photography created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of green, yellow, orange, blue and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Tyler Shields, Brian Finke, Stefanie Schneider, and David Drebin. Frequently made by artists working with Polaroid, and 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 Contemporary figurative photography, so small editions measuring 3.04 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative 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 $110 and tops out at $40,000, while the average work sells for $701.

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