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Modern Figurative Photography

MODERN STYLE

The first decades of the 20th century were a period of artistic upheaval, with modern art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism and Dadaism questioning centuries of traditional views of what art should be. Using abstraction, experimental forms and interdisciplinary techniques, painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and performance artists all pushed the boundaries of creative expression.

Major exhibitions, like the 1913 Armory Show in New York City — also known as the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” in which works like the radically angular Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp caused a sensation — challenged the perspective of viewers and critics and heralded the arrival of modern art in the United States. But the movement’s revolutionary spirit took shape in the 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution, which ushered in new technology and cultural conditions across the world, transformed art from something mostly commissioned by the wealthy or the church to work that responded to personal experiences. The Impressionist style emerged in 1860s France with artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas quickly painting works that captured moments of light and urban life. Around the same time in England, the Pre-Raphaelites, like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, borrowed from late medieval and early Renaissance art to imbue their art with symbolism and modern ideas of beauty.

Emerging from this disruption of the artistic status quo, modern art went further in rejecting conventions and embracing innovation. The bold legacy of leading modern artists Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and many others continues to inform visual culture today.

Find a collection of modern paintings, sculptures, prints and other fine art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Modern
Yesteryear's Wire Walker (Unidentified) – original circus photograph, 1950s

Yesteryear's Wire Walker (Unidentified) – original circus photograph, 1950s

Located in Middletown, NY

Gelatin silver print mounted on board, 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. (190 x 241 mm) from the Roland Butler Collection, Press Agent, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (1930s-1960s) Roland...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Slim Aarons, Harbour Island (Midcentury Modern Photography)
Slim Aarons, Harbour Island (Midcentury Modern Photography)

Slim Aarons, Harbour Island (Midcentury Modern Photography)

By Slim Aarons

Located in New York, NY

Harbour Island in the Bahamas, 1970 Harbour Island, 1970 Chromogenic Lambda Print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. ...

Category

1970s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Cortina d'Ampezzo Fashion
Cortina d'Ampezzo Fashion

Cortina d'Ampezzo Fashion

By Slim Aarons

Located in New York, NY

Isa Genolini and Maria Antonia in the main street of Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, March 1982. Cortina d'Ampezzo Fashion 1972 c print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 wi...

Category

1980s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Man Ray, Pablo Picasso, Picasso 1930-1935, Cahiers d'Art (after)
Man Ray, Pablo Picasso, Picasso 1930-1935, Cahiers d'Art (after)

Man Ray, Pablo Picasso, Picasso 1930-1935, Cahiers d'Art (after)

By Man Ray

Located in Southampton, NY

Lithograph on vélin paper. Stamp-signed and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the album, Picasso 1930-1935, 1936. Published and printed by Éditions des Cahiers d'Art...

Category

1930s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Lithograph

Skiing Waiters, 1955
Skiing Waiters, 1955

Skiing Waiters, 1955

By 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 carring a wine in an ice bucket and the third carrying a menu, Stowe, Ve...

Category

1960s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Flooded Mall (1934) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print

Flooded Mall (1934) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print

Located in London, GB

Flooded Mall (1934) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print (Photo by H. F. Davis/Getty Images) A man crossing a stretch of floodwater with the help of two chairs after a storm caused floodi...

Category

1930s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Black and White, Silver Gelatin

Captivated Audience by Arthur Steel
Captivated Audience by Arthur Steel

Captivated Audience by Arthur Steel

By Arthur Steel

Located in London, GB

Captivated Audience by Arthur Steel SURREY 1979 All prints are hand signed limited editions, no further prints are produced once sold. paper size - 16 x 12" / 41 x 31 cm signed a...

Category

1970s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Vintage Photo of Painting - Early 20th Century

Vintage Photo of Painting - Early 20th Century

Located in Roma, IT

Vintage Photo of Painting is a vintage photograph realized in the early 20th Century.  The photo belongs to Albumen of historical painting, photographs, meticulously captured. Good...

Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

'Keep Your Cool' 1978 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
'Keep Your Cool' 1978 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition

'Keep Your Cool' 1978 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition

By Slim Aarons

Located in London, GB

'Keep Your Cool' Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Carmen Alvarez enjoying a game of backgammon with Frank 'Brandy' Brandstetter in a swimming pool at Acapulco, 1978. Fashionable Alvarez wearing a white bikini and 'Brandy' sporting a sun hat are seated in the swimming pool playing backgammon in the heat of the Mexican sun. Typically 'Slim Poolside...

Category

1970s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Keep Your Cool - Backgammon Players Swimming Pool France
Keep Your Cool - Backgammon Players Swimming Pool France

Keep Your Cool - Backgammon Players Swimming Pool France

By Slim Aarons

Located in Brighton, GB

Keep Your Cool - Backgammon Players Swimming Pool France by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. Keep Your Cool is a Lim...

Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Color, C Print, Digital

Alas Tres, Acto Uno, Series. Male Nude  Black and White Photograph
Alas Tres, Acto Uno, Series. Male Nude  Black and White Photograph

Alas Tres, Acto Uno, Series. Male Nude Black and White Photograph

By Ricky Cohete

Located in Miami Beach, FL

Cohete's ritual with movement and the male dancer formations, inhabits his black and white theater-like habitat. Like light; always in motion. The harsh lights and shadows in the wa...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Black and White, Pigment, Archival Pigment

Slim Aarons 'Backgammon in Haiti'
Slim Aarons 'Backgammon in Haiti'

Slim Aarons 'Backgammon in Haiti'

By Slim Aarons

Located in New York, NY

Backgammon By The Pool, 1975 Chromogenic Lambda Print Estate edition of 150 Women playing backgammon while sunbathing at the Habitation Leclerc pool in Haiti, January 1975. Estate ...

Category

1960s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Dining Al Fresco On Capri'
Slim Aarons 'Dining Al Fresco On Capri'

Slim Aarons 'Dining Al Fresco On Capri'

By Slim Aarons

Located in New York, NY

Italian artist and actress Domiziana Giordano, Italian author Francesca Sanvitale (1928 - 2011), Dino Trappetti and Umberto Terrelli dining al fresco on a terrace overlooking the wat...

Category

1980s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Queen Elizabeth - Vintage Photo - 1950s

Queen Elizabeth - Vintage Photo - 1950s

Located in Roma, IT

Queen Elizabeth - Vintage Photo realized in the 1950s. Good conditions and aged.

Category

1950s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

'Derby Spectator'  Giant Oversize Limited Edition Black and White Photography

'Derby Spectator' Giant Oversize Limited Edition Black and White Photography

Located in London, GB

Derby Spectator A spectator looking through binoculars at the Derby horse races, Epsom, Surrey, June 1923. (Photo by Hulton / Getty Archive) Darkroom photograph - beautiful and H...

Category

1920s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Ormond Gigli 'Girls in the Windows'
Ormond Gigli 'Girls in the Windows'

Ormond Gigli 'Girls in the Windows'

By Ormond Gigli

Located in New York, NY

Ormond Gigli Girls in the Window, 1960 (printed later) Color coupler print 16 x 16 inches Signed, dated and numbered edition of 100 Ormond Gigli: The Visionary Behind the "Girls in...

Category

1960s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Lou Jacobs World Famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Clown

Lou Jacobs World Famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Clown

Located in Middletown, NY

Gelatin silver print mounted on board, 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (241 x 190 mm) from the Roland Butler Collection, Press Agent, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (1930s-1960s) Ro...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Palm Springs Party, 1970 - Kaufmann House Swimming Pool Palm Springs Villa
Palm Springs Party, 1970 - Kaufmann House Swimming Pool Palm Springs Villa

Palm Springs Party, 1970 - Kaufmann House Swimming Pool Palm Springs Villa

By Slim Aarons

Located in Brighton, GB

Palm Springs Party, 1970 - Kaufmann House Swimming Pool Palm Springs Villa by Slim Aarons This Portrait by Swimming Pool at Kaufmann House is a sister image to the now SOLD OUT edit...

Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print, Photographic Paper, Color, Digital

Lou Jacobs Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Clown with Giraffe

Lou Jacobs Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Clown with Giraffe

Located in Middletown, NY

Gelatin silver print mounted on board, 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (241 x 190 mm) from the Roland Butler Collection, Press Agent, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (1930s-1960s) Roland...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Palm Beach Idyll, 1955 - Relaxing by Palm Trees in Palm Beach by Atlantic Ocean
Palm Beach Idyll, 1955 - Relaxing by Palm Trees in Palm Beach by Atlantic Ocean

Palm Beach Idyll, 1955 - Relaxing by Palm Trees in Palm Beach by Atlantic Ocean

By Slim Aarons

Located in Brighton, GB

Palm Beach Idyll, 1955 - Relaxing by Palm Trees in Palm Beach by Atlantic Ocean by Slim Aarons 16 x 16" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. ...

Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print, Photographic Paper, Color, Digital

Xie Kitchin as Dane - Vintage b/w Photograph by Lewis Carroll - 1873
Xie Kitchin as Dane - Vintage b/w Photograph by Lewis Carroll - 1873

Xie Kitchin as Dane - Vintage b/w Photograph by Lewis Carroll - 1873

By Lewis Carroll

Located in Roma, IT

Xie Kitchin as Dane is an original vintage photograph realized in 1873 by Lewis Carroll (Daresbury, January 27, 1832 - Guildford, January 14, 1898). Original albumen print on postcard; dimensions: 14 x 10 cm. N° 2132 "The Dane manuscript" was written by the author in pencil on the back. Provenance: Jeffrey Stern Bookseller York UK. Certificate of Athenticity: provided by the Original Gallery. Framed in a coeval frame. Mint conditions. Lewis Carroll (Daresbury, January 27, 1832 - Guildford, January 14, 1898) in 1873. This work depicts the figure of Xie (Alexandra) Kitchin as "Dane", a standing children with an elegant dress and headgear. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English writer of children's fiction, notably Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass. He was noted for his facility with word play, logic, and fantasy. The poems "Jabberwocky" and The Hunting of the Snark are classified in the genre of literary nonsense. He was also a mathematician, photographer, inventor, and Anglican deacon. Carroll came from a family of high-church Anglicans, and developed a long relationship with Christ Church, Oxford, where he lived for most of his life as a scholar and teacher. Alice Liddell, daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, Henry Liddell, is widely identified as the original for Alice in Wonderland, though Carroll always denied this. Scholars are divided about whether his relationship with children included an erotic component. In 1982, a memorial stone...

Category

1870s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

'Skiing In Vail'  *newly added* SLIM AARONS ESTATE Print

'Skiing In Vail' *newly added* SLIM AARONS ESTATE Print

By Slim Aarons

Located in London, GB

'Skiing In Vail' SLIM AARONS ESTATE Print Gorgeous print measuring a Large 20x20" inches / 51 x 51 cm (printed on 20x24" paper size.) A beautiful and classic Slim Aarons C-type p...

Category

1970s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Ambone Cosmatesco Cathedral - Vintage Photo - Early 20th century

Ambone Cosmatesco Cathedral - Vintage Photo - Early 20th century

Located in Roma, IT

Ambone Cosmatesco Cathedral-  Vintage Photo is a black and white photograph realized in the early 20th century by Alinari. Good conditions, aged with foxing.

Category

Early 20th Century Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

'Beach Babe Grace' Kelly On Set

'Beach Babe Grace' Kelly On Set

Located in London, GB

'Beach Babe Kelly Grace' Grace Kelly on the set of To Catch A Thief, 1955. (Photo: AKG) mint condition Archival pigment print Measuring 12 x 16 inches...

Category

1950s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Flooded Mall London

Flooded Mall London

Located in London, GB

A man crossing a stretch of floodwater with the help of two chairs after a storm caused flooding in the Mall, London. (Photo by H. F. Davis/Getty Images Archive London England) Pa...

Category

1930s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

A French Young Model - Photo by Gunnar Larsen - 1970s

A French Young Model - Photo by Gunnar Larsen - 1970s

Located in Roma, IT

A French young model is a black and white vintage photo, realized in 1970s, by the photographer Gunnar Larsen.  Good conditions and aged. It belongs to a historical and nostalgic a...

Category

1970s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Elephant Long Mount Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

Elephant Long Mount Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

Located in Middletown, NY

Gelatin silver print mounted on board, 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. (190 x 241 mm) from the Roland Butler Collection, Press Agent, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (1930s-1960s) Roland...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Old days Photo - Fountain - Vintage Photo - Mid-20th Century

Old days Photo - Fountain - Vintage Photo - Mid-20th Century

Located in Roma, IT

Old days Photo - Fountain is a black and white vintage photo, realized in the mid-20th century. Good conditions and aged. It belongs to a historical and Nostalgic album including h...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Women Working at Italtel -New Technologies - 1970s

Women Working at Italtel -New Technologies - 1970s

Located in Roma, IT

Women Working Italtel -New Technologies in the 1970s is a vintage black and white photograph realized in the 1970s in Italy Good conditions an aged.

Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

'Catherine Wilke' Capri  (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
'Catherine Wilke' Capri  (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)

'Catherine Wilke' Capri (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)

By Slim Aarons

Located in London, GB

'Catherine Wilke' Catherine Wilke joins the topless sunbathers on the island of Capri, 1980. Gorgeous print measuring a large 30 x 20 inches / ca 76 x 51 cm's. Estate Stamped C...

Category

1980s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Domino Players, Lawn, TX - Cowboys, Western, Bar, Texas, Game
Domino Players, Lawn, TX - Cowboys, Western, Bar, Texas, Game

Domino Players, Lawn, TX - Cowboys, Western, Bar, Texas, Game

By Chris Regas

Located in Denton, TX

Domino Players, Lawn, TX by Chris Regas is a black and white gelatin silver print of four cowboys seated at a table, playing dominos. Gelatin Silver Print 10.5 x 9 in. Signed on pr...

Category

1970s Modern Figurative Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Modern figurative photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Modern 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 blue, purple, orange, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Slim Aarons, Mark Shaw, Alain Le Garsmeur, and Terry O'Neill. Frequently made by artists working with Digital Print, 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 Modern figurative photography, so small editions measuring 0.79 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 $22 and tops out at $115,000, while the average work sells for $1,800.