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Realist Figurative 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
Great Harbour Cay
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A horseshoe beach on Great Harbour Cay, Bahamas, March 1973. 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer shipping to...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Hibiscus Flowers
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A woman surrounded by red hibiscus flowers in a swimming pool in Acapulco, Mexico, circa 1960. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inches...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Swimmers At Las Brisas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests in the pool at the Las Brisas Hotel, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer this v...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Hotel Las Brisas, Estate Edition, late 1960s Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons Las Brisas Slim Aarons Estate Edition Apartments and pools at the La Concha Beach Club in Las Brisas resort in Acapulco, Mexico, January 1968. Bathers gather on the decks of three turquoise pools, set against green trees and vibrant pink and red flowers. Cheery red and white fringed...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Black Pearl Trippers
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Henry B. Cabot Jr. (standing, centre) with his son Henry Bromfield Cabot III and their host Barclay (Buzzy) H Warburton III (in striped shirt) aboard the brigantine 'Black Pearl', ci...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

We Know Our Place
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Dalmatian dog lies at the feet of Mr and Mrs John M Seabrook as they pose with a pony and trap in the garden of their home, the Seabrook estate, New Jersey. 40 x 40 inches $3950 ...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Out Islands
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Sailing boats in the Out Islands of the Bahamas, April 1964. 20 x 30 inches $3000 20 x 24 inches $2500 16 x 20 inches $2150 12 x 16 inches $1800 Complimentary dealer shipping to...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Freeport Yachts
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Yachts in a marina in Freeport, in the Bahamas, April 1969. 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer shipping to ...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Villa Vera
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The bar at the Villa Vera Hotel Spa and Racquet Club in Acapulco, January 1968. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer thi...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Arturo Pani's Villa
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The swimming pool at Arturo Pani's villa, Acapulco, Mexico, January 1968. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer this vibr...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Villa Nirvana
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects ...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Villa Vera
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The bar at the Villa Vera Hotel Spa and Racquet Club in Acapulco, January 1968. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer thi...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Down To The Pool
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A group of women going down the the steps to the pool at Warren Avis' villa, 'La Barranca' at Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, April 1979. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer,...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Hotel Las Brisas, Estate Edition, late 1960s Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons Las Brisas Slim Aarons Estate Edition Apartments and pools at the La Concha Beach Club in Las Brisas resort in Acapulco, Mexico, January 1968. Bathers gather on the decks of three turquoise pools, set against green trees and vibrant pink and red flowers. Cheery red and white fringed...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Hotel Las Brisas, Estate Edition, late 1960s Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons Las Brisas Slim Aarons Estate Edition Apartments and pools at the La Concha Beach Club in Las Brisas resort in Acapulco, Mexico, January 1968. Bathers gather on the decks of three turquoise pools, set against green trees and vibrant pink and red flowers. Cheery red and white fringed...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Tres Vidas, Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests relax in the shade at the Tres Vidas private members club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Leonard Dalsemer
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Leonard Dalsemer and his family at their villa in Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, April 1974. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is p...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Tres Vidas, Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests enjoy cocktails at the pool bar of the Tres Vidas private members club in Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurre...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

La Concha Clientele
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the La Concha Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is prou...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Lunch At Merle's
Located in Los Angeles, CA
English actress Merle Oberon (1911 - 1979, second from right) and lunch guests at her villa, La Consentida, Acapulco, 1966. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. ...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Acapulco Lunch
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A long afternoon lunch at Acapulco. Among the guest are (from left to right) film star Douglas Fairbanks Junior (1909 - 2000), couturiers Oscar de la Renta, and standing behind him E...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Las Brisas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The coastline near Warren Avis' villa in Las Brisas, Acapulco, January 1978. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer this v...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Gloria Schiff
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Gloria Schiff, the twin sister of Consuelo Crespi, with her pet dog and pet birds at Lyford Cay in the Bahamas. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inches $3000 Com...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Top People's Eatery
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Journalist Lucius Beebe beside a gold place setting in the glass-roofed Garden Court of the Palace Hotel, San Francisco. His walking stick once bel...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Down To The Pool
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A group of women going down the the steps to the pool at Warren Avis' villa, 'La Barranca' at Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, April 1979. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer,...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Oberon's Lunch
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1966: Film star Merle Oberon (1911 - 1979) and lunch guests at her villa, La Consentida, Acapulco. The star is second from the right facing the camera. A Wonderful Time - Slim ...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Villa Vera
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The bar at the Villa Vera Hotel Spa and Racquet Club in Acapulco, January 1968. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer thi...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Governing Couple
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Nancy Reagan and her husband film star and Governor of California, Ronald Reagan (later the 40th President of the USA) in Acapulco, mexico. Complimentary dealer shipping to your fr...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

La Concha Clientele
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the La Concha Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is prou...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Lunch At Merle's
Located in Los Angeles, CA
English actress Merle Oberon (1911 - 1979, second from right) and lunch guests at her villa, La Consentida, Acapulco, 1966. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. ...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Las Brisas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The coastline near Warren Avis' villa in Las Brisas, Acapulco, January 1978. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer this v...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Gloria Schiff
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Gloria Schiff, the twin sister of Consuelo Crespi, with her pet dog and pet birds at Lyford Cay in the Bahamas. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inches $3000 Com...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Habitation Leclerc
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Bathers walking down steps to the swimming pool at Habitation Leclerc, Haiti, January 1975. They are followed by a waiter with cocktails. Complimentary dealer shipping to your frame...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Slim Aarons 'Bahamas Signpost'
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Bahamas Signpost 1964 C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. A signpost in Nassau points the way to...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Racquet Club Pool
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Swiss bandleader and restaurateur Teddy Stauffer (1909 - 1991) with Dorothy Webb and Mrs Charles Rogers in the pool at the Villa Vera Spa & Racquet Club p...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Acapulco Pool
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Architect Arturo Pani and his wife by their swimming pool at home in Acapulco, Mexico. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to o...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Oberon's Lunch
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1966: Film star Merle Oberon (1911 - 1979) and lunch guests at her villa, La Consentida, Acapulco. The star is second from the right facing the camera. A Wonderful Time - Slim ...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Top People's Eatery
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Journalist Lucius Beebe beside a gold place setting in the glass-roofed Garden Court of the Palace Hotel, San Francisco. His walking stick once bel...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Villa Vera
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The bar at the Villa Vera Hotel Spa and Racquet Club in Acapulco, January 1968. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer thi...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

In Vogue
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vogue magazine editor Topsy Taylor, a visitor to Acapulco, circa 1966. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer this vibrant...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Commander Whitehead
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Commander Edward Whitehead (1908 - 1978), the public face of Schweppes, leans on a silver Rolls Royce at Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, April 1974. Commander Whitehead served in ...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Nirvana Quartet
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Oscar Obregon Salazar Gomez Velez Guzman y Murphy (centre, left) with Karen Murphy, Robin Goodland and Melissa Engelhardt at the Villa Nirvana hotel, Acapulco, Mexico, 1986. Compli...
Category

1980s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Racquet Club Pool
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Swiss bandleader and restaurateur Teddy Stauffer (1909 - 1991) with Dorothy Webb and Mrs Charles Rogers in the pool at the Villa Vera Spa & Racquet Club p...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Peggy Guggenheim
Located in Los Angeles, CA
September 1978: Peggy Guggenheim (1898 - 1979) in the Palazzo Venier Dei Leoni, Venice. The palace houses her private art collection, including Picasso's 'On the Beach', pictured to ...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Acapulco Pool
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Architect Arturo Pani and his wife by their swimming pool at home in Acapulco, Mexico. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to o...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Pool at Las Brisas, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
An underwater view of the pool at the Las Brisas Hotel in Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. A woman drinking from a coconut underwater in the pool at Las Brisas Hotel in Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Slim Aarons Underwater Drink Acapulco Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate Collector will receive the next number in the edition Modern printing from original transparency C-type print on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper, Crisp detail, continuous tone and brilliant color Paper weight 210gms Matte Satin Surface Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. 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. 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). * Undercurrent Projects, New York, is proud to represent Aarons' full collection of negatives and transparencies. Housed at Getty Images Hulton Archive in London, 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. #slimaarons #acapulco. Vintage scene...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Top People's Eatery
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Journalist Lucius Beebe beside a gold place setting in the glass-roofed Garden Court of the Palace Hotel, San Francisco. His walking stick once bel...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Governing Couple
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Nancy Reagan and her husband film star and Governor of California, Ronald Reagan (later the 40th President of the USA) in Acapulco, mexico. Complimentary dealer shipping to your fr...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Commander Whitehead
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Commander Edward Whitehead (1908 - 1978), the public face of Schweppes, leans on a silver Rolls Royce at Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, April 1974. Commander Whitehead served in ...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Sports Car Couple, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1955: John Bryant with his AC sports car in Kinnerton Place, London SW1, Printed Later. His passenger is Margaret McAulay. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 ...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Monocled Miss, Estate Edition (German model Renata Boeck in 1960s New York)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
German fashion model Renata Boeck (wearing a monocle) enjoying breakfast in bed at the Regency Hotel in New York, 1964. She is wearing a black monocle and a fur-lined turquoise robe as she reads the morning paper, propped up against sumptuous yellow pillows. Morning light pours through the sheer curtains...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Lunch At Merle's
Located in Los Angeles, CA
English actress Merle Oberon (1911 - 1979, second from right) and lunch guests at her villa, La Consentida, Acapulco, 1966. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. ...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Caleta Beach, Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A high angle view of Caleta Beach (aka Morning Beach) in Acapulco, Mexico, January 1961. The Hotel Boca Chica can be seen to the right. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 2...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Villa Nirvana
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects ...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, Leonard Dalsemer Villa, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Leonard Dalsemer and his family at their villa in Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, April 1974. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is p...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

We Know Our Place
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Dalmatian dog lies at the feet of Mr and Mrs John M Seabrook as they pose with a pony and trap in the garden of their home, the Seabrook estate, New Jersey. 40 x 40 inches $3950 ...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Arturo Pani's Villa
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The swimming pool at Arturo Pani's villa, Acapulco, Mexico, January 1968. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer this vibr...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Tres Vidas, Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests enjoy cocktails at the pool bar of the Tres Vidas private members club in Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurre...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Realist figurative photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Realist 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, red, pink and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Slim Aarons, Ron Tarver, Graham Nash, and Milton Rogovin. 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 figurative photography, so small editions measuring 8 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 $105 and tops out at $75,000, while the average work sells for $3,000.

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