Realist 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.
to
101
637
573
539
501
414
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
22
2,334
308
16
3
37
457
718
704
340
41
44,249
15,164
3,121
2,806
1,328
799
605
279
216
126
117
97
43
26
1,249
734
681
1,383
680
520
493
423
341
277
274
259
223
215
198
179
174
166
164
145
121
115
112
2,162
2,120
2,120
221
156
2,256
33
14
13
10
87
2,104
2,572
90
Style: Realist
Monte Mano, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A swimmer in the seaside-style pool at architect Jacques Couëlle's home 'Monte Mano', on the Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, Italy, August 1973.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Harbour Island
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Harbour Island in the Bahamas, 1970.
30 x 40 inches
$3350
20 x 30 inches
$3000
20 x 24 inches
$2500
10 x 12 inches
$1350
Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide....
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
French Leave Hotel
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the French Leave Hotel, owned by actor Craig Kelly, at Eleuthera in The Bahamas, 1960.
40 x 40 inches
$3950
30 x 30 inches
$3350
24 x 24 inche...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Out Islands
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
Lambda
Harbour Island
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Harbour Island in the Bahamas, 1970.
30 x 40 inches
$3350
20 x 30 inches
$3000
20 x 24 inches
$2500
10 x 12 inches
$1350
Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide....
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
French Bath
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Joyce Pallardy relaxes at the Villa Macopa, the home of Mrs Andre Hammel in St Tropez, August 1977.
Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide.
Undercurrent Projects i...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
C Print
Cotton Bay
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Campbells' pool at Cotton Bay, on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas, November 1982.
20 x 24 inches
$2500
16 x 20 inches
$2150
12 x 16 inches
$1800
10 x 12 inches
$1350
Complim...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Tres Vidas, Acapulco
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
C Print
Treasure Cay
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Treasure Cay resort on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas, March 1986.
40 x 60 inches
$3950
30 x 40 inches
$3350
20 x 30 inches
$3000
10 x 12 inches
$1350
Complimentary dealer sh...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Top People's Eatery, San Francisco, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Journalist Lucius Beebe beside a gold place setting in t...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Nelda and Friends, Palm Springs, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ladies by the pool at the Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs, California, January 1970. From right to left, former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), unknown, Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art dealer Joseph Linsk, and actress Lita Baron (in white sunhat). The Linsks are the current owners of the house.
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, a history of glamour that occurred alongside—but quite separate from—the cultural and political backdrop of the second half of the Twentieth Century.
Increasingly known for his influence, Aarons's casually glamorous jetset aesthetic can be seen today in fashion, art, and celebrity photography. Recent articles credit his work with inspiring the casually flawless style of top Instagram influencers, full of sunshine and escapism.
Reference: "Dive in: how Slim Aarons art directed the poolside summer. French brand Maje are the latest label to take inspiration from Slim Aarons’ pictures of the jetset on holiday."
Slim Aarons
Nelda and...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Island Lookout
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
May 1968: Nattily dressed, W Clifford Klenk with his telescope and his wife, Hope in their Hog island house.
30 x 30 inches
$3350
24 x 24 inches
$3000
20 x 20 inches
$2500
12 x 1...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Eleuthera Pool Party
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Circa 1970, Eleuthera Pool Party, Bahamas.
40 x 40 inches
$3950
30 x 30 inches
$3350
24 x 24 inches
$3000
Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, ...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Freeport Yachts
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
Lambda
Spot The Ball
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1960: A polo match at the Myopia Hunt Club, Hamilton, Massachusetts. The club was so named because of the near-sightedness of its original members.
30 x 40 inches
$3350
20 x ...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
On the Sugarbush Slopes, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Stockbroker A Albert Sack Jr playing backgammon with Betsy Pickering on a polar bear rug at his chalet at the Sugarbush Mountain ski resort in in Warren...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Hamilton Hostess
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mrs George Davenport Aldrich and dogs on the lawn of her estate in Hamilton, Massachusetts, circa 1960.
40 x 40 inches
$3950
30 x 30 inches
$3350
24 x 24 inches
$3000
Complimenta...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Abercorns On Windermere
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
James and Alexandra Hamilton, the 5th Duke and Duchess of Abercorn holiday on Windermere Island in the Bahamas, with their children Sophia and James, April 1980.
40 x 60 inches
$395...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
French Leave Hotel
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the French Leave Hotel, owned by actor Craig Kelly, at Eleuthera in The Bahamas, 1960.
40 x 40 inches
$3950
30 x 30 inches
$3350
24 x 24 inche...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Beach Backgammon, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Backgammon on the beach at the Hotel Excelsior on the Venice Lido, Italy, 1957.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aar...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Amalfi Coast, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Windsurfing on the waters off the Amalfi Coast, Italy, in September 1978.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons E...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Courchevel, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A ski resort in Courchevel in the French Alps, circa 1970.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate
Collector...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Portofino Harbor'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Portofino
1955
C print
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Yachts moored in the Italian fishing village of Portofino...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Skiing Waitress, Vermont, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Ski 'bum' Alice Clement, a waitress and dishwasher at Stowe, Vermont when not on the slope...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Villa Nirvana
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
C Print
Lord Lichfield, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
Lambda
Habitation Leclerc
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
C Print
Ladies Of Lyford Cay
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Grace, Mrs Dauphinot, Marina Posson and Baroness Meriel de Posson in Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, April 1974.
40 x 40 inches
$3950
30 x 30 inches
$3350
24 x 24 inches
$3000
...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Ladies Of Lyford Cay
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Grace, Mrs Dauphinot, Marina Posson and Baroness Meriel de Posson in Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, April 1974.
40 x 40 inches
$3950
30 x 30 inches
$3350
24 x 24 inches
$3000
...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Stocking Island, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s aerial seascape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a high angle view of people swimming next to the ketch 'Traveler II' , Stocking Island...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Casa Las Estacas, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Gunzburg's pool at the Casa Las Estacas, in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, April 1979.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Number...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Lech Ice Bar, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A bartender mixes a drink for a customer at the Ice Bar at the Hotel Krone in Lech, Austria, 1960.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and sta...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Motorboat at Hôtel du Cap Eden-Roc, Estate Edition Photograph, Antibes, Waterski
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A motorboat, used to tow waterskiiers, moored at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on the French Riviera, August 1969. Aarons' iconic photograph depicts the legendary hotel made f...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Skiing Waiters, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Skiing Waters
Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Three skiing waiters on a ski slope, with the man in the foreground carrying a bird on a tray, the second man carrying a wine in an ice buck...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Swimmers At Las Brisas
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
C Print
Governing Couple
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
C Print
II Pellicano Hotel, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Holidaymakers relax beside the swimming pool of Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, Tuscany, August 1980.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered ...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Caleta Beach, Acapulco
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
Lambda
Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, Leonard Dalsemer Villa, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
C Print
Tres Vidas, Acapulco
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
C Print
Winter Suntans, Gstaad, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s group portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features young women enjoy a relaxing sunbathe in snowy Gstaad.
This is an estate stamped a...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Gloria Schiff
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
Lambda
La Barranca
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Bandleader Teddy Stauffer (1909 - 1991) at La Barranca, Warren Avis' villa in Acapulco, January 1971.
Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide.
Undercurrent Projects...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons Palm Beach Society (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Jim Kimberly and his wife (far left) and friends with his white sports car and white boats moored on Lake Worth. A Palm Beach socialite, Kimberly acts as Honorary Consul of Jordan. A...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Skiing In Seefeld, Austria, Estate Edition, Winter Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s winter landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of men and women go cross-country skiing in Seefeld, Austria, 1985.
This i...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Ice Bar, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Ice Bar at the Hotel Krone in the Austrian ski resort of Lech, February 1979.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim A...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Hotel Punta Tragara, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Hotel Punta Tragara on Capri, Italy, August 1974.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Hotel Las Brisas, Estate Edition, late 1960s Acapulco
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
Lambda
Habitation Leclerc
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
C Print
Arturo Pani's Villa
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
C Print
Piazza Umberto, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Aerial view of a parasols shading customers at cafes and restaurants in the Piazza Umberto, on the island of Capri, Italy, in August 1980.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate o...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Guests At Villa Nirvana
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, 1978.
Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide.
Undercurrent Projects is proud ...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
C Print
Porto Ercole, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Private boats in Porto Ercole, Tuscany, August 1980.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim A...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Swimmers At Las Brisas
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
C Print
Hotel Taormina, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
Lambda
Nirvana Quartet
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
C Print
Lake Worth
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A vibrant purple twilight sky over the Lake Worth inlet, Palm Beach, Florida, 1955
40 x 40 inches
$3950
30 x 30 inches
$3350
24 x 24 inches
$3000
Complimentary dealer shipping to...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Habitation Leclerc
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
C Print
Nirvana
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The pool at Villa Nirvana, Acapulco, Mexico. Old Acapulco can be seen across the bay.
Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide.
Undercurrent Projects is proud to off...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
C Print
$1,800
Gloria Schiff
By Slim Aarons
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 Photography
Materials
Lambda
Realist photography for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Realist 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 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, Pico Garcez, Kind of Cyan, and Massimo Listri. 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 photography, so small editions measuring 3.94 inches across are also available. Prices for 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.