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.
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Style: Realist
Positano Beach, Italy, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features an elevated view looking down on sunbathers and parasols on the beach at La Scogliera bea...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Bettina Graziani, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Bettina Graziani relaxes in a hammock on the Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, 1964.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Number...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Bettina Graziani, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Bettina Graziani relaxes in a hammock on the Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, 1964.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Number...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
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
Positano Beach, Italy, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features an elevated view looking down on sunbathers and parasols on the beach at La Scogliera bea...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Positano Beach, Italy, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features an elevated view looking down on sunbathers and parasols on the beach at La Scogliera bea...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
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
Olimpia Hruska, Italy, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Swedish model Olimpia Hruska, wearing a bikini, poses against a rock on the Costa Smeralda...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Olimpia Hruska, Italy, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Swedish model Olimpia Hruska, wearing a bikini, poses against a rock on the Costa Smeralda...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Olimpia Hruska, Italy, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Swedish model Olimpia Hruska, wearing a bikini, poses against a rock on the Costa Smeralda...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
The Costa-Delords, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Delfina Costa-Delord and Alessia Costa-Delord posing for a portrait, each wearing a hat, in Asolo, Italy, in September 1988.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Conca dei Marini, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A busy bay in Conca dei Marini, on the Amalfi coast in Italy, August 1984.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
The Costa-Delords, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Delfina Costa-Delord and Alessia Costa-Delord posing for a portrait, each wearing a hat, in Asolo, Italy, in September 1988.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Conca dei Marini, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A busy bay in Conca dei Marini, on the Amalfi coast in Italy, August 1984.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
The Costa-Delords, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Delfina Costa-Delord and Alessia Costa-Delord posing for a portrait, each wearing a hat, in Asolo, Italy, in September 1988.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Gloria Schiff And Consuelo Crespi, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pilar Crespi and her sister, Italian countess Consuelo Crespi (1928-2010) in Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, Italy, in August 1968.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticit...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Conca dei Marini, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A bay in Conca dei Marini, on the Amalfi coast in Italy, August 1984.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and ...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Conca dei Marini, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A bay in Conca dei Marini, on the Amalfi coast in Italy, August 1984.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and ...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Pope Paul VI, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pope Paul VI (1897-1978) delivering a sermon during his visit to Venice, Italy, in October 1972.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity in...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Pope Paul VI, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pope Paul VI (1897-1978) delivering a sermon during his visit to Venice, Italy, in October 1972.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity in...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Lili Livi, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Lili Livi poses by Lake Como, Italy, circa 1960. Lili is the daughter Madame Camilo Livi.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by t...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Lili Livi, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Lili Livi poses by Lake Como, Italy, circa 1960. Lili is the daughter Madame Camilo Livi.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by t...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Lili Livi, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Lili Livi poses by Lake Como, Italy, circa 1960. Lili is the daughter Madame Camilo Livi.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by t...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Porto Ercole, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Henry R Kravis, Diana Beattie, Francesca Stanfill, Peter Tufo, Carolyne Roehm, Dick Beattie and Marie-Louise Scio at the Scio family villa in Porto Ercole, September 1986.
Slim Aar...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Porto Ercole, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Henry R Kravis, Diana Beattie, Francesca Stanfill, Peter Tufo, Carolyne Roehm, Dick Beattie and Marie-Louise Scio at the Scio family villa in Porto Ercole...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Earl Of Lichfield, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Photographer Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (1939-2005) holding a Hasselblad camera while posing with Ines Torlonia, Marina Lante della Rovere and Signor...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Edna Lewis, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A restaurant in Positano, Italy, 1958. One of the woman is art director Edna Lewis.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Sli...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Walking On Capri, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Rodney Pleasants, Alessandro Spicaglia, Pauline Cappa, Don C. Napolitano and Luigi Boscaln walking on the island of Capri, Italy, in August 1980.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certif...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Edna Lewis, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A restaurant in Positano, Italy, 1958. One of the woman is art director Edna Lewis.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Sli...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Edna Lewis, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A restaurant in Positano, Italy, 1958. One of the woman is art director Edna Lewis.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Sli...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
View looking down the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy, 1960. Opened in 1890, the covered arcade is on the northern side of ...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
View looking down the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy, 1960. Opened in 1890, the covered arcade is on the northern side of ...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Pierro And Ludovico Antinori, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pierro Antinori and Ludovico Antinori posing by a well, on which rests a bottle of white wine and two glasses, in Florence, Italy, in June 1985.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certifi...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Pierro And Ludovico Antinori, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pierro Antinori and Ludovico Antinori posing by a well, on which rests a bottle of white wine and two glasses, in Florence, Italy, in June 1985.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certifi...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Pierro And Ludovico Antinori, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pierro Antinori and Ludovico Antinori posing by a well, on which rests a bottle of white wine and two glasses, in Florence, Italy, in June 1985.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certifi...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Britt Ekland, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Film star Britt Ekland (Britt-Marie Eklund) in Porto Ercole, Italy.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stampe...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Bettina Graziani, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
French fashion model Bettina Graziani (Simone Micheline Bodin) (1925 - 2015) adjusting the sail of a boat, Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, Italy, 1964.
Sl...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Waiters making crepes suzettes at a restaurant in Cortina d'Ampezzo, February 1962.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Sli...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Bettina Graziani, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
French fashion model Bettina Graziani (Simone Micheline Bodin) (1925 - 2015) adjusting the sail of a boat, Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, Italy, 1964.
Sl...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Capri Hotel, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Richard Bolliger, owner of Bolliger Transport Worldwide, holidaying on Capri, September 1989.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped ...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Marisa Berenson, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress Marisa Berenson sunbathing in Capri, 1968.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by ...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Patrick Lichfield, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
September 1968: Patrick, Earl of Lichfield, with a friend in Capri, Italy.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons ...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Fontana di Trevi, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Trevi Fountain in Rome, September 1978. The Roman god Nepture stands in the central niche, framed by the facade of the Palazzo Poli.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of ...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Marisa Berenson, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress Marisa Berenson sunbathing in Capri, 1968.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by ...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Marisa Berenson, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress Marisa Berenson sunbathing in Capri, 1968.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by ...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Fontana di Trevi, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Trevi Fountain in Rome, September 1978. The Roman god Nepture stands in the central niche, framed by the facade of the Palazzo Poli.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of ...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A chairlift up the mountain in Cortina d'Ampezzo, February 1962.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate
Col...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
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
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
David Bailey, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
September 1968: English photographer David Bailey on the Italian island of Capri.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim ...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
David Bailey, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
September 1968: English photographer David Bailey on the Italian island of Capri.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim ...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Porto Ercole, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Boats in the harbour of Porto Ercole (Port'Ercole), Tuscany, August 1967.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and ...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Porto Ercole, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Boats in the harbour of Porto Ercole (Port'Ercole), Tuscany, August 1967.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and ...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Twice Blessed, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1960: Framed in a rustic window, member of the so called 'black aristocracy' who trace their ancestry back to the papal courts, Princess Laudomia Hercolani, wife of Prince Hercolani and daughter of Prince and Princess del Drago...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Twice Blessed, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1960: Framed in a rustic window, member of the so called 'black aristocracy' who trace their ancestry back to the papal courts, Princess Laudomia Hercolani, wife of Prince Hercolani and daughter of Prince and Princess del Drago...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Loving Look?, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
September 1968: Film star Tony Curtis (Bernard Schwartz) gazes at his third wife Leslie Allen while relaxing at the Quisisana Hotel, Capri.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate ...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Windsors In Portofino, Italy, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1950s figurative photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the Duke and Duchess of Windsor walking their dog in Portofino in 1951.
This is an est...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Windsors In Portofino, Italy, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1950s figurative photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the Duke and Duchess of Windsor walking their dog in Portofino in 1951.
This is an est...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Yachting Trip, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Selvaggia Borromeo wades ashore from her yacht during a holiday on the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, August 1967.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Num...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Marisa Berenson, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress Marisa Berenson in Capri, 1968.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate
Collector will rece...
Category
1960s 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.