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.
Rainbow Over Capitola Village, Santa Cruz - Colored Photograph
Located in Soquel, CA
Rainbow Over Capitola Village, Santa Cruz - Colored Photograph Color photograph of a rainbow shining over Capitola Village in Santa Cruz, California by John F. Hunter (American, 20t...
Ink, Photographic Paper
Slim Aarons 'Bahamas Signpost''
By Slim Aarons
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...
Lambda
'Mapping the Walk' Photograhic Flower Study Realistic and Abstract in Blue/White
Located in Wellesley, MA
"Mapping the Walk, July 2015" by Judith Allen-Efstathiou is an exquisite photographic cyanotype print in deep blue and white of wildflowers abstracted printed on mulberry paper and m...
Mulberry Paper, Photographic Paper
Lyford Cay Fire Service, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features two people horseback riding at the Rawlins Plantation inn, Saint Kitts and Nevis, West Indi...
Lambda
Lawrence Peabody II, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Lawrence Carleton Peabody II and his son, Thomas Lawrence Claudius Peabody at their family's villa, Boe...
Lambda
$2,400
SS Queen Of Bermuda, Bermuda, Estate Edition, Maritime Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s maritime photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the British ocean liner 'SS Queen of Bermuda' in Hamilton Harbour, Bermuda. This is an es...
Lambda
Dimitris Kritsas, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Dimitris Kritsas, a fashionable young couturier, posing among the gleaming Doric columns of the templ...
Lambda
Avro Lancaster Bomber W4131 original 1943 photograph undercarriage
Located in London, GB
To see our other original vintage warbird aeroplane posters, photographs and paintings, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller". Lancaster Bomber...
Silver Gelatin
Early 20th Century Photograph -- "Impressions of the High Sierras"
Located in Soquel, CA
"Impressions of the High Sierras", a Lithobrome Photograph by Sigismund Blumann (American, 1872-1956). Signed "Sigismund Blumann" lower right. Titled "Impressions of the High Sierras" and signed "Sigismund Blumann" on verso. Unframed. Image size, 10.25"H x 13.25"W. Sigismund Blumann (1872–1956) (figure 1) was a prominent tastemaker in Californian photography during the 1920s and 1930s. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area for his entire career, he edited magazines, wrote books, and made creative photographs. From 1924 to 1933 Blumann edited Camera Craft, the leading West Coast photographic monthly. Subsequently he established his own periodical, Photo Art Monthly, which he published until 1940. In these two magazines — for over fifteen years — Blumann found a large audience of mainstream pictorial photographers. In addition, he wrote five instructional books on photography...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Sundowners at the Carlton, Cannes
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Two bikini-clad holidaymakers enjoy a glass of wine outside the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, 1958. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from th...
Lambda
McMartin Villa, Bermuda, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photo
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests around the pool at Elephant Walk, Duncan McMartin's villa in Bermuda. This is an estate-stamped...
Lambda
McMartin Villa, Bermuda, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photo
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests around the pool at Elephant Walk, Duncan McMartin's villa in Bermuda. This is an estate-stamped...
Lambda
Alfred Hitchcock and Ina, Hollywood, Harper's Bazaar
Located in New York, NY
Alfred Hitchcock and Ina, Hollywood, Harper's Bazaar, 1962 Gelatin Silver Print image size: 12 x 8 inches print size: 13 x 9 1/2 inches signed in pen recto on lower right; photog...
Silver Gelatin
Villa D'Este, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features boats on the waters near the Queen's Pavilion, the east wing of the Villa d'Este, on Lake Como...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Lido Life, Venice' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Lido Life, Venice 1957 C print Signature stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the Slim Aarons estate. A waiter ...
Silver Gelatin
Audrey Hepburn, 1953 - Bob Willoughby (Portrait Photography)
Located in London, GB
Audrey Hepburn, 1953 - Bob Willoughby (Portrait Photography) Archival pigment print Printed on 20 x 24 inch paper From an edition of 25 Also available in alternative sizes Bob W...
Archival Pigment
$4,200
Snowmass Picnic, Colorado, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Snowmass Picnic, Colorado, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph This late 1960s winter landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a stand-up fondue...
Lambda
Frank Sinatra, 1959 - Bob Willoughby (Portrait Photography)
Located in London, GB
Frank Sinatra, 1959 - Bob Willoughby (Portrait Photography) Archival pigment print Printed on 20 x 24 inch paper From an edition of 25 Also available in alternative sizes Bob Wi...
Archival Pigment
Table Hopping
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1959: Senator Jack Kennedy (President John F Kennedy) greeting old friends at an 'April in Paris' ball held in the Waldorf's Grand Ballroom, New York. 30 x 40 inches $3350 20...
Lambda
Early Riders, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former mayor Frank Bogert leading an early-morning ride through Andreas Canyon in Palm Springs, south...
Lambda
The Bahamas, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a swimming pool, seen through the fronds of a palm tree, with two people swimming and a group of people...
Lambda
Abaco Holiday
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
College student Jan Woods relaxes in a hammock at the Abaco Inn on Elbow Cay, one of the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas, March 1986. 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 ...
Lambda
Empire City Derby Jamaica Racetrack New York City Race Horse Jockey Photographs
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
A pair of antique period prints by American photographer Charles Christian Cook (1873-1957). "Wonderful" and "Bonnie Khayam". ca. 1920's. Platinum prints glued down to backing boa...
Platinum
Pebble Beach, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Riders from the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center wend their way through the Californian sand dunes and pampas grass, November 1976. Slim Aarons Pebble Beach, Slim Aarons Estate Editio...
Lambda
Laguna Beach Surfers, California, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a surfer in the sea at Laguna Beach, California. This is an estate stamped and hand numb...
Lambda
Marbles Championship, New York City, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1940s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of boys competing in a marble championship in Central Park, New York City. This i...
Lambda
Poolside Service, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a swimming pool at the Lyford Cay Club at Lyford Cay on New Providence Island in the Bahamas, 1962...
Lambda
Mazatlan Mansion
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Eldorado, the Redo family villa in Mazatlan, Mexico, January 1984. 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x 40 inches $3350 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, wo...
Lambda
$4,200
Beach at St Tropez, Midcentury Modern French Riviera Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Sunbathers on the beach at St. Tropez, France, 1977. Slim Aarons Beach at St Tropez Slim Aarons Estate Edition Stamped and hand numbered by the Slim Aarons Estate. Certificate of Au...
Lambda
Skiers at Verbier, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Skiers relax in deckchairs on the slopes at Verbier in Switzerland. 1964. This is an est...
Lambda
Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur and other guests at the Kau...
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...
C Print
Rowing Off Sicily, Estate Edition (Taormina, Italy: rocky turquoise seascape)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons' Rowing Off Sicily, an Estate Edition photograph, is a vintage scene of two couples out rowing off the coast of Sicily, Italy, near Taorm...
Lambda
Skiers At Gstaad, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers at Gstaad, Switzerland, March 1969. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered ...
Lambda
Skiing in Zermatt, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the apres-ski in Zermatt, Switzerland. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 ...
Lambda
Signpost In St. Moritz, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photo
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a signpost indicating various ski slopes and toboggan tracks in the resort of St Moritz,...
Lambda
Spinnaker Sailing, Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Spinnaker sailing on the Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, August 1973 60 x 40 inches $3950 40 x 30 inches $3350 30 x 20 inches $3000 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldw...
Lambda
Lyford Cay Fire Service, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features two people horseback riding at the Rawlins Plantation...
Lambda
Gasthof Post Pool, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests lounging by the indoor swimming pool of the Gasthof Post in Lech, Austria, February 1979. Slim Aarons Gasthof Post Pool Chromogenic Lambda print Printed Later Slim Aarons Est...
Lambda
Cuban Flag: black & white photo of Havana, Cuba urban city landscape at night
By Ron Tarver
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This black & white photograph of the urban night streets of Havana, Cuba featuring the Cuban flag is part of artist Ron Tarver's series, "Havana: A Place Out...
Silver Gelatin
Waipio Valley, Hawaii
By Geir Jordahl
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist: Geir Jordahl – American (1957- ) Title: Waipio Valley, Hawaii Year: 1987 Medium: Silver Gelatin photograph using infrared film Sight size: 8.25 x ...
Silver Gelatin
In Tandem
Located in Colorado Springs, CO
Original black and white photography by artist Jack Ludlam. Framed. Edition 1/3.
Film
$5,000
In the Bedroom, Ponce, Puerto Rico: Signed, Original Black and White Photograph
By Dawoud Bey
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This is a signed, dated original photograph by celebrated photographer Dawoud Bey, whom the New York Times has called "one of the Greats." Framed, and signed/titled lower margin. It...
Silver Gelatin
Earl Of Lichfield, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features photographer Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (1939-2005), holding a Hasselblad camera while posin...
Lambda
Beauty and the Beast, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Lady Daphne Cameron (Mrs George Cameron) on a tiger skin rug in the trophy room at socialite Laddie Sa...
Lambda
Harbour Isle Beach, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers on the beach at Harbour Isle in the Bahamas. This is an estate-stamped and hand-number...
Lambda
$3,600
Beach Near Portinatx, Ibiza, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1980s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers at a beach near Portinatx, Ibiza, Spain. This is an estate stamped and han...
Lambda
Pantz Pool, Marbella, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Laura Hawk, assistant to the photographer, relaxing by the pool at El Rincon, the von Pantz' Marbella h...
Lambda
Writing a Letter – Hand-colored Meiji Era photograph, Japan
Located in Middletown, NY
Original Photograph Yokohama, Japan: c 1880 Hand-tinted albumen print, 10 1/2 x 8 inches (266 x 203 mm). Edges a little faded and some cockling, image is clear and beautifully color...
Watercolor, Photographic Paper
Dining Al Fresco On Capri, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Italian artist and actress Domiziana Giordano, Italian author Francesca Sanvitale (1928 - 2011), Dino...
Lambda
Earl Of Lichfield, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features photographer Patrick Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (1939-2005), holding a Hasselblad camera while posin...
Lambda
Japan, Girls Playing on Konkonchiki Game, original photograph
Located in Middletown, NY
Hand-tinted albumen print, 7 7/8 x 10 1/4 inches (200 x 260 mm), numbered B 1085 and captioned in negative at lower right. Tiny in-negative defects creating white spots. Unmounted;...
Watercolor, Photographic Paper
Les Sophores, Saint-Tropez, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Janine Bril in the garden of Les Sophores, her villa in Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera. This is ...
Lambda
Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc, France, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features people waterskiing from the Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes, France. This is an estate-stamped...
Lambda
Poolside Socialites, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art de...
Lambda
Scotti's Yacht, Monaco, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests on the board of Italian Count Hannibal Scotti's yacht, 'Scotland Cay', Monte Carlo harbour, Mo...
Lambda
State Line, Lake Tahoe, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a swimming pool at the Cal Neva Lodge on the shore of Lake Tahoe, 1959. The Cal Neva Lodge straddl...
Lambda
McMartin Villa, Bermuda, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photo
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests around the pool at Elephant Walk, Duncan McMartin's villa in Bermuda. This is an estate-stamped...
Lambda
Japan – Two young geishas in flower garden, studio photograph, hand-colored
Located in Middletown, NY
Yokohama, Japan: c 1890. Hand-tinted albumen print, 10 1/2 x 8 inches (266 x 203 mm), numbered B334 in negative, right side of image printed somewhat lighter than left, tiny in-nega...
Watercolor, Photographic Paper
Julie London (Aarons Estate Print)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
1957: Singer Julie London enjoying breakfast in bed at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. S...
Lambda