Realist Figurative Prints
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.
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1850s Realist Figurative Prints
Printer's Ink, Rice Paper, Woodcut
1970s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph, Offset
1850s Realist Figurative Prints
Printer's Ink, Rice Paper, Woodcut
1970s Realist Figurative Prints
Woodcut
Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Handmade Paper, Drypoint, Etching
1940s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1970s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1990s Realist Figurative Prints
Etching, Aquatint
1990s Realist Figurative Prints
Etching, Aquatint
1820s Realist Figurative Prints
Printer's Ink, Rice Paper, Woodcut
1970s Realist Figurative Prints
Paper
1940s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1730s Realist Figurative Prints
Engraving
Late 19th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Vellum, Lithograph
2010s Realist Figurative Prints
Textile, Mixed Media
Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Handmade Paper, Drypoint, Etching
1860s Realist Figurative Prints
Etching, Aquatint
1980s Realist Figurative Prints
Felt Pen, Lithograph, Offset
1890s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1990s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1970s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
2010s Realist Figurative Prints
Linocut, Screen, Mixed Media, Pencil
1960s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1970s Realist Figurative Prints
Offset
1850s Realist Figurative Prints
Ink, Woodcut, Rice Paper
1780s Realist Figurative Prints
Engraving
1970s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph, Offset
1870s Realist Figurative Prints
Engraving
2010s Realist Figurative Prints
Offset, Lithograph
Early 2000s Realist Figurative Prints
Offset
Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Etching
1810s Realist Figurative Prints
Etching
1930s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1980s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Mid-20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Paper, Lithograph
1920s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1780s Realist Figurative Prints
Engraving
1980s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Mid-20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Etching, Engraving, Handmade Paper
Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1950s Realist Figurative Prints
Watercolor, Paper, Lithograph
Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Etching
Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Etching
1890s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1940s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1970s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1780s Realist Figurative Prints
Engraving
1730s Realist Figurative Prints
Engraving
20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Paper, Digital Pigment
1970s Realist Figurative Prints
Paper, Lithograph
Mid-20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Paper, Lithograph
1730s Realist Figurative Prints
Engraving
Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Etching
1930s Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph
1990s Realist Figurative Prints
Paper
Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph, Paper
Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints
Lithograph