Realist Prints and Multiples
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.
18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1870s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Early 19th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Photogram
Early 1900s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
Mid-20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
Early 20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1880s Realist Prints and Multiples
Photogravure
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Digital, Giclée
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Digital, Giclée
Mid-19th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Drypoint, Etching
1920s Realist Prints and Multiples
Laid Paper, Drypoint
Early 20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1980s Realist Prints and Multiples
Offset
Early 1900s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1890s Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Ink, Lithograph
Mid-19th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Late 20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1980s Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Etching
1910s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1660s Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1940s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Giclée, Digital
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Digital, Giclée
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Digital, Giclée
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Photogram
1940s Realist Prints and Multiples
Woodcut
1880s Realist Prints and Multiples
Photogravure
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Digital, Giclée
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Emulsion, Watercolor, Archival Paper, Photogram
Mid-20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Early 1900s Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Ink
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Digital, Giclée
1670s Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1940s Realist Prints and Multiples
Woodcut
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Mid-19th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Photographic Paper
1940s Realist Prints and Multiples
Woodcut
17th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1970s Realist Prints and Multiples
Intaglio
1840s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Mid-19th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1870s Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Screen
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Digital, Giclée
1840s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1940s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1970s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1980s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Digital, Giclée
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Photogram
Early 20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1920s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1970s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1940s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Archival Paper, Color, Digital, Giclée
Early 20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1930s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph