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.
1670s Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1960s Realist Prints and Multiples
Chalk, Pencil
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Giclée
1670s Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Prints and Multiples
Woodcut
Mid-18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 2000s Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Mixed Media
Early 2000s Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Mixed Media
1930s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1830s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
17th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Engraving
1920s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1970s Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Etching
1980s Realist Prints and Multiples
Screen
1980s Realist Prints and Multiples
Screen
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Archival Pigment
1880s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
Mid-20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
Mid-20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1920s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1920s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
Late 20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Prints and Multiples
Mixed Media
1980s Realist Prints and Multiples
Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Linocut
Mid-20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1850s Realist Prints and Multiples
Drypoint, Etching
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Prints and Multiples
Digital
Mid-20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Prints and Multiples
Canvas, Screen
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Watercolor
1980s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph, Offset, Pencil
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Canvas, Archival Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Prints and Multiples
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Prints and Multiples
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Prints and Multiples
Oil, Board
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Prints and Multiples
Digital
1970s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1750s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1980s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
Mid-20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph