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.
Mid-20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1890s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Late 20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1970s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1940s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Early 19th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Aquatint
1990s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
17th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
17th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
C Print
Mid-19th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1870s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1970s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1970s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Early 2000s Realist Prints and Multiples
Ink, Mixed Media, Board, Laid Paper, Lithograph, Offset
1840s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
17th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
1840s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Canvas, Giclée
17th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
Mid-20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1840s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1980s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching, Aquatint
Early 2000s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Digital, Giclée
Late 20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1840s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Early 19th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving, Aquatint
Mid-19th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Engraving
20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Late 19th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1940s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Late 20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1940s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Giclée, Digital
1980s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
Early 2000s Realist Prints and Multiples
Offset
1960s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1970s Realist Prints and Multiples
Color, Etching, Aquatint
1990s Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Lithograph
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
Mid-20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Lithograph
1990s Realist Prints and Multiples
Aquatint
1980s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1880s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
Early 20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
2010s Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Drypoint, Etching, Aquatint
1980s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph, Ink
1870s Realist Prints and Multiples
Paper, Lithograph
1980s Realist Prints and Multiples
Etching
1920s Realist Prints and Multiples
Lithograph
1870s Realist Prints and Multiples
Drypoint, Etching, Aquatint
20th Century Realist Prints and Multiples
Woodcut