Photorealist Art
A direct challenge to Abstract Expressionism’s subjectivity and gestural vigor, Photorealism was informed by the Pop predilection for representational imagery, popular iconography and tools, like projectors and airbrushes, borrowed from the worlds of commercial art and design.
Whether gritty or gleaming, the subject matter favored by Photorealists is instantly, if vaguely, familiar. It’s the stuff of yellowing snapshots and fugitive memories. The bland and the garish alike flicker between crystal-clear reality and dreamy illusion, inviting the viewer to contemplate a single moment rather than igniting a story.
The virtues of the “photo” in Photorealist art — infused as they are with dazzling qualities that are easily blurred in reproduction — are as elusive as they are allusive. “Much Photorealist painting has the vacuity of proportion and intent of an idiot-savant, long on look and short on personal timbre,” John Arthur wrote (rather admiringly) in the catalogue essay for Realism/Photorealism, a 1980 exhibition at the Philbrook Museum of Art, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At its best, Photorealism is a perpetually paused tug-of-war between the sacred and the profane, the general and the specific, the record and the object.
“Robert Bechtle invented Photorealism, in 1963,” says veteran art dealer Louis Meisel. “He took a picture of himself in the mirror with the car outside and then painted it. That was the first one.”
The meaning of the term, which began for Meisel as “a superficial way of defining and promoting a group of painters,” evolved with time, and the core group of Photorealists slowly expanded to include younger artists who traded Rolleiflexes for 60-megapixel cameras, using advanced digital technology to create paintings that transcend the detail of conventional photographs.
On 1stDibs, the collection of Photorealist art includes work by Richard Estes, Ralph Goings, Chuck Close, Audrey Flack, Charles Bell and others.
2010s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Archival Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Photorealist Art
Oil, Canvas
2010s Photorealist Art
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Pastel
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
1950s Photorealist Art
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Paper
1970s Photorealist Art
Lithograph
1970s Photorealist Art
Lithograph
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
1920s Photorealist Art
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
1980s Photorealist Art
Lithograph
Early 2000s Photorealist Art
Silver Gelatin
Early 2000s Photorealist Art
Silver Gelatin
1990s Photorealist Art
Bronze
1990s Photorealist Art
Oil, Board
2010s Photorealist Art
Oil, Canvas
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment, Pigment
1970s Photorealist Art
Oil, Panel
1970s Photorealist Art
Oil, Board
1970s Photorealist Art
Lithograph
2010s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
1950s Photorealist Art
Lithograph
1950s Photorealist Art
Lithograph
1950s Photorealist Art
Lithograph
1950s Photorealist Art
Lithograph
Early 2000s Photorealist Art
Silver Gelatin
2010s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Pastel
1970s Photorealist Art
Lithograph
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art
Oil, Board
1980s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art
Oil, Board
2010s Photorealist Art
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment
1970s Photorealist Art
Lithograph
1980s Photorealist Art
Handmade Paper, Etching
1970s Photorealist Art
Screen
1980s Photorealist Art
Screen
1980s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
1970s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
Late 20th Century Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Photorealist Art
Oil, Canvas
1920s Photorealist Art
Photogravure
Late 20th Century Photorealist Art
Silver Gelatin
2010s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Photorealist Art
Metal
2010s Photorealist Art
Screen
1980s Photorealist Art
Acrylic, Illustration Board
1970s Photorealist Art
Lithograph
2010s Photorealist Art
Oil, Canvas
1980s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
Early 2000s Photorealist Art
Silver Gelatin