Photorealist Art
PHOTOREALISM
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.
Style: Photorealist
Color: Pink
"Cool and Calm", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Pegah Samaie's (CA based) "Cool and Calm" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a woman holding a pink ice-cream cone with a pink background....
Category
2010s Photorealist Art
Materials
Panel, Oil
Pink Flight - underwater nude photograph - print on aluminum 30” x 36”
By Alex Sher
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
An underwater nude photograph of a young woman with broken umbrella. The photograph has been edited into a minimalistic abstract image, a photo-mosaic of terra-cotta pink shapes.
Or...
Category
2010s Photorealist Art
Materials
Metal
David Bowie "Keep Your 'Lectric Eye" by Sukita
Located in Austin, US
16" x 20", signed limited edition print of David Bowie, titled "Keep Your 'Lectric Eye" by Masayoshi Sukita.
This print is also available as a 30x40" signed limited edition print....
Category
Late 20th Century Photorealist Art
Materials
C Print
Pink Flight - underwater nude photograph - print on paper 42" x 53"
By Alex Sher
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Underwater photograph of a naked young woman with broken umbrella. The photograph is artistically modified into a fantastic warm tinted picture. The piece looks quite abstract with c...
Category
2010s Photorealist Art
Materials
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment
Adele Collins for British Vogue
Located in Austin, US
Norman Parkinson’s homage to a painting by Dutch artist Kees van Dongen entitled The Corn Poppy.
Adele Collins wearing an Otto Lucas velvet toque. British V...
Category
Late 20th Century Photorealist Art
Materials
C Print
Sinnickson Landing, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Water at sunset. Abstracted realism. :: Painting :: Photorealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: Yes :: Signe...
Category
2010s Photorealist Art
Materials
Oil
Devo Grey Suits
Located in Austin, US
Signed limited edition archival print of Signed limited edition print of Devo posing for SoHo Weekly News, NYC, 1981 by Allan Tannenbaum. Available in different sizes. Limited editi...
Category
1980s Photorealist Art
Materials
Archival Pigment
Pink Flight - underwater nude photograph - print on paper 18” x 24”
By Alex Sher
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
An underwater nude photograph of a young woman with broken umbrella. The photograph has been edited into a minimalistic abstract image, a photo-mosaic of terra-cotta pink shapes.
Or...
Category
2010s Photorealist Art
Materials
Archival Pigment
Tropicana Motor Hotel
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist Statement
Nothing But Neon, 2021
I see beauty in old neon signs.
I have always been fascinated by the glow inside the hand-bent, glass tubes. I enjoy the sculptural, mechan...
Category
2010s Photorealist Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Pink Rose, Realist Flower Painting by Lowell Nesbitt 1976
Located in Long Island City, NY
A beautiful realist painting of a rose by American Artist, Lowell Nesbitt who was great inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe.
Artist: Lowell Blair Nesbitt, American (1933 - 1993)
Title: Pin...
Category
1970s Photorealist Art
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Bouches (Mouths), Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Mouth-shaped candies in a black try on a white background Several layers of paint hanging hardware is provided :: Painting :: Photorealism :: This piece comes with an official cert...
Category
2010s Photorealist Art
Materials
Oil
Amaryllis, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Flowers on a white background Several layers of paint Hanging hardware is provided :: Painting :: Photorealism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity sign...
Category
2010s Photorealist Art
Materials
Oil
In the Pink Martini
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Kathleen Keifer is a California-based internationally collected artist. She is a leading force of the New California Realism. Kathleen brings a fresh, clean perspective to her colorf...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art
Materials
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
"Strawberry Sundae" Delicious Photo Realism of Vanilla Cream & Whipped Cream
Located in Wellesley, MA
Mary Ellen Johnson
"Strawberry Sundae"
2018
Oil on Panel
39.75 x 34.25 Inches
Note: This painting is framed in dark cherry wood.
Mary Ellen Johnson is internationally recognized as one of the top Photo Realist painters working today whose extraordinary area of expertise is images of food. Johnson actually describes herself as a ‘Precision Realist’ whose primary subject is food - cheesecakes, PB & J sandwiches, parfaits, pancakes, banana splits, ice cream, hot dogs, cupcakes, waffles, muscles, sushi, etc.. These brilliantly painted works capture every nuance and are rendered with amazing precision. Stunningly beautiful and incomparably 'real,' her paintings are a delight in terms of subject matter, color, perfect composition, and whimsy, with an approachable quality that elevates them far beyond expertly executed mechanical renderings.
Unequaled for their brilliance and dramatic depictions of mundane subjects with their connotations of nostalgia, comfort and tradition, it is also her scale, cropping and extraordinary technical skill that render these works so overwhelmingly appealing. Johnson's paintings are acknowledged by the leading collectors in the country to represent the very best of the Photorealist tradition:
“I make the panels large to give a monumental feeling to the painting when viewed. These large images not only confront the viewer with their size but with their tremendous sense of extravagance. My work explores the deep connection that food has with humanity.” Mary Ellen Johnson
Included among the many accolades received for Johnson's work is a commission by the Canadian Government to paint 5 of Canada's favorite foods, images which were then translated into stamps, as well as a commission from The Cheesecake Factory's chain of restaurants for a "Strawberry Cheesecake with Whipped Cream" for their corporate headquarters in California.
MARY ELLEN JOHNSON
Born: 1967, West Long Branch, NJ.
Education: Ringling School of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL, 1989.
Exhibitions:
ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS:
Beth Urdang...
Category
2010s Photorealist Art
Materials
Oil, Wood Panel
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Photorealist art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Photorealist art available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add art created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, red, purple, orange and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Alex Sher, Gregory Block, Lowell Nesbitt, and Ian Hornak. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Photorealist art, so small editions measuring 0.79 inches across are also available. Prices for art made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $11 and tops out at $585,000, while the average work sells for $2,404.
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