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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.

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Style: Photorealist
Color:  White
Fire & Ice
Located in Nashville, TN
"Fire & Ice" is an archival pigment print of an oil painting on canvas from Jaime Corum's "Bourbon Visions" series. About the Artist: Jaime Corum's equine...
Category

2010s Photorealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Archival Pigment

Black and White Portrait of a Couple - Imogen Cunningham 1957
Located in Soquel, CA
Portrait of a seated couple by Imogen Cunningham (American, 1883). Signed and dated "Imogen Cunnungham 1957" in the lower right corner below the photo. Information about subjects wr...
Category

1950s Photorealist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Large Still Life Photorealism Acrylic Painting Candy Canes in Vase Photo Realist
Located in Surfside, FL
Charles Wildbank (American, b. 1948) Photorealist Still Life Painting "Candy Sticks", Acrylic on canvas Signed in bottom right corner recto Charles Bourke Wildbank, native New Yor...
Category

20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Pinto
Located in London, GB
Etching in colours, 2000-2001, on Hahnemühle etching paper, signed and numbered from the edition of 46 (there were also 6 artist’s proofs), published by Paragon Press, London, sheet:...
Category

Early 2000s Photorealist Art

Materials

Etching

"Clam Shells and Their Shadows" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Emma Hirst (US based) "Clam Shells and Their Shadows" is an oil painting that depicts an interior still life with six clam shells laid out on a white surfac...
Category

2010s Photorealist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Pastel Portrait of a Shakespearean Woman with Pearls
Located in Soquel, CA
Intricately detailed realist figurative pastel drawing of a woman in Shakespearean clothing by Palo Alto artist Marilyn Thompson (American, 1927-2015), 1989. The woman's pearl necklace and puffy sleeved garment, as well as each individual strand of her graying hair, are depicted in hyper-realist pastel on half tone paper. Signed and dated "Marylin Thompson 1989" in the lower right corner. Presented in a new cream mat with foam-core backing. Paper size: 24.75"H x 19.75"W Marilyn Thompson (American, 1927-2015) was born in Santa Paula. California. She received an art degree from San Jose State in 1950, after which she worked for H. M. Gousha, for whom she drew many illustrations of missions and other California sites. From the mid-1970s on, she did freelance drawing and painting, with lots of commercial work (pamphlet illustrations, posters, custom birthday cards...
Category

1980s Photorealist Art

Materials

Pastel, Paper

"Big Cherry Pie a la Mode" Photo-Realist Pie Slice/ Vanilla Ice Cream on Blue
Located in Wellesley, MA
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. Mary Ellen Johnson "Big Cherry Pie...
Category

2010s Photorealist Art

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

"Still Life of White Eggplants and Olive Oil" Modern Photography Still-Life Food
Located in Wellesley, MA
"I am a professional food and still life photographer with over 30 years experience based in New York City. My attention to detail and strong sense of composition has allowed me to ...
Category

2010s Photorealist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper

ME TE MAGNO, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Oil on canvas This painting inspired me for its cheerfulness and its laughter, it is for me a really antidepressant! :: Painting :: Photorealism :: This piece comes with an official...
Category

2010s Photorealist Art

Materials

Oil

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Saint Bartholomew, Old Master, Oil Print, Ribera, Figurative Art, Spanish Art
By Jusepe de Ribera
Located in Greven, DE
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Early Black and White Photograph of a Large Cat Lounging in a Zoo Enclosure
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Early black and white photograph of a large cat lounging in a zoo enclosure. The photograph is matted to a board to prevent bending. The photograph is not framed, but options are ava...
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The Non-Golden Calf (Das Nicht-Goldene Kalb)
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Color etching
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1970s Photorealist Art

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Nebulous
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2010s Photorealist Art

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AOC -Framed Contemporary Pop Art Print Portrait of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Located in Gilroy, CA
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Reflections 5
Located in London, GB
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Category

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Reflections 5
H 11.82 in W 8.27 in D 0.6 in
Texas Tug, Screenprint by Ron Kleemann
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Ron Kleemann, American (1937 - ) Title: Texas Tug Year: 1980 Medium: Serigraph on Somerset Paper, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 250 Paper Size: 22 x 30 inches
Category

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"New" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Mia Bergeron's (US based) "New" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts the glow of a lit candle with the morning light of sunrise Mia Bergeron's interest in art was cul...
Category

2010s Photorealist Art

Materials

Wax, Oil, Panel

Dylan In Red
Located in East Hampton, NY
Bob Dylan Hand worked, Unframed Editioned series Original pop art by contemporary artist Zane Fix addressing modern subjects that are executed in the traditional Japanese woodblock ...
Category

2010s Photorealist Art

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Archival Pigment

Dylan In Red
Dylan In Red
H 17 in W 11 in
"Vast" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Mia Bergeron's (US based) "Vast" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts the faint glow of a candle cast in blue darkness. Mia Bergeron's interest in art was cultivated ...
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"Samsara" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Mia Bergeron's (US based) "Samsara" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts the glow of a lit candle casting a halo on a blue background. Mia Bergeron's interest in art ...
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Previously Available Items
"Super Blow Pop Strawberry II" Realistic Painting of Bright Pink Lollipop
Located in Baltimore, MD
Alexander Sheversky was born in Kishinev, in 1961. He studied at I.E. Repin Academy of Art. After graduation he worked in the field of Monumental Arts. Over the years Sheversky has h...
Category

2010s Photorealist Art

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Oil, Canvas

Snapshot Series No. 1 (Iris), photorealist colored pencil still life drawing
Located in New York, NY
David Morrison's freshly bloomed Magnolia and Iris drawings further his play with artifice and hyperrealism. Cream and rose-colored blossoms seem to jump boldly from their branches. ...
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Models and Horses
Located in Long Island City, NY
This lithograph was created by American artist Philip Pearlstein. A key figure in the sharp-focus realist movement, he was a leader in the early 1960s of the revival of figure painti...
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This Way and That / Realist acrylic painting diptych (two parts)
Located in Burlingame, CA
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Anchor (Large Nautical Photo-Realist Painting on Canvas of White Ship & Anchor)
Located in Hudson, NY
Large photo-realist painting of a dark brown anchor against the hull of a white ship, ocher rust stain, white water reflections, and a pop of blue sky detail the canvas 79 x 53 x 2 inches oil on canvas, thin wood stripping signed Richards in bottom right corner, recto Painting is wired on reverse for easy installation New York artist Joseph Richards...
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Signed Ltd Ed Modernist Silkscreen WHITE ROSE Floral Screenprint
Located in Surfside, FL
Lowell Blair Nesbitt is an American painter, draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor. Although he worked in a variety of media and covered a wide range of subjects throughout his caree...
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Egg On Toast
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Located in Los Angeles, CA
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Gerosa (Nautical Photo Realist Painting of Industrial Ship with Red Hook)
By Joe Richards
Located in Hudson, NY
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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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