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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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Period: 21st Century and Contemporary
Style: Photorealist
This Week's Listings Only
Sanctuary
Located in Fairfield, CT
Born and raised in France, Anouk Masson Krantz moved to the United States in the late 1990s. She earned her bachelor's degree and worked at Cartier’s New York corporate office. Anou...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art

Materials

Pigment

Windswept
Located in Fairfield, CT
Born and raised in France, Anouk Masson Krantz moved to the United States in the late 1990s. She earned her bachelor's degree and worked at Cartier’s New York corporate office. Anou...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art

Materials

Pigment

Vanitas 15.12.01, Photorealist Acrylic Painting on Canvas by Paul Beliveau
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Paul Beliveau, Canadian (b. 1954) Title: Vanitas 05.12.01 Year: 2015 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, signed, titled, and dated verso Size: 30 x 60 inches
Category

2010s Photorealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

The Silver Bowl, Photorealist Oil Painting by Steven Jones
By Steven Jones
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Steven Jones, American Title: The Silver Bowl Year: 2001 Medium: Oil on Linen on Panel, signed, titled, and dated verso Size: 42 x 60 inches Frame Size: 43.5 x 62 inches
Category

Early 2000s Photorealist Art

Materials

Linen, Oil, Canvas

Vanitas 15.10.28, Photorealist Acrylic on Canvas Painting by Paul Beliveau
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Paul Beliveau, Canadian (b. 1954) Title: Vanitas 05.10.28 Year: 2015 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, signed, titled, and dated verso Size: 30 x 60 inches
Category

2010s Photorealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Camino de los indios
Located in Fairfield, CT
Gustavo Ten Hoever was born in Uruguay and attended photography school in Montevideo, Uruguay. He moved to New York in 1986 and now divides his time between Paris and New York. After an eye opening time spent traveling into the Brazilian Amazon, he began shooting for his first photo exhibit, Full Moon People, covering the indigenous people of this region. Since then, the artist has traveled continuously and exhibited globally, while his editorial work can be seen in publications around the world. Publications featuring his work include I-D Magazine, French Vogue, Wall Street Journal Magazine, US Vogue, Arena, and the New Yorker. His clients include Hermes, Dosa, Editions Gallimard, Persol, Dunhill, Jose...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Macon
Located in Fairfield, CT
Gustavo Ten Hoever was born in Uruguay and attended photography school in Montevideo, Uruguay. He moved to New York in 1986 and now divides his time between Paris and New York. After an eye opening time spent traveling into the Brazilian Amazon, he began shooting for his first photo exhibit, Full Moon People, covering the indigenous people of this region. Since then, the artist has traveled continuously and exhibited globally, while his editorial work can be seen in publications around the world. Publications featuring his work include I-D Magazine, French Vogue, Wall Street Journal Magazine, US Vogue, Arena, and the New Yorker. His clients include Hermes, Dosa, Editions Gallimard, Persol, Dunhill, Jose...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Melancholy Che
Located in Fairfield, CT
Gustavo Ten Hoever was born in Uruguay and attended photography school in Montevideo, Uruguay. He moved to New York in 1986 and now divides his time between Paris and New York. After...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Maremma Vista
Located in Fairfield, CT
Gustavo Ten Hoever was born in Uruguay and attended photography school in Montevideo, Uruguay. He moved to New York in 1986 and now divides his time between Paris and New York. After...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Rancho Flying Cloud
Located in Fairfield, CT
Gustavo Ten Hoever was born in Uruguay and attended photography school in Montevideo, Uruguay. He moved to New York in 1986 and now divides his time between Paris and New York. After an eye opening time spent traveling into the Brazilian Amazon, he began shooting for his first photo exhibit, Full Moon People, covering the indigenous people of this region. Since then, the artist has traveled continuously and exhibited globally, while his editorial work can be seen in publications around the world. Publications featuring his work include I-D Magazine, French Vogue, Wall Street Journal Magazine, US Vogue, Arena, and the New Yorker. His clients include Hermes, Dosa, Editions Gallimard, Persol, Dunhill, Jose...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Rancho Garzon
Located in Fairfield, CT
Gustavo Ten Hoever was born in Uruguay and attended photography school in Montevideo, Uruguay. He moved to New York in 1986 and now divides his time between Paris and New York. After...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Solar
Located in Fairfield, CT
Gustavo Ten Hoever was born in Uruguay and attended photography school in Montevideo, Uruguay. He moved to New York in 1986 and now divides his time between Paris and New York. After an eye opening time spent traveling into the Brazilian Amazon, he began shooting for his first photo exhibit, Full Moon People, covering the indigenous people of this region. Since then, the artist has traveled continuously and exhibited globally, while his editorial work can be seen in publications around the world. Publications featuring his work include I-D Magazine, French Vogue, Wall Street Journal Magazine, US Vogue, Arena, and the New Yorker. His clients include Hermes, Dosa, Editions Gallimard, Persol, Dunhill, Jose...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Time
Located in Fairfield, CT
Gustavo Ten Hoever was born in Uruguay and attended photography school in Montevideo, Uruguay. He moved to New York in 1986 and now divides his time between Paris and New York. After an eye opening time spent traveling into the Brazilian Amazon, he began shooting for his first photo exhibit, Full Moon People, covering the indigenous people of this region. Since then, the artist has traveled continuously and exhibited globally, while his editorial work can be seen in publications around the world. Publications featuring his work include I-D Magazine, French Vogue, Wall Street Journal Magazine, US Vogue, Arena, and the New Yorker. His clients include Hermes, Dosa, Editions Gallimard, Persol, Dunhill, Jose...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

With Infinite Gratitude
Located in Fairfield, CT
Gustavo Ten Hoever was born in Uruguay and attended photography school in Montevideo, Uruguay. He moved to New York in 1986 and now divides his time between Paris and New York. After an eye opening time spent traveling into the Brazilian Amazon, he began shooting for his first photo exhibit, Full Moon People, covering the indigenous people of this region. Since then, the artist has traveled continuously and exhibited globally, while his editorial work can be seen in publications around the world. Publications featuring his work include I-D Magazine, French Vogue, Wall Street Journal Magazine, US Vogue, Arena, and the New Yorker. His clients include Hermes, Dosa, Editions Gallimard, Persol, Dunhill, Jose...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Without seeing you I cannot see
Located in Fairfield, CT
Gustavo Ten Hoever was born in Uruguay and attended photography school in Montevideo, Uruguay. He moved to New York in 1986 and now divides his time between Paris and New York. After an eye opening time spent traveling into the Brazilian Amazon, he began shooting for his first photo exhibit, Full Moon People, covering the indigenous people of this region. Since then, the artist has traveled continuously and exhibited globally, while his editorial work can be seen in publications around the world. Publications featuring his work include I-D Magazine, French Vogue, Wall Street Journal Magazine, US Vogue, Arena, and the New Yorker. His clients include Hermes, Dosa, Editions Gallimard, Persol, Dunhill, Jose...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Rancho Tipi
Located in Fairfield, CT
Gustavo Ten Hoever was born in Uruguay and attended photography school in Montevideo, Uruguay. He moved to New York in 1986 and now divides his time between Paris and New York. After an eye opening time spent traveling into the Brazilian Amazon, he began shooting for his first photo exhibit, Full Moon People, covering the indigenous people of this region. Since then, the artist has traveled continuously and exhibited globally, while his editorial work can be seen in publications around the world. Publications featuring his work include I-D Magazine, French Vogue, Wall Street Journal Magazine, US Vogue, Arena, and the New Yorker. His clients include Hermes, Dosa, Editions Gallimard, Persol, Dunhill, Jose...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Hi Fi, from American Signs portfolio
Located in New York, NY
ROBERT COTTINGHAM HI FI, from American Signs portfolio, 2009 screenprint in colors, on wove paper, with full margins, 40 1/8 x 39 1/8 in (101.9 x 99.4 cm) signed, dated `2009' a...
Category

Early 2000s Photorealist Art

Materials

Screen

M, from American Signs portfolio
Located in New York, NY
ROBERT COTTINGHAM M, from American Signs portfolio, 2009 screenprint in colors, on wove paper, with full margins, 40 1/8 x 39 1/8 in (101.9 x 99.4 cm) signed, dated `2009' and n...
Category

Early 2000s Photorealist Art

Rialto, from American Signs portfolio
Located in New York, NY
ROBERT COTTINGHAM Rialto, from American Signs portfolio, 2009 screenprint in colors, on wove paper, with full margins, 40 1/8 x 39 1/8 in (101.9 x 99.4 cm) signed, dated `2009' ...
Category

Early 2000s Photorealist Art

Materials

Screen

Drinks, from American Signs portfolio
Located in New York, NY
ROBERT COTTINGHAM Drinks, from American Signs portfolio, 2009 screenprint in colors, on wove paper, with full margins 40 1/8 x 39 1/8 in (101.9 x 99.4 cm) signed, dated `2009...
Category

Early 2000s Photorealist Art

Materials

Screen

Hot, from American Signs Portfolio
Located in New York, NY
ROBERT COTTINGHAM Hot, from American Signs Portfolio, 2009 screenprint in colors, on wove paper, with full margins 40 1/8 x 39 1/8 in (101.9 x 99.4 cm) signed, dated `2009' and...
Category

Early 2000s Photorealist Art

Materials

Screen

Star, from American Signs Portfolio
Located in New York, NY
ROBERT COTTINGHAM Star, from American Signs portfolio, 2009 screenprint in colors, on wove paper, with full margins, 40 1/8 x 39 1/8 in (101.9 x 99.4 cm) signed, dated `2009' and numbered edition of 100 in pencil -- Robert Cottingham B. 1935, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK Born in 1935 in Brooklyn, Robert Cottingham is known for his paintings and prints of urban American landscapes, particularly building facades, neon signs, movie marquees, and shop fronts. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1955 through 1958, he earned a BFA at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, in 1963. Cottingham began his professional artistic career as an art director for the advertising firm Young and Rubicam in the early 1960s. Although he is typically associated with Photorealism, Cottingham never considered himself a Photorealist, but rather a realist painter working in a long tradition of American vernacular scenes. In this respect, his work often draws parallels to a number of American painters such as Stuart Davis, Charles Demuth, Edward Hopper, and Charles Sheeler. Cottingham’s interest in the intersections of art and commerce derive from his career as an adman and the influence of Pop art. Many of his paintings convey an interest in typography and lettering, as well as an awareness of the psychological impact of certain isolated words and letters. In his facades, techniques from advertising, namely cropping and enlarging, often produce words of enigmatic or comical resonance such as “Art,” “Ha,” or “Oh.” Cottingham’s enlarged sense of scale is reminiscent of James Rosenquist’s work, while his interest in text suggests the influence of Robert Indiana and Jasper Johns. In general, Cottingham viewed his work as continuing the legacy of Pop artists such as Andy Warhol, who also had a background in advertising. In 1964, Cottingham relocated to Los Angeles for work. There, inspired by the drastically different environment of the West Coast metropolis, he began to commit seriously to painting. Fascinated by Hollywood’s exaggerated glitz and the downtrodden atmosphere of the downtown, Cottingham saw in Los Angeles the relics of a bygone commercial heyday and desired to capture its kitschy and uncanny atmosphere, bathed in the near perpetual sunlight of Southern California. In 1968, Cottingham ended his advertising career in order to devote all his time to painting. In the late 1960s, he started using photography in his practice, first as an initial reference point for his process. After selecting a photograph, he translates it into black-and-white drawings by projecting the image onto gridded paper...
Category

Early 2000s Photorealist Art

Materials

Screen

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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