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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: 20th Century
Period: 1930s
Style: Photorealist
Namaste
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Namaste" 2001, is a photograph (Cibachrome) by American artist Lisa Kristine, b.1965. It is hand signed, titled and dated in pencil by the artist. The photograph...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Other Medium

Dolly Parton
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition print by Ed Caraeff of Dolly Parton taken during the cover session for her album ‘Here You Come Again’ in Los Angeles, CA, US, July...
Category

1970s Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Crashing Barrel Waves, Mid Century Pacific Coast Seascape
Located in Soquel, CA
Crashing Barrel Waves, Mid Century Pacific Coast Seascape Dynamic mid-century seascape of Pacific waves crashing against the rocks by California artist Elsie Grace (American, 1930-2...
Category

1960s Photorealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Country Lane to Farmhouse & Birds in English Countryside by 20th Century Artist
Located in Preston, GB
Country Lane to Farmhouse & Birds in English Countryside by 20th Century Artist Christopher Osborne. Art measures 12 x 8 inches Frame measures 16 x 12 inches Signed, oil on board, ...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Il cuoco felice - Thailand 1959 - Full Framed Black & White Fine Art Print
Located in Brussels, BE
Artwork # 1 on 5 sold in limited edition in perfect condition Il cuoco felice This photo was made in 1959, printed later, the negative was digitized during the artist's lifetime and...
Category

1950s Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

David Bowie "Pin Ups" cover
Located in Austin, TX
English model Twiggy poses with David Bowie in Paris for the cover of his ‘Pin Ups’ album, 1973, by Justin de Villeneuve Justin recalls, "Twiggy and I were st...
Category

1970s Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

View of the Mall From a Castle Tower
Located in New York, NY
Richard Haas View of the Mall From a Castle Tower, 1983 Seven-Color Lithograph: Hand Drawn on English Somerset Satin 100% rag paper 14 1/4 × 43 3/4 inches...
Category

1980s Photorealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Time Square Night (Eternity), Photorealist Screenprint by Ken Keeley, circa 1995
By Ken Keeley
Located in Long Island City, NY
This screenprint was created by New York-based artist Ken Keeley. Keeley's Keeley's collections of candy bars and magazines; storefronts and street scenes gr...
Category

1990s Photorealist Art

Materials

Screen

PJ Harvey by Simon Fowler
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition print of PJ Harvey, taken by Simon Fowler in the UK in 1995 Available in the following sizes: 12 x 17” - open edition 15 x 22” - Edi...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Iconics by Fabrizio La Torre - Set # 2 - Roma - 1956 - Vintage Photographs
Located in Brussels, BE
Artworks sold in perfect condition : Set # 2 composed of 5 Gallery Print 30x40 cm This is an exceptional offer that we are presenting today. For almost four years, here on 1stdibs, a...
Category

1950s Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Nirvana by Chris Cuffaro
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition print of grunge band Nirvana featuring Kurt Cobain, Chris Novoselic and Foo Fighters Dave Grohl, from acclaimed music photographer, Chris Cuffaro. Taken in March of 1991 in an alleyway in Seattle Signed limited edition 17x22" print, edition number 24/50 Chris Cuffaro has shot the best of the best in the music world including ground-breaking bands like Jane’s Addiction...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Scratched Paint - Large Scale Textural Photograph
Located in Soquel, CA
White Paint Splatters - Large Scale Textural Photograph Detailed macro photo by Bill Clark (American, 20th Century). Clark has taken a photograph of heavily painted concrete that ha...
Category

1990s Photorealist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Domain of Asmodeus, Ian Hornak
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Domain of Asmodeus Year: 1985 Medium: Acrylic on double layered Masonite Size: 31 x 37 inches Condition: Good Provenance: Estate of Ian Hornak, ...
Category

1980s Photorealist Art

Materials

Masonite, Acrylic

Minneapolis at Dusk
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Minneapolis at Dusk Etching & aquatint printed in colors, 1993 Signed, titled and numbered in pencil Edition: 65 (19/65) Condition: Excellent This image depicts the Wells Fargo Cente...
Category

1990s Photorealist Art

Materials

Etching

Karen Seltenrich "Groupies", signed limited edition silver gelatin print
Located in Austin, TX
Karen Seltenrich by Baron Wolman, taken in San Francisco in 1970 as part of Baron's Groupies series, taken for Rolling Stone magazine. Limited edition number 2/150, signed and noted...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Diana Ross
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition silver gelatin print of Diana Ross, taken by Barrie Wentzell in 1975. This Diana Ross print is available in the following sizes. 16...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

The Rolling Stones "Mick and Chick" Beggars Banquet
Located in Austin, TX
“Mick and Chick” by Michael Joesph from the famous photo shoot of The Rolling Stones for their Beggars Banquet album at Sarum Chase mansion, Hampstead, L...
Category

1960s Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Debbie Harry by Lynn Goldsmith, framed signed limited edition print
Located in Austin, TX
Fine art print of Debbie Harry of Blondie by acclaimed photographer. Lynn Goldsmith, taken in New York City in 1977. Framed, signed limited edition 16x20" print, edition #2/20 Cust...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Ed Moses (Portrait of the Artist)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Theo Wujcik (1936-2014): Ed Moses, 1970. Etching in black on wove paper. Unsigned. 9 x 8 in. (sheet), 10 x 9 in. (frame). Custom welded brass frame with resolved corners and natura...
Category

1970s Photorealist Art

Materials

Etching

Muhammad Ali Shadow Boxing
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition print of American professional boxer and activist Muhammad during a training session at his training camp on 58 Sculps Hill Road, Deer Lake, Pennsylvania, USA,...
Category

1970s Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Audrey Hepburn
Located in Austin, TX
Audrey Hepburn is photographed wearing a Givenchy afternoon cocktail dress from his Spring/Summer 1955 collection at ‘Villa Rolli’, a farmhouse in the A...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Faye Dunaway Oscar outtake by Terry O'Neill signed Lifetime Edition
Located in Austin, TX
Lifetime prints are the last remaining prints available, signed by Terry O’Neill and obtained from the Terry O’Neill Archive in London. American actress Faye Dunaway takes breakfast by the pool with the day's newspapers at the Beverley Hills...
Category

1970s Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

MAN RAY (1890-1976), SURREAL DISTORTED HOUSE, 1920 Photogravure, FIRST EDITION
Located in Pembroke Pines, FL
Artist: Man Ray (American born, 1890 - 1976) Title: SURREAL DISTORTED HOUSE REFLECTION Date Of Negative: 1920 Type Of Print: Authentic Vintage Sheet Fed Photogravure/Heliogravure. Da...
Category

1920s Photorealist Art

Materials

Photogravure

Beastie Boys Adam Yauch MCA Vintage Darkroom Print by Jake Chessum
Located in Austin, TX
Original hand-printed vintage print from photographer Jake Chessum of Beastie Boys Adam Yauch, know as MCA, playing double bass in the studio in 1994. Printed by Jake back in the d...
Category

1990s Photorealist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Robert & Patti, New York 1969 “Vertical II”
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition fine art print of Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, taken in New York by celebrated photographer and filmmaker, Norman Seeff in 1969. This Patty Smith...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

David Bowie Tea and Sympathy New York City
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition 20x24" print of David Bowie by Kevin Cummins, taken outside the Tea & Sympathy, the legendary British themed restaurant in NYC, 1996. This David Bowie print...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

MAN RAY (1890-1976), PAUL ELUARD, 1930 Photogravure, FIRST EDITION
Located in Pembroke Pines, FL
Artist: Man Ray (American born, 1890 - 1976) Title: PAUL ELUARD Date Of Negative: 1930 Type Of Print: Authentic Vintage Sheet Fed Photogravure/Heliogravure. Date Of Print: 1934 1st E...
Category

1920s Photorealist Art

Materials

Photogravure

Untitled (Abstract Female Nude), 1963, Ian Hornak — Painting
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Untitled (Abstract Female Nude) Year: 1963 Medium: Acrylic on illustration board Size: 29.5 x 21 inches Condition: Good Provenance: Estate of Ia...
Category

1960s Photorealist Art

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

Iconics by Fabrizio La Torre - Set # 1 - New York - 1956 - Vintage Photographs
Located in Brussels, BE
Artworks sold in perfect condition : Set # 1 composed of 5 Gallery Print 30x40 cm This is an exceptional offer that we are presenting today. For almost four years, here on 1stdibs, a...
Category

1950s Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Red Spotted Lily, Photorealist Screenprint on Paper by Lowell Nesbitt
Located in Long Island City, NY
Photorealist flower screenprint by American artist Lowell Blair Nesbitt, signed and numbered in pencil. Red Spotted Lily from the Stamp Series Lowell Blair Nesbitt, American (1933–1...
Category

1980s Photorealist Art

Materials

Screen

David Bowie The Archer - New special edition
Located in Austin, TX
NEW - Special limited edition series produced for the 2023 David Bowie Worldwide Fan Convention in June 2023. This iconic image of David Bowie as The Thin White Duke was taken by re...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Pine and Spruce
Located in Zofingen, AG
Pine and spruce stand in the field like a brother and sister steadily enduring bad weather. Not thunderstorms and not storms and not scorching heat, lute frosts do not separate them ...
Category

1990s Photorealist Art

Materials

Charcoal, Pencil

Tori Amos Vintage Print 12"x16" by Jake Chessum
Located in Austin, TX
Original hand-printed vintage 12x16” darkroom print from photographer Jake Chessum of Tori Amos. Printed by Jake in the 90's, at the time of the photo shoot. Jake recalls the sessio...
Category

1990s Photorealist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

David Bowie Scary Monsters Clown Contact Sheet by Duffy
Located in Austin, TX
Museum quality contact sheet print of David Bowie in the Scary Monsters Clown costume from the official Duffy Archive. Taken from the original negatives from the Scary Monsters and ...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Rock and Roll Circus Group Portrait
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition, archival pigment print from photographer Alec Byrne, taken during the Rock and Roll Circus taping on December 11th, 1968 featuring, ...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment, Silver Gelatin

Patti Smith portrait by Lynn Goldsmith signed limited edition 16x20" print
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition 16x20"" print of Patti Smith taken in 1978 by Lynn Goldsmith. Limited edition number 3/20 Modern C-type print. Available for immediate shipping. Lynn Goldsm...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

"Canyon de Chelle" #1 - Desert Landscape Photograph
Located in Soquel, CA
Iconic desert landscape photograph of Canyon de Chelly National Monument by an unknown artist (American, 20th Century), 1984. Signed "CJB" in the lower right corner. Dated "April '84...
Category

1980s Photorealist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Le Tre Vespe, Roma 1962 - Contemporary Black & White Photography
Located in Brussels, BE
Artwork # 3 on 5 sold in perfect condition Limited Edition of 5 + 2 AP The 3 Vespas but also the 3 buzzing and twirling “bees”, since this is the translation of this Italian brand...
Category

1960s Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

The Beatles Shea Stadium 1965
Located in Austin, TX
The Beatles, approaching the stage at Shea Stadium by Robert Whitaker. The Beatles walking onto the field at Shea Stadium in New York City. This show ...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Aspettando il fumo bianco, Roma 1968 - Contemporary Black & White Photography
Located in Brussels, BE
Artwork # 1 on 5 sold in perfect condition Limited Edition of 5 + 2 AP Artwork printed on baryta paper 310 grs museum quality pigment inks, limited edition of 7 copies in total Br...
Category

1960s Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

The Rolling Stones "Out Of Our Heads" by Gered Mankowitz
Located in Austin, TX
The Rolling Stones, taken in London back in 1965 by Gered Mankowitz. This image was used for the cover of Out Of Our Heads. Featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

1980s Vintage American Street Scene Painting, Landscape with Taxi Cabs
By Val Lewton
Located in Surfside, FL
Val Edwin Lewton (May 23, 1937 – April 24, 2015) was a painter and museum exhibition designer. As an artist, he created Realist acrylic paintings and watercolors of urban and suburban scenes, predominantly in the Washington, D.C., area, where he lived and exhibited. Val Lewton was born May 23, 1937, in Santa Monica, California. His father, also named Val Lewton, produced a string of successful and influential B movies for RKO Pictures, including Cat People (1942) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943). His mother, Ruth Knapp, was a painter and teacher of autistic children. He graduated in 1959 from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and earned a master's degree in fine arts from Claremont University in 1962. After moving to Washington, D.C., he served on the staff of the Smithsonian American Art Museum for 32 years, simultaneously maintaining a career as a painter in his own right. Lewton died in 2015s oon afterwards, exhibitions of his paintings were planned for the Katzen Arts Center (June 17 – August 13, 2017) and Addison/Ripley Fine Art (June 3 – July 8, 2017). Chiefly known for his landscapes, Lewton generally depicted cities and suburbs with a detached, impersonal sensibility. Writing about his watercolors in Arts magazine in 1980, Harry Rand observed, “Either by implication or statement, personalities are absent from Lewton’s work; there is hardly a sense of the lives that move through those spaces he describes.” The critic compared the artist to Fairfield Porter, Edward Hopper, and Charles Sheeler. Lewton painted from a young age. On a family trip to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, he discovered the work of Henri Matisse, an encounter that permanently influenced his artistic vision. In the early 1960s, Lewton lived in southern California and taught art classes at the University of California Riverside. During this period, he was inspired by the paintings of Roger Kuntz...
Category

1980s Photorealist Art

Materials

Acrylic, Archival Paper

Jack Nicholson
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition archival print of Jack Nicholson at the Carlisle Hotel, March 1981 by Allan Tannenbaum. Allan Tannenbaum prints are available in...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Manhattan Rythm
Located in Slovak Republic, SK
Black and White, 1965 NYC a part of book which Kallay prepared for a German publisher.
Category

1960s Photorealist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper

Wines and Liquors, Photorealist Lithograph by Harry McCormick
Located in Long Island City, NY
Harry McCormick, American (1942 - ) - Wines and Liquors. Year: circa 1979, Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: AP, Image Size: 12 x 23 inches, Size: 18 in. x ...
Category

1970s Photorealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Robert & Patti, New York 1969 “Patti with Cigarette”
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition fine art print of Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, taken in her kitchen in New York by celebrated photographer and filmmaker, Norman Seeff in 1969. This Patty Smith...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Still Life with Sugars, Photorealist Screenprint by Ralph Goings
Located in Long Island City, NY
Still Life with Sugars Ralph Goings American (1928–2016) Date: 1981 Screenprint, signed and numbered in pencil Edition of AP 34/40 Image Size: 19 x 20 inches Size: 22 in. x 23 in. ...
Category

1980s Photorealist Art

Materials

Screen

Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith, New York 1969 by Norman Seeff
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition fine art print of Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, taken in her kitchen in New York by celebrated photographer and filmmaker, Norman Seeff in 1969. This P...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Bob Dylan Contact Sheet Print
Located in Austin, TX
Contact sheet of Bob Dylan, taken at the BBC TV Studios, London 1965 by Barrie Wentzell Barrie recalls : On the first of June, 1965, Bob came to the BBC Studios in London, to do a live concert. I went along to rehearsals but the studio was empty, so I headed off to the canteen bar where I ran into some musicians I knew from The Pretty Things. Sitting a few tables away were Bob Dylan and his chum Bobby Neuwirth. I sat and chatted with the Pretty Things, who later would be immortalized in a line in one of Bob’s songs, “The Sweet Pretty Things are in bed now, of course. This Bob Dylan print...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Giclée

Prayer Beads, Western Tibet
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Prayer Beads, Western Tibet" c.1998, is a photograph by American artist Lisa Kristine, b.1965. It is stamp signed and titled on the back. The photograph size is ...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Other Medium

Austria Voralberg Alps original vintage skiing travel poster Silvretta
Located in London, GB
To see our other original vintage travel posters, many of which have Austrian subjects, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this seller" - or s...
Category

1950s Photorealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

'SCIMPANZE' WITH EYES - Black and white photograph Italy 1970s
Located in Napoli, IT
Small Photograph on photographic paper titled "Chimpanzee with Glasses" on ivory paper passpartu' and a 1970s briar frame
Category

1970s Photorealist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper

Jimmy Page Led Zeppelin live on stage 1975
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition print of Jimmy Page, lead guitarist of British rock band Led Zeppelin on stage at the Olympia stadium in Detroit, US, January 31, 1975, taken by Michael Brenna...
Category

1970s Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Jimi Hendrix by Baron Wolman rare signed platinum print
Located in Austin, TX
JIMI HENDRIX ON STAGE AT THE WINTERLAND BALLROOM IN SAN FRANCISCO, FEBRUARY 1968. One copy available Signed limited edition #7/150 Rare signed platinum print with deckled bottom edge
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Platinum

The Rolling Stones "Mick Feeding Goat" Beggars Banquet by Michael Joseph framed
Located in Austin, TX
The Rolling Stones "Mick Feeding Goat" - Outtake from the famous photo shoot of The Rolling Stones for their Beggars Banquet album at Sarum Chase mansion, Hampstead, London, 1968, si...
Category

1960s Photorealist Art

Materials

C Print

Muhammad Ali
Located in Austin, TX
Signed limited edition archival print of Muhammad Ali shadow boxes at his Deer Lake, PA, training camp. Taken by Allan Tannenbaum in 1977. Allan Tannenbaum prints are available in t...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Red Hot Chili Peppers by Ebet Roberts
Located in Austin, TX
A classic, stunning shot of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1985 by celebrated photographer, Ebet Roberts. Signed limited edition, hand printed sil...
Category

Late 20th Century Photorealist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Howard Kanovitz, "The Ground Above Us", Color photorealist lithograph, Signed/N
Located in New York, NY
Howard Kanovitz The Ground Above Us, 1980 Color lithograph on wove paper with deckled edges by renowned photo realist pioneer Signed and numbered from the limited edition of 175 in ...
Category

1980s Photorealist Art

Materials

Lithograph

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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