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Realist Art

REALIST STYLE

Realist art attempts to portray its subject matter without artifice. Similar to naturalism, authentic realist paintings and prints see an integration of true-to-life colors, meticulous detail and linear perspectives for accurate portrayals of the world. 

Work that involves illusionistic techniques of realism dates back to the classical world, such as the deceptive trompe l’oeil used since ancient Greece. Art like this became especially popular in the 17th century when Dutch artists like Evert Collier painted objects that appeared real enough to touch. Realism as an artistic movement, however, usually refers to 19th-century French realist artists such as Honoré Daumier exploring social and political issues in biting lithographic prints, while the likes of Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet painting people — particularly the working class — with all their imperfections, navigating everyday urban life. This was a response to the dominant academic art tradition that favored grand paintings of myth and history. 

By the turn of the 20th century, European artists, such as the Pre-Raphaelites, were experimenting with nearly photographic realism in their work, as seen in the attention to every botanical attribute of the flowers surrounding the drowned Ophelia painted by English artist John Everett Millais.

Although abstraction was the guiding style of 20th-century art, the realism trend in American modern art endured in Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth and other artists’ depictions of the complexities of the human experience. In the late 1960s, Photorealism emerged with artists like Chuck Close and Richard Estes giving their paintings the precision of a frame of film.

Contemporary artists such as Jordan Casteel, LaToya Ruby Frazier and Aliza Nisenbaum are now using the unvarnished realist approach for honest representations of people and their worlds. Alongside traditional mediums, technology such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and immersive installations are helping artists create new sensations of realism in art.

​​Find authentic realist paintings, sculptures, prints and more art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Realist
Sauna (San Francisco 1970's Gay Castro photo)

Sauna (San Francisco 1970's Gay Castro photo)

By Fisher Ross

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Fisher Ross Sauna, ca. 1977. Print measures 8 x 10 inches. 2026 digital print from the original in the Fisher Ross Archive. From an edition of 15 on archival paper produced by th...

Category

1970s Realist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper

Hyperrealistic Acrylic Painting 'The Missing Move', 90x120 cm, Signed
Hyperrealistic Acrylic Painting 'The Missing Move', 90x120 cm, Signed

Hyperrealistic Acrylic Painting 'The Missing Move', 90x120 cm, Signed

By Nataliya Bagatskaya

Located in Zofingen, AG

Certain works of art do not describe an event—they preserve its emotional residue. They remind us that the most profound transformations rarely occur in moments of visible drama, but in the quiet intervals that divide life into what existed before and everything that follows. This painting inhabits precisely that elusive territory. The composition presents an interior of remarkable stillness. A young woman, dressed in white and seen only from behind, stands before expansive panoramic windows. Beside her, a black cat quietly shares the moment. In the foreground, an antique billiard table...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

The masquerade
The masquerade

The masquerade

Located in Paris, FR

BALS Wim (1973- ) 'The masquerade' Oil on wood. Signed. Certificate on the back signed by the artist. Willem Bals, known professionally as Wim Bals, is a contemporary Belgian paint...

Category

Early 2000s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Blustery Clouds, Stormy Sky Landscape, Blue Tones, Extra Large Cyanotype, Paper
Blustery Clouds, Stormy Sky Landscape, Blue Tones, Extra Large Cyanotype, Paper

Blustery Clouds, Stormy Sky Landscape, Blue Tones, Extra Large Cyanotype, Paper

By Kind of Cyan

Located in Barcelona, ES

This is an exclusive handprinted limited edition cyanotype. "Blustery Clouds" is an cyanotype of the semi-abstract patterns of clouds in the sky after a storm. Details: + Title: Blu...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Emulsion, Watercolor, Etching, Lithograph

Two Daschounds. An antique painting of dogs framed and signed
Two Daschounds. An antique painting of dogs framed and signed

Two Daschounds. An antique painting of dogs framed and signed

Located in St. Albans, GB

Heinrich SPERLING German School Picture Size: 15 x 18" (38 x 46cm) Framed Size: 22 x 25" (56 x 64cm) Signed and framed Sperling was born March 23rd 1844 in Warnkenhagen, and died 2...

Category

Late 19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Green Lamp, Woman Reading a Book, Oil on Canvas Interior Painting
The Green Lamp, Woman Reading a Book, Oil on Canvas Interior Painting

The Green Lamp, Woman Reading a Book, Oil on Canvas Interior Painting

Located in Stockholm, Stockholm

In this painting, The Green Lamp, painted by Eva Bagge (1871-1964) presents an intimate interior scene imbued with silence and contemplation. A woman sits comfortably in an armchair,...

Category

1940s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Deep Blue, a life-size mural of the largest great white shark ever filmed
Deep Blue, a life-size mural of the largest great white shark ever filmed

Deep Blue, a life-size mural of the largest great white shark ever filmed

By Tom Rooth

Located in London, GB

This unique artwork depicts 'Deep Blue', the largest great white shark ever caught on camera. Hand-drawn in underglaze pencils across nearly 2,900 individually made and hand-glazed t...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Earthenware, Glaze, Underglaze, Pencil

Pacific Sunset Waves, Contemporary Cyanotype on Paper, Navy Blue, Beach House
Pacific Sunset Waves, Contemporary Cyanotype on Paper, Navy Blue, Beach House

Pacific Sunset Waves, Contemporary Cyanotype on Paper, Navy Blue, Beach House

By Kind of Cyan

Located in Barcelona, ES

This is an exclusive handprinted limited edition cyanotype. "Pacific Sunset Waves" is an original cyanotype that abstractly shows the sunset reflections on the sea. Details: + Titl...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Emulsion, Mixed Media, Watercolor, Photographic Paper, Lithograph, Monop...

"Portrait of a Spaniel, " France 19th century
"Portrait of a Spaniel, " France 19th century

"Portrait of a Spaniel, " France 19th century

Located in SANTA FE, NM

Portrait of a Spaniel France, 19th century Oil on canvas, original gold leaf frame 15 ¾ x 14 ¼ (21 x 19 ½ frame) inches Signed illegibly, lower left Above the signature reads the not...

Category

1850s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

An Artist Working in the Studio 1930
An Artist Working in the Studio 1930

An Artist Working in the Studio 1930

Located in Stockholm, SE

This intimate studio interior from 1930 belongs to the more psychologically engaging side of Carlo Hornung Jensen’s oeuvre. A seated woman has paused beside her easel and turned towa...

Category

1930s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Venetian painter - 19th century Venetian lagoon scene - Bathers on boat
Venetian painter - 19th century Venetian lagoon scene - Bathers on boat

Venetian painter - 19th century Venetian lagoon scene - Bathers on boat

Located in Varmo, IT

Venetian painter (19th century) - Bathers on the Lagoon. 65 x 83 cm (without frame) - 76 x 93.5 cm (with frame). Oil on canvas, in carved and gilded wooden frame (not signed). The...

Category

Late 19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a Young Lady in a Feathered Hat, Signed and Dated 1907
Portrait of a Young Lady in a Feathered Hat, Signed and Dated 1907

Portrait of a Young Lady in a Feathered Hat, Signed and Dated 1907

Located in Stockholm, Stockholm

A portrait of a young lady in a feathered hat, mixed media on canvas. Signed and dated B. Kronstrand -07. This refined half-length portrait depicts an elegantly dressed young woman w...

Category

Early 1900s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media

Bulldog with a Food Bowl-oil on board, early 20th century, French.
Bulldog with a Food Bowl-oil on board, early 20th century, French.

Bulldog with a Food Bowl-oil on board, early 20th century, French.

Located in SANTA FE, NM

Bulldog with a Food Bowl French, early 20th century Oil on board Illegibly signed, lower left 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 (15 x 18 frame) inches A tender and thoughtful portrayal of a seated bul...

Category

Early 20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Antique 19th Century British Oil Painting by G. Wylle Rural Landscape Gilt Frame
Antique 19th Century British Oil Painting by G. Wylle Rural Landscape Gilt Frame

Antique 19th Century British Oil Painting by G. Wylle Rural Landscape Gilt Frame

Located in Palm Coast, FL

Up for sale is an antique British oil painting on canvas, signed “G. Wylle” in the lower area, depicting a picturesque riverside village scene with historic stone buildings, a tower ...

Category

19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Oil

India Madras Painting on board Portrait of Serving Girl with Pot c 1910
India Madras Painting on board Portrait of Serving Girl with Pot c 1910

India Madras Painting on board Portrait of Serving Girl with Pot c 1910

Located in Norfolk, GB

Madras School C 1910 Acrylic on board 11.5" x 8" Address on verso This painting dating to the early 20th century, c 1910, shows a young woman, possibly from Madras (see info on reverse), The colours follow the conventions of a genre of art called Company School painting...

Category

1910s Realist Art

Materials

Mixed Media, Board

La Fille du Régiment
La Fille du Régiment

La Fille du Régiment

By William Wegman

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

WILLIAM WEGMAN (b. 1943) 'La Fille du Régiment', 2007 SIGNED Vintage Oversized Artist's Photography Poster Commissioned for the Metropolitan Opera's 2007-2008 season, renowned arti...

Category

Early 2000s Realist Art

Materials

Offset

During the performance
During the performance

During the performance

By Serghei Ghetiu

Located in Zofingen, AG

In this painting, I captured the delicate grace and strength of a ballerina, blending realism with impressionistic emotion. The doves symbolize freedom and purity, enhancing the sere...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Flowers in the moonlight
Flowers in the moonlight

Flowers in the moonlight

By Irina Trushkova

Located in Zofingen, AG

" Flowers in the Moonlight" captures a quiet arrangement of spring blooms illuminated by a soft, silvery glow against a deep, dark background. Delicate daffodils and hyacinths emerg...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Impressionistic Seascape Painting Michael Budden Beach Day People Boats Birds
Impressionistic Seascape Painting Michael Budden Beach Day People Boats Birds

Impressionistic Seascape Painting Michael Budden Beach Day People Boats Birds

By Michael Budden

Located in Chesterfield, NJ

Beach Day III oil/panel image 8 x 10 unframed, 14.5 x 16.5 framed signed LL Beach Day III is an oil painting on panel by award winning contemporary artist Michael Budden that showca...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

British Chalk Pencil Sketch of a Horse Patiently Waiting at The Wooden Fence
British Chalk Pencil Sketch of a Horse Patiently Waiting at The Wooden Fence

British Chalk Pencil Sketch of a Horse Patiently Waiting at The Wooden Fence

By John Rabone Harvey

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

John Rabone Harvey ( 1966 - 1922) graphic and chalk deep green artist paper , unframed artist paper : 5.5 x 7 inches Provenance: private collection Condition: very good condition Ha...

Category

Mid-19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Chalk, Graphite

British Chalk Pencil Sketch of A Bull Lying Down
British Chalk Pencil Sketch of A Bull Lying Down

British Chalk Pencil Sketch of A Bull Lying Down

By John Rabone Harvey

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

John Rabone Harvey ( 1966 - 1922) graphic and chalk deep green artist paper , unframed artist paper : 5.5 x 7 inches Provenance: private collection Condition: very good condition Ha...

Category

Mid-19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Chalk, Graphite

Pomegranates
Pomegranates

Pomegranates

By Irina Trushkova

Located in Zofingen, AG

The serene ceramic jar anchors the composition, creating a quiet dialogue between matte surfaces and glossy fruit. The carefully draped striped tablecloth introduces rhythm and movem...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Oriental Figure Study in Red and White
Oriental Figure Study in Red and White

Oriental Figure Study in Red and White

Located in Stockholm, SE

Attributed to John Arsenius (1818–1903) Sweden Oriental Figure monogrammed lower left JA oil on panel unframed 26.5 × 15.5 cm (10.4 × 6.1 in) framed 34 × 23 cm (13.4 × 9.1 in) Pro...

Category

Mid-19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

The House of Shango — African American Woman Artist, Signed Lithograph
The House of Shango — African American Woman Artist, Signed Lithograph

The House of Shango — African American Woman Artist, Signed Lithograph

By Samella Lewis

Located in Myrtle Beach, SC

Samella Sanders Lewis, 'The House of Shango', lithograph, 1992, edition 60. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '31/60' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on Arches cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (1 1/4 to 3 1/2 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 24 x 18 inches (610 x 457 mm); sheet size 30 inches x 22 1/4 inches (762 x 565 mm). Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. Impressions of this work are held in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Scripps College. ABOUT THIS WORK “The title of this piece is an unmistakable harkening to African roots. Shango is a religious practice with origins in Yoruba (Nigerian) belief, deifying a god of thunder by the same name. Shango has been adopted in the Caribbean, most notably in Trinidad and Tobago, a fact that underscores the importance of transnationalism to Samella Lewis’s piece. Her work often grapples with issues of race in the U.S., and The House of Shango is no exception. Through a reliance on the gradual transformation of Shango—one that took place across continents and time—Lewis’s piece forms a powerful link between black Americans and their African and Caribbean counterparts. The figure depicted in the piece appears to emerge, quite literally, from the house of Shango. Given the roots and transformative process of the religion, The House of Shango can draw attention to the historical intersections to which black American culture is indebted.” —Laura Woods, Scripps College, Ruth Chander Williamson Gallery, Collection Highlights, 2018 ABOUT THE ARTIST Samella Lewis’ lifelong career as an artist, art historian, critic, curator, collector, and advocate of African American art has helped empower generations of artists in the United States and worldwide, earning her the designation “the Godmother of African American art.” Born and raised in Jim Crow era New Orleans, Lewis began her art education at Dillard University in 1941, transferring to Hampton University in Virginia, where she earned her B. A. and master's degrees. She completed her master's and a doctorate in art history and cultural anthropology at Ohio State University in 1951, becoming the first female African American to earn a doctorate in fine art and art history. Lewis taught art at Morgan State University while completing her doctorate. She became the first Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Florida A&M University in 1953. That same year Lewis also became the first African American to convene the National Conference of African American artists held at Florida A&M University. She was a professor at the State University of New York, California State University, Long Beach, and at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Lewis co-founded, with Bernie Casey, the Contemporary Crafts Gallery in Los Angeles in 1970. In 1973, she served on the selection committee for the exhibition BLACKS: USA: 1973 held at the New York Cultural Center. Samella Lewis's 1969 catalog 'Black Artists on Art', featured accomplished black artists typically overlooked in mainstream art galleries. She said of the book, "I wanted to make a chronology of African American artists, and artists of African descent, to document our history. The historians weren't doing it. It was really about the movement." From the 1960s through the 1970s, her work, which included lithographs, linocuts, and serigraphs, reflected her concerns with the values of human dignity, democracy, and freedom of expression. Between 1969 and 70, Lewis and E.J. Montgomery were consultants for a groundbreaking exhibition at the Oakland Public L designed to create greater awareness of African American history and art. Lewis was the founder of the International Review of African American Art in 1975. In 1976, she founded the Museum of African-American Art with a group of artistic, academic, business, and community leaders in Los Angeles, California. Lewis, the museum’s senior curator, organized exhibitions and developed new ways of educating the public about African American art. She celebrated African American art as an 'art of experience’ inspired by the artists’ lives. And she espoused the concept of African American art as an 'art of tradition', urging museums to explore the African roots of African American art. In 1984, Lewis produced an extensive monograph on Elizabeth Catlett, her beloved mentor at Dillard University. Lewis has been collecting art since 1942, focusing primarily on the WPA era and work created during the Harlem Renaissance. Pieces from her collection were acquired by the Hampton University Museum in Virginia, the world’s earliest collection of African American fine art...

Category

1990s Realist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Realist art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Realist 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, purple, orange, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Slim Aarons, Michael Budden, Daniel Pollera, and Su Yu. 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 Realist art, so small editions measuring 0.1 inches across are also available.