Realist Art
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.
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1840s Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Oil, Linen
1960s Realist Art
Lambda
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Jesse Aldana presents a skyscape from a ground-level angle in realistic detail. White clouds, flattened in their haste, race across the sky. It leaves ...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Oil
Late 19th Century Realist Art
Watercolor, Photographic Paper
Late 19th Century Realist Art
Canvas, Oil, Linen, Wood, Cotton Canvas
2010s Realist Art
Glass, Blown Glass
Mid-19th Century Realist Art
Oil
2010s Realist Art
Oil
1980s Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
1980s Realist Art
Lithograph, Offset
1960s Realist Art
Etching
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Art
Acrylic
1960s Realist Art
Lambda
1970s Realist Art
Lambda
1970s Realist Art
Lambda
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
19th Century Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Art
Gold Leaf, Silver
1990s Realist Art
Lithograph
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Oil
Late 19th Century Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-19th Century Realist Art
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Brass
1950s Realist Art
Lambda
1910s Realist Art
Oil
2010s Realist Art
Oil
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1950s Realist Art
Lambda
1980s Realist Art
Lambda
Artist Comments
Artist Jesse Aldana presents an expansive view of Los Angeles, showing the famous Hollywood sign in the distance. The piece captures a dramatic passage from a...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
1860s Realist Art
Bronze
Late 19th Century Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
1930s Realist Art
Lithograph
2010s Realist Art
Oil, Wood Panel
1910s Realist Art
Oil
Late 19th Century Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
1980s Realist Art
Paper, Etching, Intaglio
Artist Comments
A house proudly stands against a fiery sky, its weathered walls and darkened windows hinting at stories left untold. Artist Art Clark drew inspiration from his ...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Realist Art
Canvas, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Lambda
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Lambda
2010s Realist Art
Oil, Acrylic
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Lacquer, Oil
2010s Realist Art
Oil, Panel
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
1950s Realist Art
Lambda
1830s Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Paper, Charcoal
Late 19th Century Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Art
Oil, Panel
2010s Realist Art
Oil, Canvas
1950s Realist Art
Paper, Oil, Cardboard
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Realist Art
Etching
1980s Realist Art
Lambda
2010s Realist Art
Gold Leaf
2010s Realist Art
Paper, Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Oil, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Oil
Early 20th Century Realist Art
Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Art
Oil, Board
1990s Realist Art
Lithograph
1960s Realist Art
Lambda
2010s Realist Art
Paper, Parchment Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
Mid-20th Century Realist Art
Lithograph