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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
That Time It Snowed on the Hollywood Sign, Oil Painting
That Time It Snowed on the Hollywood Sign, Oil Painting

That Time It Snowed on the Hollywood Sign, Oil Painting

By Jesse Aldana

Located in San Francisco, CA

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...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Christ Church Oxford College, William Nicholson lithograph 1905 Stafford Gallery

Christ Church Oxford College, William Nicholson lithograph 1905 Stafford Gallery

By William Nicholson

Located in London, GB

To see our other views of Oxford and Cambridge, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot find the view you want. William Nicholson Canterbury Gate, Christ Church, Oxford College Published by Stafford Gallery...

Category

Early 1900s Realist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Quadtych of Pocket Selection: 2 Tulips, Strawberry and Bumble bee, Floral Nature
Quadtych of Pocket Selection: 2 Tulips, Strawberry and Bumble bee, Floral Nature

Quadtych of Pocket Selection: 2 Tulips, Strawberry and Bumble bee, Floral Nature

By Dani Humberstone

Located in Deddington, GB

A quadtych of 4 original paintings all created in 2024 by Dani Humberstone. When placed directly beside one another in square formation: 30 H x 30 W x 3 D cm (11.81 x 11.81 x 1.18 in) SIZE OF EACH INDIVIDUAL PAINTING: Image size: Height: 5cm (1.97 in) Width: 5cm (1.97 in) Complete size of unframed painting Height: 5cm (1.97 in) Width: 5cm (1.97 in) Depth: 1cm (0.39 in) Framed Size: Height: 15cm (5.91 in) Width: 15cm (5.91 in) Depth: 3cm (1.18 in) Please note that insitu images are purely an indication of how a piece may look. ____ Pocket Striped Bellona Tulip Pocket Striped Bellona Tulip is an original oil painting by Dani Humberstone as part of her Pocket Painting series featuring small scale realistic oil paintings, with a nod to baroque still life painting. The paintings are set in a black wood layered frame...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Arrangement XVII, Realist Oil Painting
Arrangement XVII, Realist Oil Painting

Arrangement XVII, Realist Oil Painting

By Zane York

Located in Palm Beach, FL

Zane York deftly walks the line between playfulness and profundity. Drawing inspiration from the inherent strangeness of the natural world, York imbues quotidian scenes with subtle e...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Penthouse Pool, Estate Edition, Poolside Landscape with Acropolis, Athens Greece
Penthouse Pool, Estate Edition, Poolside Landscape with Acropolis, Athens Greece

Penthouse Pool, Estate Edition, Poolside Landscape with Acropolis, Athens Greece

By Slim Aarons

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Slim Aarons’s Penthouse Pool captures a sunlit moment of casual glamour at the Canellopoulos penthouse pool in Athens, Greece. Taken in July 1961, the photograph shows a group of you...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Lambda

"Autobiography" Aaron Bohrod, Pun Humor, Cars, Realism, Motoring
"Autobiography" Aaron Bohrod, Pun Humor, Cars, Realism, Motoring

"Autobiography" Aaron Bohrod, Pun Humor, Cars, Realism, Motoring

By Aaron Bohrod

Located in New York, NY

Aaron Bohrod Autobiography, 1991 Signed lower right Oil on gesso board 12 x 16 inches Aaron Bohrod's work has not been limited to one style or medium. Initially recognized as a regionalist painter of American scenes, particularly of his native Chicago, Bohrod later devoted himself to detailed still-life paintings rendered in the trompe l'oeil style. He also worked for several years in ceramics and wrote a book on pottery. Born in 1907, Bohrod began his studies at Chicago's Crane Junior College in 1925, and two years later enrolled in the Art Institute of Chicago. But it was at the Art Students League in New York City, from 1930 to 1932, that he studied under the man believed to be his most significant early influence, John Sloan. Sloan's romantic realism is reflected in the many depictions of Chicago life...

Category

1990s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

DIALOGUE
DIALOGUE

DIALOGUE

Located in Zofingen, AG

There is no greater source of inspiration and frustration than human. Have you thought about it? A person is like a reflection of God.. As a unique personality, which is not repeated...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Penthouse Pool, Estate Edition, Poolside Landscape with Acropolis, Athens Greece
Penthouse Pool, Estate Edition, Poolside Landscape with Acropolis, Athens Greece

Penthouse Pool, Estate Edition, Poolside Landscape with Acropolis, Athens Greece

By Slim Aarons

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Slim Aarons’s Penthouse Pool captures a sunlit moment of casual glamour at the Canellopoulos penthouse pool in Athens, Greece. Taken in July 1961, the photograph shows a group of you...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Lambda

A noble bulldog

A noble bulldog

Located in London, GB

Walter Herbert Wheeler (British, 1868-1960) A noble bulldog signed ‘WH Wheeler (lower right) oil on board 7 ¾ x 7 ¼ in. (19.7 x 18.3 cm.) with frame 10 x 9 ¾ in. (25.4 x 24.8 cm.) ...

Category

Early 1900s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - Beach

Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - Beach

By Su Yu

Located in Paris, IDF

Oil on canvas Su Yu is a Chinese artist born in 1987 who lives and works in Beijing. He was an old student of prestigious art teachers as Shi Liang & Chen Danqing at Oil Paintin...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

French Seascape, Oil on Board
French Seascape, Oil on Board

French Seascape, Oil on Board

By Jules Leblay

Located in Surfside, FL

Oil on board, french artist, SIGNED. Seascape painting with a lone figure standing by the shore set against an architectural background. A path is drawn in the sand from the figure. ...

Category

20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Morning in the Old town  oil/canvas, 70x90 cm, 2019
Morning in the Old town  oil/canvas, 70x90 cm, 2019

Morning in the Old town oil/canvas, 70x90 cm, 2019

By Igor Maikov

Located in Riga, LV

Igor Maikov (1966) Education: 1981 - 1984 The Art Academy of Latvia 1973 - 1983 Salaspils Primary and Secondary School Exhibitions: 1994 - Group Exhibition «Rol-Art», Latvia ...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A Time Not Forgotten
A Time Not Forgotten

A Time Not Forgotten

Located in Colorado Springs, CO

Original Oil on Canvas painting by John DeMott. Framed size: 108.5" X 68.5"

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Dreaming of Palm Trees, Original Painting
Dreaming of Palm Trees, Original Painting

Dreaming of Palm Trees, Original Painting

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist John Jaster shares a relaxing summer scene of blue skies over a turquoise sea lapping onto a white sandy beach. Two empty red chairs await to be filled...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Acrylic

Les Danseurs Espagnols Teresa and Luisillo
Les Danseurs Espagnols Teresa and Luisillo

Les Danseurs Espagnols Teresa and Luisillo

Located in San Francisco, CA

This artwork titled "Les Danseurs Espagnols Teresa an Luisillo" referring to the famous Flamenco dancers, Teresa Viera Romero and Luis Perez Davila A.KA Luisillo, is a watercolor, on...

Category

Mid-20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

Winter Morning
Winter Morning

Winter Morning

By Michelle Dunaway

Located in Pasadena, CA

Provenance Acquired by the gallery directly from the artist Signed "Dunaway" on lower left Artist Statement “I often will go on painting trips with other artists to remote locations to do plein air sketches and gather reference for larger studio paintings. This was painted from a winter painting trip to Montana, where about ten of us gathered together at a cabin in February to paint landscapes and portraits in the snow. The morning when I saw this scene, we were all heading out into the fresh snow to go paint landscape—my artist friend was standing just outside the door of the cabin in this pose, contemplating the day ahead and looking like a painting himself! The early morning sky was white, as fresh snow was falling all around, blanketing the landscape and tree behind him. I knew this was a moment I had to capture in paint—an artist immersed in reflective thought on a winter morning.” —Michelle Dunaway...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

“Chono Ca Pe, An Ottoe Chief”
“Chono Ca Pe, An Ottoe Chief”

“Chono Ca Pe, An Ottoe Chief”

Located in San Francisco, CA

Chono Ca Pe, is the remarkably handsome man looking back at us across some 200 years, expressing a certain wariness of the white man painting him. Also known as Big Kansas, the sitte...

Category

Mid-19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Mad River View

Mad River View

By Frank P. Corso

Located in Greenwich, CT

Landscape oil painting of a clearing along Vermont's famed and picturesque Mad River. The scene shows a shallow part of the river with sandy shores and a small ford or waterfall by a...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

White Egret
White Egret

White Egret

By John James Audubon

Located in Columbia, MO

John James Audubon (American, 1785–1851) Not signed John James Audubon was born in Haiti in 1785. Most of his childhood was spent in France, where he first took interest in birds and...

Category

19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Pedestrian Walkway, PCH
Pedestrian Walkway, PCH

Pedestrian Walkway, PCH

By Tony Peters

Located in Pasadena, CA

Provenance Acquired by the gallery directly from the artist Signed "Peters" on lower left Description Reminiscent of Roger E. Kuntz's geometric paintings of the Los Angeles Freewa...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Nailsmith Houses, Late 19th Century Rattenberg Austria Historical Landscape
The Nailsmith Houses, Late 19th Century Rattenberg Austria Historical Landscape

The Nailsmith Houses, Late 19th Century Rattenberg Austria Historical Landscape

Located in Soquel, CA

The Nailsmith Houses, Late 19th Century Rattenberg Austria Historical Landscape Exquisitely detailed 1888 watercolor of The Nailsmith Houses, a historical building in Rattenberg, A...

Category

1880s Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Illustration Board

Kumasaka Chōhan to Ushiwakamaru - One of a Diptych Original Woodcut Print
Kumasaka Chōhan to Ushiwakamaru - One of a Diptych Original Woodcut Print

Kumasaka Chōhan to Ushiwakamaru - One of a Diptych Original Woodcut Print

By Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)

Located in Soquel, CA

Kumasaka Chōhan to Ushiwakamaru is a Japanese Ukiyo-e print created between 1848 and 1854 by artist Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese, 1786-1864). The print is a Diptych, and is part of the...

Category

1850s Realist Art

Materials

Printer's Ink, Rice Paper, Woodcut

Benita
Benita

Benita

By R.C. Gorman

Located in San Francisco, CA

This artwork titled "Benita" first state, 1981 Is an original lithograph on Wove paper by renown Navajo artist Rudolph Carl Gorman, 1932-2005. It is signed, dated and numbered 122/180 in pencil by the artist. With the blind stamp of the artist and printer. The image size is 22 x 30 inches, the sheet size is 24 x 31.75 inches. It is in excellent condition, has never been framed, the colors are fresh bright. About the artist: Born in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona and raised in a hogan on the Navajo Reservation, R.C. Gorman became one of the Southwest's best known late 20th-century artists. His signature works were Navajo women in a variety of poses. Many persons have been fascinated by the fact that he, an Indian artist, became famous in the white man's world with some calling him the "Picasso of Indian artists". Of this kind of attention, he said: "I wish people would quit pushing my being Indian. The only time I was interviewed as If I were a normal person was by the Jewish Press in Tucson. It was the first time I felt international and almost white". (Samuels 222) His parents were Carl Nelson...

Category

Late 20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Blue Falcon
Blue Falcon

Blue Falcon

By Tony Peters

Located in Pasadena, CA

Provenance Acquired by the gallery directly from the artist Signed "Peters" on lower right corner. FRAMED: 9.875" x 15.875" x 1.375" UNFRAMED: 16" x 24" Artist's Statement: "While driving south on the 5 Freeway, I spotted this classic 1965 Falcon Futura convertible and had to follow it for a while. The design was beautiful -- sleek and moderne with personality and character. The light blue color blended into the perfect southern California sky...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Interior scenes"
"Interior scenes"

"Interior scenes"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

Lorenzo Gramiccia (1702–1795) – 18th-Century Interior Scene Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: Framed: 56 x 68 cm Flat: 50 x 59 cm Signature: Present Backside: Inscription with 2 s...

Category

19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Tea with Lemon, Painting, Oil on Canvas

Tea with Lemon, Painting, Oil on Canvas

By Grace Diehl

Located in Yardley, PA

I have been an artist for most of my life. Throughout my creative journey, I have had the pleasure of studying with many established artists. My current studies are under private men...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

"Matilda"
"Matilda"

"Matilda"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

The painting depicts a moment from the film “Leon.” The moment when Mathilda placed Leon's flower on the windowsill. At this moment, Mathilda leaned her body on the windowsill, resti...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Venice Sailboats, Italy
Venice Sailboats, Italy

Venice Sailboats, Italy

By Josef Eidenberger

Located in San Francisco, CA

This artwork titled "Venice Sailboats" c. 1975 is an color etching by noted Austrian artist Josef Eidenberger, 1899-1991. It is hand signed n pencil by the artist. The plate mark (i...

Category

Mid-20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Etching

Koko, with her favourite ball
Koko, with her favourite ball

Koko, with her favourite ball

Located in London, GB

Vivian Evans, circa 1907 Koko, with her favourite ball signed and dated ‘VIVIAN EVANS. 1907.' (lower right) oil on canvas 10 ¾ x 15 ¾ in. (27.3 x 40 cm.) frame 17 x 22 in. (43.2 x 55...

Category

Early 20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

French school 1920s Brittany Brittons Village fair Pont-Aven Cornouaille
French school 1920s Brittany Brittons Village fair Pont-Aven Cornouaille

French school 1920s Brittany Brittons Village fair Pont-Aven Cornouaille

Located in PARIS, FR

J. BREYNAT (XXth century) Oil on cardboard 20 x 30 cm (28 x 38 cm with the frame) Signed and dated lower left "J. Breynat / 1921" Beautiful carved wooden frame from the 19th century ...

Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

20. Curious shells

20. Curious shells

By Maria Sibylla Merian

Located in Columbia, MO

Maria Sibylla Merian was born in Germany in 1647 and received early artistic training from her stepfather, an established still life painter. She was fascinated by insects and collec...

Category

18th Century Realist Art

Materials

Pigment

Starfish. 2008. Canvas, oil, 50x65 cm
Starfish. 2008. Canvas, oil, 50x65 cm

Starfish. 2008. Canvas, oil, 50x65 cm

By Igor Maikov

Located in Riga, LV

Igor Maikov (1966) Education: 1981 - 1984 The Art Academy of Latvia 1973 - 1983 Salaspils Primary and Secondary School Exhibitions: 1994 - Group Exhibition «Rol-Art», Latvia ...

Category

Early 2000s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Game"
"Game"

"Game"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

Reflections on the irony of life

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

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.