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Realist Art

15,198 Results
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
Man sitting in the studio - Thinking about art -
Man sitting in the studio - Thinking about art -

Man sitting in the studio - Thinking about art -

Located in Berlin, DE

Adolph Eduard Otto von Faber du Faur (1828 Ludwigsburg - 1901 Munich). Man sitting in the studio. Watercolour painting, 43 x 27 cm (visible size), 73 x 53 cm (frame), monogrammed at lower right, estate stamp. Upper right corner neatly repaired, small tear in the wall to the left of the sitter. - Thinking about art - About the artwork The sitter, an elderly man, is seated in a studio on a pedestal reminiscent of an academy hall. The earthy, dark tones give the scene a weighty quality. The lightest tones are found in the incarnate parts of the figure, which do not stand out from the other colours of the picture, but are linked to them. As a result, the sitter's face is both part of and the highlight of the colour references in the picture. The colour of the sitter's skin is reflected in his pink coat, while his white-grey hair matches the colour of the wall next to him. This almost monochrome wall surface, in turn, is connected across the portrait to the framed picture standing on the floor, which seems to have been erased by this correspondence with the empty wall surface. Through the palette, which is positioned directly behind the sitter's head, the reference to painting, which is already given by the studio space, is explicitly linked to the sitter, who thus seems to be contemplating the question of the meaning of art. This raises the question of whether Faber Du Faur, who had become lonely in his old age, might have painted a self-portrait here in his later years. In addition to the studio setting, the sitter's explicit reference to the palette and the fact that the picture was part of his estate, the only summary elaboration of the body suggests a self-portrait, while the representation of the face is concretised with the wide-open eyes typical of a self-portrait. This concentration on the face gives the impression of the artist's melancholy introspection, captured by the palette and related to the meaning of painting, whose dark character is reinforced by the concealment of the palette hanging on the right of the picture in the light tones so characteristic of Faber Du Faur. In the course of this resignation, Faber du Faur advises his son Hans, who has also become a painter: "Promise me one thing: never move to Munich, they'll kill you here!" Whoever the sitter may be, the references to painting make the portrait a resigned self-contemplation by Faber Du Faur, focused on art. About the artist After leaving school, Otto Faber du Faur entered the service of the Württemberg army, at the same time cultivating his artistic talent. In 1851, on the recommendation of his father Christian Wilhelm, who was himself a battle painter, he spent six months in Munich as an apprentice to Alexander von Kotzebue. In 1852 he was granted a year's leave of absence from military service to study battle painting in the studio of Adolphe Yvon...

Category

1890s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

Viburnum
Viburnum

Viburnum

Located in Edinburgh, GB

Size: 80x90 cm. „Viburnum“. 1974 year. Oil on canvas. Nina Volkova (1917–1993) was a Ukrainian painter. She graduated from the Dnipropetrovsk Art College (1936) and the Kyiv Art In...

Category

1950s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Bahamas
The Bahamas

The Bahamas

By Slim Aarons

Located in Los Angeles, CA

A swimming pool, seen through the fronds of a palm tree, with two people swimming and a group of people sitting at tables at the poolside in the Bahamas, May 1967. Beyond the pool is...

Category

1960s Realist Art

Materials

Lambda

"Rosi" Oil Painting

"Rosi" Oil Painting

By Jason Walker

Located in Denver, CO

Jason Walker's (CAN based) "Rosi" is an oil painting that depicts a realistic portrait of a feminine face at three quarters view with a dark background and luminous green light

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

The Chinese Jacket - 20th Century British drawing of a Woman

The Chinese Jacket - 20th Century British drawing of a Woman

Located in London, GB

CAROLYN SERGEANT (1937-2018) Woman in a Chinese Jacket Pencil, unframed 49.5 by 36 cm., 19 ½ by 14 ¼ in. (mount size 65.5 by 51.5 cm., 25 ¾ by 20 ¼ in.) Carolyn Cann studied at ...

Category

1960s Realist Art

Materials

Pencil

Antique 19th Century Norwegian Artists Oil Painting Pastoral Windmill Shepherd
Antique 19th Century Norwegian Artists Oil Painting Pastoral Windmill Shepherd

Antique 19th Century Norwegian Artists Oil Painting Pastoral Windmill Shepherd

Located in Stockholm, SE

Attributed to Morten Müller (1828-1911) and Olaf Christopher Dahl (1842-1895), signed lower right, this extraordinary antique oil painting captures the timeless beauty of 19th century Norwegian pastoral landscape. This exceptional collaborative masterpiece, painted circa 1870-1880 during the golden age of Norwegian landscape art, depicts an enchanting countryside scene where a young shepherd boy guides his cattle to a tranquil watering hole. The composition unfolds like a gentle poem of rural life, with lush vegetation embracing rolling hills while an ancient windmill stands majestically on the distant hillside, creating striking focal point and masterful perspective. Rich oil painting technique reveals the artists' shared vision of Norway's serene countryside, where peaceful pastoral tranquility below contrasts dramatically with gathering storm clouds above. This romantic Norwegian landscape tradition showcases nuanced brushwork and atmospheric effects that exemplify the peak of Scandinavian art movement. Both renowned Norwegian artists are prominently featured in National Museum Oslo permanent collection, confirming their significant contribution to Nordic artistic heritage. This rare antique oil painting represents sublime testament to 19th century collaborative artistry, where two masters united their talents to create lasting vision of Norway's natural beauty. Size app.: 46 x 69 cm (roughly 18.1 x 27.2 in), with frame 60 x 84 cm cm (roughly 23.6 x 33.1 in). Good condition with wear, tiny losses to paint in minor areas and craquelure. So it needs minor care and conservation. Please study good resolution images for overall cosmetic condition. In person actual painting may appear darker or brighter than in our pictures, strictly depending on sufficient light in your environment. Weight of app. 4.4 kg is going to measure some 6 kg volume weight packed for shipment. Morten Müller began his art studies with Adolph Tidemand and Hans Gude in Düsseldorf, Germany, from 1847 to 1848. From 1850 he was again a student at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, with Johann Wilhelm Schirmer as a teacher. From 1850 to 1851, Müller painted with the Swedish landscape painter Marcus...

Category

Late 19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Wood, Oil

Coronaleader JB, Painting, Oil on MDF Panel
Coronaleader JB, Painting, Oil on MDF Panel

Coronaleader JB, Painting, Oil on MDF Panel

By Victor Tarres

Located in Yardley, PA

A portrait of Brazil'spresident, Jair Bolsonaro vested in unusual garments. :: Painting :: Realism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the arti...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

"The journey matters more than the destination."
"The journey matters more than the destination."

"The journey matters more than the destination."

By Irina Burda

Located in Zofingen, AG

Title: The Journey Matters More Than the Destination Description: This work is a map of an invisible terrain, where direction is set not by external markers but by inner landscapes. ...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Carbon Pencil

Henry Etching and Engraving: Garden, Realist, Signed, 1993, 153/250
Henry Etching and Engraving: Garden, Realist, Signed, 1993, 153/250

Henry Etching and Engraving: Garden, Realist, Signed, 1993, 153/250

By Peter Milton

Located in New York, NY

Peter Milton created this etching and engraving entitled “GARDEN WITH HENRY” in 1993. It is signed, titled, dated, and inscribed “153/250” in pencil under the image. The printed image size is 9.5 x 12 inches and the paper size is 15.5 x 18 inches. The inspiration for this piece came from the Henry James novella “The Aspern Papers” and clearly depicts the Venetian setting. The American-British author Henry James (1843-1916) wrote “The Aspern Papers” first published in 1888. Peter Milton was born in Pennsylvania in 1930. He studied for two years at the Virginia Military Institute...

Category

1990s Realist Art

Materials

Engraving, Etching

38. Musk-thistle, Syrphid-fly

38. Musk-thistle, Syrphid-fly

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

Still Life with Decanter by Philadelphia Artist Larry Day, 1962
Still Life with Decanter by Philadelphia Artist Larry Day, 1962

Still Life with Decanter by Philadelphia Artist Larry Day, 1962

Located in Philadelphia, PA

Larry Day (American, 1921-1998) Still Life with Decanter Oil on canvas, 33 3/4 x 41 3/ 4 inches FRAMED: 41 x 49 inches (approx.) Signed at lower right: “Day” Exhibition label on str...

Category

1960s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Serene Countryside Scene with Trees, a Tranquil Pond and a Charming Cottage
Serene Countryside Scene with Trees, a Tranquil Pond and a Charming Cottage

Serene Countryside Scene with Trees, a Tranquil Pond and a Charming Cottage

Located in Preston, GB

Serene Countryside Scene with Trees, a Tranquil Pond and a Charming Cottage by 20th Century German Artist, Krahn. Art measures 20 x 16 inches Frame measures 24 x 20 inches This pa...

Category

20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Oil

Cross Up

Cross Up

By Catherine Koenig

Located in Buffalo, NY

An original realist pastel drawing by American female artist Catherine Koenig.

Category

1990s Realist Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Oil Pastel

Black Pearl Trippers
Black Pearl Trippers

Black Pearl Trippers

By Slim Aarons

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Henry B. Cabot Jr. (standing, centre) with his son Henry Bromfield Cabot III and their host Barclay (Buzzy) H Warburton III (in striped shirt) aboard the brigantine 'Black Pearl', ci...

Category

1960s Realist Art

Materials

Lambda

Big Momma in Profile: Tempera on Book Board, Realist Art, 21st Century
Big Momma in Profile: Tempera on Book Board, Realist Art, 21st Century

Big Momma in Profile: Tempera on Book Board, Realist Art, 21st Century

By Sedrick Huckaby

Located in Fairlawn, OH

Untitled (Big Momma in Profile) Signed by the artist lower right: "Sedrick Huckaby III" Tempera and gesso on book board (Board size) 32 x 20 inches Frame: 40 x 28-1/2" (101.6 x 72.4 cm.) Exhibited: seenUNseen: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection and the Northeast Ohio Response, The Artists Archive of the Western Reserve and The Sculpture Center, September 20-November 19, 2019 Illustrated: seenUNseen: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection and the Northeast Ohio Response, The Artists Archive of the Western Reserve and The Sculpture Center, page 29 A copy of the catalog accompanies this work when purchased Provenance: Valley House Gallery Sedrick Huckaby's large-scale paintings draw inspiration from his family history and his African-American roots. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Mr. Huckaby received his B.F.A. from Boston University in 1997 and his M.F.A. from Yale University in 1999. He has taught as a professor at Tarrant County College in Forth Worth and currently is a professor of water media at the University of Texas in Arlington. Mr. Huckaby has been honored as a Fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, as a Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellow at the University of Illinois, and as a Brandeis Mortimer Hays Traveling Fellow, which gave him the opportunity to study the works of European masters abroad. His own work has been included in exhibitions at the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Park Avenue Armory in New York City, at the African American Museum in Dallas, at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts in Texas, and at the Hammond House Museum in Atlanta. His work A Love Supreme, comprised of pieces forming an 80-foot long painting of quilts...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Black Pearl Trippers
Black Pearl Trippers

Black Pearl Trippers

By Slim Aarons

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Henry B. Cabot Jr. (standing, centre) with his son Henry Bromfield Cabot III and their host Barclay (Buzzy) H Warburton III (in striped shirt) aboard the brigantine 'Black Pearl', ci...

Category

1960s Realist Art

Materials

Lambda

"Poppies, Jegun" Contemporary Impressionist oil painting en plein air in France
"Poppies, Jegun" Contemporary Impressionist oil painting en plein air in France

"Poppies, Jegun" Contemporary Impressionist oil painting en plein air in France

By Tina Orsolic Dalessio

Located in Sag Harbor, NY

"Poppies, Jegun" is a contemporary Impressionist painting, painted en plein air in rural France. Tina Orsolic Dalessio is a figurative painter born and raised in Zagreb, Croatia. Sh...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Linen, Oil

Rembrandt Tulip
Rembrandt Tulip

Rembrandt Tulip

By David Henry

Located in Greenwich, CT

Unframed Dimensions: 10 x 8 inches Framed Dimensions: 14 x 12 inches David Henry is a contemporary realist painter living in Philadelphia. He has devoted many years developing the a...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Birch, Oil, Panel

'Portrait of a Man', oil on canvas by Jozef Isräels
'Portrait of a Man', oil on canvas by Jozef Isräels

'Portrait of a Man', oil on canvas by Jozef Isräels

Located in London, GB

Jozef Isräels (1824-1911) 'Portrait of a Man' ‍ Oil on canvas 72 x 57 cm, 90 x 77 cm (framed) 1861 Signed and dated middle left 'J. Israels 1861' Jozef Israëls was considered the l...

Category

1860s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'French Harbour in the Morning Light', Jacques Marie Omer Camoreyt (1871 – 1963)
'French Harbour in the Morning Light', Jacques Marie Omer Camoreyt (1871 – 1963)

'French Harbour in the Morning Light', Jacques Marie Omer Camoreyt (1871 – 1963)

By Jacques Marie Omer Camoreyt

Located in Knokke, BE

Jacques Marie Omer Camoreyt Lectoure 1871 – 1963 Ivry-sur-Seine French Painter 'French Harbour in the Morning Light' Signature: signed lower right 'Camoreyt' Medium: oil on canvas ...

Category

Early 20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Broken Fist

Broken Fist

By Nikos Kanarelis

Located in New York, NY

Broken Fist, 2016 Charcoal on paper 30 x 40 cm Signed and dated Kanarelis presents a journey towards the truth, a truth bound to a genuine subjective point of view of the familiar a...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Charcoal, Archival Paper

The spirit of Paganini
The spirit of Paganini

The spirit of Paganini

By Serghei Ghetiu

Located in Zofingen, AG

I poured passion and intensity into this oil painting to capture the soul of a violinist lost in the music. Every brushstroke brings the energy of his mastery and the orchestra’s har...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Zenith" Original oil painting

"Zenith" Original oil painting

By Felicia Forte

Located in Denver, CO

Felicia Forte's painting "Zenith" created in 2016 features a vintage tv with a neon yellow background. Felicia attended the Art Students League of New York in 2006, moving next to...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Slim Aarons 'Grand Hotel Excelsior, Venice' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Slim Aarons 'Grand Hotel Excelsior, Venice' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)

Slim Aarons 'Grand Hotel Excelsior, Venice' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)

By Slim Aarons

Located in Los Angeles, CA

The Westin Excelsior Hotel on the Lido in Venice, 1957. Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate. Certificate of Authenticity included. Slim Aarons Grand Hotel Excelsior, Venice Chromogenic Lambda print Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate Edition Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 20 x 20 inches $2500 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer. Over the course of a career lasting half a century, Slim Aarons (1916-2006) portrayed high society, aristocracy, authors, artists, business icons, the celebrated and their milieu. In doing so, he captured a golden age of wealth, privilege, beauty and leisure that occurred alongside—but quite separate from—the cultural and political backdrop of the second half of the Twentieth Century. The Slim Aarons Estate has released the limited Estate edition as a Lambda print, which is a modern c-type prints. They have chosen Lambda prints for their sharpness, clarity, colour saturation and quality, compared to archival inkjet prints. Lambda printing gives true continuous tone. Photograph is unframed Slide show includes a close-up of the Slim Aarons estate's stamp. Collector will get the next number in the edition * We are pleased to offer the entire archive of the Slim Aarons Estate, offering the official Slim Aarons Estate Edition (only offered in this edition of 150). Please contact us for additional photographs from Slim Aarons * From a recent Vogue article on the photography of Slim Aarons: "Located on the Venice Lido, between the Venetian Lagoon and the Adriatic Sea, the Grand Hotel Excelsior plunges guests into a typically Venetian atmosphere. After mooring on the island, the Virginia creeper-lined palace combines rooms with beautiful views, a pool, and a private beach." # Vintage Venice Lido, Vintage Grand Hotels, Vintage Boating, Vintage Slim Aarons, Vintage Sport Photography, Coastal, Vintage Fifties...

Category

1950s Realist Art

Materials

Lambda

Fiori: Queen Protea
Fiori: Queen Protea

Fiori: Queen Protea

By Susan Manchester

Located in Burlingame, CA

Susan Manchester’s drawings of feathers and flora are meditations on the ephemeral nature of life, and they reflect the artist’s fascination with beauty in all its strangeness. Manch...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Charcoal, Archival Paper

White Amaryllis
White Amaryllis

White Amaryllis

By Susan Manchester

Located in Burlingame, CA

Susan Manchester’s drawings of feathers and flora are meditations on the ephemeral nature of life, and they reflect the artist’s fascination with beauty in all its strangeness. Manch...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Pastel, Archival Paper, Graphite

Portrait of Imogen Cunningham - Black & White Photograph
Portrait of Imogen Cunningham - Black & White Photograph

Portrait of Imogen Cunningham - Black & White Photograph

By Robert Werling

Located in Soquel, CA

A stunning black and white photographic portrait of Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976) by California photographer, Robert Werling (b. 1946). Signed and dated by the artist on the mat, low...

Category

1970s Realist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

"Spotlights",  Original Oil Painting by Tracy Wall
"Spotlights",  Original Oil Painting by Tracy Wall

"Spotlights", Original Oil Painting by Tracy Wall

By Tracy Wall

Located in Denver, CO

Tracy Wall's (Colorado, US based) "Spotlights" is an original, handmade, oil painting that depicts white daisies with green foliage and teal light. As an artist, Tracy Wall sheds new light on everyday life, inviting the viewer to see the familiar as if for the very first time. Working with a variety of subjects, Tracy paints interesting viewpoints with compelling value, color, and shapes. Appealing compositions are everywhere, and they make strong impressions from afar even before the subject matter is recognized. She loves to balance representational impressions with more abstracted compositions. Tracy has studied at the Art Students League of Denver under such influential artists as Michelle Torrez, Ken Velastro, Kevin Weckbach, John Lencicki, and Rob Gratiot while also participated in additional workshops from Sally Strand, Carol Marine...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media

Robert Kenneth White "Desert Ambush" Signed 2006 Oil Painting of Saharan Scene
Robert Kenneth White "Desert Ambush" Signed 2006 Oil Painting of Saharan Scene

Robert Kenneth White "Desert Ambush" Signed 2006 Oil Painting of Saharan Scene

By Robert Kenneth White

Located in Miami, FL

ROBERT KENNETH WHITE – "DESERT AMBUSH" ⚜ Oil on canvas ⚜ Hand signed on verso ⚜ Frameless display SCENE OF SURVIVAL AND POWER IN THE SAHARA "Desert Ambush" captures a stark and emot...

Category

Early 2000s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Edge
The Edge

The Edge

By Michelle Kondos

Located in Colorado Springs, CO

Original Oil Painting signed by the Artist on the lower left.

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

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.