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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
'Siamese Cats', Feline Portrait, Embroidery artist, Shorebird Studio, Watercolor
'Siamese Cats', Feline Portrait, Embroidery artist, Shorebird Studio, Watercolor

'Siamese Cats', Feline Portrait, Embroidery artist, Shorebird Studio, Watercolor

Located in Santa Cruz, CA

'Siamese Cats', Feline Portrait, Embroidery artist, Shorebird Studio, Watercolor Signed lower right, 'Kathryn Molineux' (American, 20th century) and painted circa 1995. Additionally...

Category

1990s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache, Archival Paper

Shortcut, Original Oil Painting

Shortcut, Original Oil Painting

By Mark Harrison

Located in Denver, CO

Mark Harrison's (UK based) "Shortcut" is an oil painting that depicts an urban street with a towering city skyline at night. Sometimes they are silent epic landscapes of the Desert...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Hudson River School, Luminism Oil Painting After Thomas Moran Venice Boats
Hudson River School, Luminism Oil Painting After Thomas Moran Venice Boats

Hudson River School, Luminism Oil Painting After Thomas Moran Venice Boats

By (after) Thomas Moran

Located in Chesterfield, NJ

After Thomas Moran Harbor, Venice oil/canvas board signed LL 15.75 x 20 unframed, 24 x 28 framed Good original as purchased condition in what looks to be a period frame? Possibly original. Signature looks similar to others found online. The last two photos are of similar signatures from two paintings listed in Brunks Auction in 2025. Small dent, lower center, under the two black objects as seen in photo. Might benefit from a light professional cleaning. Purchased at Stair Auctions Also shown here is a similar venetian painting by Moran sold at Shannons Auctioneers 2022 for $162.500 which includes the premium showing a similar signature. Biography Thomas Moran was born 12 February 1837 in Bolton, England, not far from Manchester, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Several generations of the Moran family had worked as handloom weavers in Bolton until the introduction of power looms radically changed the industry. In 1842/1843, seeking public education for his children and economic opportunity in a new land, Thomas Moran, Sr., journeyed to America. The following year his wife and children joined him and the reunited family settled in Kensington, a suburb of Philadelphia, where they became part of a well-established community of immigrant textile workers. While still a teenager Thomas became an apprentice at the Philadelphia engraving firm of Scattergood and Telfer. After three years he withdrew from his apprenticeship and began working in the studio of his older brother, Edward, who had begun to establish himself as a marine painter. Serving, in effect, a second apprenticeship, Moran benefitted not only from the advice of his brother but also from that of James Hamilton (1819-1878), a well-known Philadelphia painter who had befriended Edward. Described by contemporaries as the "American Turner," Hamilton may have sparked Thomas Moran's life-long interest in the work of English artist J.M.W. Turner. In 1861, after several years of studying Turner's work in reproduction, Thomas and Edward journeyed to London where they spent several months studying and copying Turner's work at the National Gallery. A decade later, when Thomas journeyed west to join Ferdinand Vandiver Hayden's expedition to Yellowstone, the watercolors he produced on site bore clear evidence of his debt to Turner. Moran's trip to Yellowstone in 1871 marked the turning point of his career. The previous year he had been asked by Scribner's Magazine to rework sketches made in Yellowstone by a member of an earlier expedition party. Intrigued by the geysers and mudpots of Yellowstone, he borrowed money to make the trip himself. Numerous paintings and commissions resulted from this journey, but the sale of his enormous (7 by 12 feet) Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (1872, National Museum of American Art) to Congress shortly after passage of the bill that set Yellowstone aside as the first National Park, brought Moran considerable attention. In 1873, following up on his earlier success, Moran joined John Wesley Powell's expedition down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Shortly after his return he set to work on a second canvas equal in size to his earlier Yellowstone painting...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Joe Dallesandro Andy Warhol Trash promo photo
Joe Dallesandro Andy Warhol Trash promo photo

Joe Dallesandro Andy Warhol Trash promo photo

By Jack Mitchell

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Jack Mitchell, American Photographer (1925-2013). Joe Dallesandro, ca. 1973. 11 x 14 inches; 12 x 15 inches framed. Period print from artist's studio. The image was intended for ...

Category

1970s Realist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper

"Far Away, " Oil Painting

"Far Away, " Oil Painting

By Joseph McGurl

Located in Denver, CO

Joseph McGurl's "Far Away" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a vast landscape of valleys and mountains in the distance under the orange and yellow glow of sunrise or...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Influence of Red (male portrait)
Influence of Red (male portrait)

Influence of Red (male portrait)

By Gilbert Lewis

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Gilbert Lewis (b.1945). Influence of Red (male portrait), ca. 1990s. Oil on masonite panel, 16 x 20 inches. Signed upper right. Excellent condition. Measures 18 x 22 inches in custom gold leaf float frame. Original gallery labels affixed on verso. Provenance: estate of the artist. Artist statement: Figurative art is a vital active process. The image has its own meaning; not storytelling, not just a picture of a face or a flower. Neither is it simply an exercise in the arrangement of shapes or colors. I want to translate my immediate impression into paint to present the image of an outstretched branch of flowers or a face – direct and simple. My art reflects human concerns expressed symbolically, through fantasy and in a more concrete manner in the process of making the representation itself. Art is my response to the image, the end result of an active process of exploration of the limits of the paint on paper within the confines of representation. The painting of a face is not just a face. My feelings are expressed through these images. My paintings speak to anyone in touch with their own humanity; to anyone else my art may be dismissed as “to personal”. Biography: Gilbert Braddy Lewis born September 25, 1945 in Hampton, Va. Son of David Blake Lewis (born in Atlanta, Ga.) and Gladys Louise Braddy [Lewis] (of Sanford, Fl.); brother of David Blake Lewis (Jr.) and Linda Lewis [Hunter]. The family resides at 3 South Linden Street, Hampton, Va. 1953 until 1962 “I studied from the age of seven, in Virginia, with two well-known Tidewater artists, Jean Craig and the late Allan Jones. The teaching methods of carefully observed studies from nature in charcoal or tempra paint, derived, of course, from the original French academic model, conveyed its impact on my early development; however, my eye and consciousness were mostly activated by the reproductions on the studio wall of works by Botticelli, Da Vinci, and Michelangelo.” Gilbert Lewis in Contemporary Philadelphia Artists: A Juried Exhibition, (Philadelphia Museum of Art 2000), p. 145 1963-68 Studies at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with Franklin Watkins, Hobson Pittman, Morris Blackburn, and Walter Stuempfig. While a student at PAFA he shares apartment [261 South 21st Street] with PAFA students, Jody Pinto and Barbara Sosson. In 1967 he receives PAFA’s: Bergman Prize in Painting; M. Herbert Syme Prize; and Samuel Cresson Memorial Travelling Scholarship. The latter award enables Lewis to travel to Europe during the summer of 1967 where he visits museums. “In 1967, after having seen the Italian master’s work while on scholarship from the Pennsylvania Academy, I was to realize my great influences and to discover the earlier Sienese masters whose clarity and energy still move me.” Gilbert Lewis in Contemporary Philadelphia Artists: A Juried Exhibition, (Philadelphia Museum of Art 2000), p. 145 1968 Horizontal painting [of an interior with a seated woman and cat by a large window] reproduced in black and white in school catalog for Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 1968-1969, p. 24. Other students whose works are reproduced include Clayton Anderson, Barkley...

Category

1990s Realist Art

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Dog Lake, Oil Painting
Dog Lake, Oil Painting

Dog Lake, Oil Painting

By Keith Thomson

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A ballerina leaps into the air with a dog behind her, seemingly following her steps. In this painting, artist Keith Thomson drew inspiration from Pyotr Ilyich T...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Sleeping Cat
Sleeping Cat

Mark MorrisonSleeping Cat, ca. 1940

$2,500Sale Price|50% Off

Sleeping Cat

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Mark Morrison (1895-1964) Sleeping Cat, ca. 1940 Carved Vermont granite 7.5" wide, 5" deep, height is 7" Provenance: Estate of Mrs. Mark Morrison. Born: Kingfisher, OK Educat...

Category

Mid-20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Granite

Entangled
Entangled

Entangled

Located in Berlin, DE

Willibrord Haas (*1936 Schramberg), Entangled, 2008. etching, 28 cm (height) x 17 cm (width). Signed “Willibrord Haas” in pencil by the artist, dated “2008”, titled “Verschränkt” and...

Category

Early 2000s Realist Art

Materials

Paper

British Chalk Pencil Sketch of a Cow with Horns Side Profile
British Chalk Pencil Sketch of a Cow with Horns Side Profile

British Chalk Pencil Sketch of a Cow with Horns Side Profile

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

The ballet fairy
The ballet fairy

The ballet fairy

Located in Zofingen, AG

Through this oil painting, I captured the delicate strength and grace of a ballerina mid-movement. The realism and soft light embody her ethereal spirit and relentless passion. I wan...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

QUEEN MARY,  LONG BEACH,  CA -  ORIGINAL ARTIST DESIGN CONCEPT FOR PLACEMENT
QUEEN MARY,  LONG BEACH,  CA -  ORIGINAL ARTIST DESIGN CONCEPT FOR PLACEMENT

QUEEN MARY, LONG BEACH, CA - ORIGINAL ARTIST DESIGN CONCEPT FOR PLACEMENT

Located in Santa Monica, CA

QUEEN MARY, LONG BEACH, CA - ORIGINAL ARTIST DESIGN FOR THE PLACEMENT OF THE SHIP Watercolor and gouache on board, 20 x 36 inches. Signed and dated by the artist - Segroves, 1969. The original artist concept for the placement in Long Beach Harbor in 1969. Subsequently revised several times. The Queen after extensive renovation has just reopened to the public on December 14, 2022 Much larger than the Titanic, At 1,019 feet long and 81,000 tons (310 meters and 73,500 metric tons), the Queen Mary was one of the largest and most elegant ships of the early 20th century. From Wikipedia: The RMS Queen Mary is a retired British ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard-White Star Line and built by John...

Category

1960s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache

Floating Peony. Contemporary Floral Still Life
Floating Peony. Contemporary Floral Still Life

Floating Peony. Contemporary Floral Still Life

By Nicola Currie

Located in Brecon, Powys

A display of peonies at the Malvern Spring Show provided the inspiration for this painting. The prize peony was floating in a silver bowl of water providing a beautifully delicate ba...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

"Countryside" by J-P George - Oil on cardboard 16x31 cm
"Countryside" by J-P George - Oil on cardboard 16x31 cm

"Countryside" by J-P George - Oil on cardboard 16x31 cm

Located in Geneva, CH

Oil on cardboard sold with frame Total size with frame 24x39 cm Jean-Philippe GEORGE-JULLIARD is an artist born in Switzerland in 1818 and died in 1888. His works have been sold at ...

Category

Mid-19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Ice Mill, Original Painting
Ice Mill, Original Painting

Ice Mill, Original Painting

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Vic Roschkov presents a compelling architectural study of rural utility. The soaring vertical planes of the weathered mill create a rhythmic, geometric d...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

"Castle Grounds, " Oil painting

"Castle Grounds, " Oil painting

By Judd Mercer

Located in Denver, CO

Judd Mercer's (US based) "Castle Grounds," is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts the green shore of land that casts a reflection of its emerald hued trees and foliage into the water. About the Artist: Judd Mercer is a watercolor painter based in Denver, Colorado. After attending art school for industrial design, Judd pursued a career in digital design and user experience and is co-owner of Elevated Third, a Denver-based digital agency. After committing to writing and illustrating a full-length fantasy novel in his spare time, Judd began watercolor painting around 2014, studying with teachers such as Alvaro Castagnet, Joseph Zbukvic...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

White Cherries, Oil Painting
White Cherries, Oil Painting

White Cherries, Oil Painting

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Three juicy cherries line up on a table, with the light enhancing their luminous and vibrant color. The sharp and detailed rendition of the fruit imparts a re...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

British Chalk Pencil Sketches of a Different Cows in Profiles In Field
British Chalk Pencil Sketches of a Different Cows in Profiles In Field

British Chalk Pencil Sketches of a Different Cows in Profiles In Field

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

"Intoxicants" (2021) Original Realist Figurative Oil Painting on Panel
"Intoxicants" (2021) Original Realist Figurative Oil Painting on Panel

"Intoxicants" (2021) Original Realist Figurative Oil Painting on Panel

Located in Denver, CO

Dana Hawk (NY, US based) "Girl in Green II" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a female model in a swirl of autumn leaves. Artist Statement I grew up in a small tow...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

1869 Romantic Alpine Landscape Oil Painting Monk Meeting at Wayside Cross Signed
1869 Romantic Alpine Landscape Oil Painting Monk Meeting at Wayside Cross Signed

1869 Romantic Alpine Landscape Oil Painting Monk Meeting at Wayside Cross Signed

Located in Stockholm, SE

This atmospheric antique oil painting, signed and dated 1869 by E. Dahlberg, captures a picturesque mountain landscape, likely in the Alps. The composition focuses on a quiet narrati...

Category

1860s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Wood, Oil

Portrait of a Seated Gentleman - British 19th century art portrait oil painting
Portrait of a Seated Gentleman - British 19th century art portrait oil painting

Portrait of a Seated Gentleman - British 19th century art portrait oil painting

By Thomas Lawrence (circle)

Located in Hagley, England

This striking British 19th century portrait oil painting is attributed to the circle of Sir Thomas Lawrence. Painted circa 1820 it is the portrait of a seated gentleman in a brown hi...

Category

Early 19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Act. Oil on canvas, 58x69 cm
Act. Oil on canvas, 58x69 cm

Act. Oil on canvas, 58x69 cm

Located in Riga, LV

Act. Oil on canvas, 58x69 cm Victor Karnaukh (1950, Dnepropetrovsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR – 2012, Dnepropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine) – a painter, a monument designer, graduate of Latvia...

Category

1990s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

British Chalk Pencil Sketch Of A Cow's Body With White Features
British Chalk Pencil Sketch Of A Cow's Body With White Features

British Chalk Pencil Sketch Of A Cow's Body With White Features

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

Thermopylae Clipper Sailing Ship at Sea - Vintage 20th Century Oil Painting
Thermopylae Clipper Sailing Ship at Sea - Vintage 20th Century Oil Painting

Thermopylae Clipper Sailing Ship at Sea - Vintage 20th Century Oil Painting

Located in Preston, GB

Thermopylae Clipper Sailing Ship at Sea - Vintage 20th Century Oil Painting by J Bishop. Art measures 25 x 30 inches Frame measures 28 x 33 inches A portrait of the famous tea clip...

Category

20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Cotton Canvas

Dove
Dove

Mark MorrisonDove, ca. 1960

$2,000Sale Price|60% Off

Dove

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Mark Morrison (1895-1964) Dove, ca. 1960 Carved and polished stone 10" wide, 6.25" deep, height is 12" Tail exhibits a small area of loss. Our conservator can repair this at no ex...

Category

Mid-20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Stone

Academy, Oil painting still-life by Igor Sventitski
Academy, Oil painting still-life by Igor Sventitski

Academy, Oil painting still-life by Igor Sventitski

Located in Zofingen, AG

This work is dedicated to all artists who are studying their craft thoroughly. Original oil painting on canvas, still life painting made under natural light. This artwork is painted ...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

"The Lily Pond" by Sheri Farabaugh– Painting, Serene Pondscape
"The Lily Pond" by Sheri Farabaugh– Painting, Serene Pondscape

"The Lily Pond" by Sheri Farabaugh– Painting, Serene Pondscape

Located in Denver, CO

"The Lily Pond" by Sheri Farabaugh is an oil painting on canvas, measuring 24 x 36 x 2.50 inches, presented in an elegant frame sized at 25.50 x 37.50 x 3 inches. Ready to hang, this...

Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of Young Man
Portrait of Young Man

Portrait of Young Man

By Vito Tomasello

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Outstanding male portrait by 20th-century American artist, Vito Tomasello. Portrait of a young man, c.1950. Charcoal and pastel on paper, sheet measures an impressive 11 x14 inches...

Category

1940s Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

A rough collie

A rough collie

Located in London, GB

A charming and sensitively rendered late 19th-century oil portrait of a Rough Collie, this work captures the breed's intelligence and gentle temperament with remarkable clarity. Indi...

Category

Late 19th Century 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.