Skip to main content

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.

to
16
68
66
47
7
62
59
54
13
36
12
9
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
1,046
483
459
258
216
110
38
22
5
3
3
2
74
38
30
25
18
18
16
14
14
8
8
6
6
6
6
5
5
5
4
4
255
921
4,614
5,725
117
74
148
126
428
762
877
563
258
147
9
4
4
4
4
61
47
22
19
18
Style: Realist
Period: 1920s
'Notre Dame, Paris' — 1920s Realism
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Anton Schutz, 'Notre Dame, Paris', etching, 2nd state, 1927. Signed, titled, and annotated '2nd State', in pencil. Signed and dated in the plate, lower left. A superb, richly-inked...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Etching

1920s Silver Gelatin Print by Tina Modotti of a Drawing by Clemente Orozco
Located in Chicago, IL
An original 1920s silver gelatin print by photographer Tina Modotti, showing a drawing of soldiers and families by Clemente Orozco. Photo is stamped “Photographs-Tina Modotti Mexico...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

1920's Silver Gelatin Print by Tina Modotti of Diego Rivera Fresco
Located in Chicago, IL
An original 1920s silver gelatin print by photographer Tina Modotti, that shows a fresco in the Secretariat of Education Buiilding, Mexico City that illustrates a popular ballad. Ph...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Joseph Wackerle Wood Sculpture "Flora", 1920
By Joseph Wackerle
Located in Berlin, DE
An impressiv sculpture by Joseph Wackerle ( 1880-1959 ). One of a kind from 1920, Germany. Wood, carved. Height: 59.06 in ( 150 cm ), Width: 12.6 in ( 32 cm ), Depth: 12.6 in ( 32 cm )
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Wood

1920's Silver Gelatin Print By Tina Modotti of Diego Rivera Fresco.
Located in Chicago, IL
An original 1920s silver gelatin print by photographer Tina Modotti of the Diego Rivera mural "Lightning Striking Down the Destructive forces in Society Mother Nature, Harmony Betwe...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

1920s Silver Gelatin Print by Tina Modotti of Diego Rivera Fresco
Located in Chicago, IL
An original 1920s silver gelatin print by photographer Tina Modotti, showing a fresco by artist Diego Rivera. Photo is stamped “Photographs-Tina Modotti Mexico, D.F.” on reverse. A...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Laurence Henry Irving - Gypsy Camp in a Chalk Pit - British Oil Painting, 1928
Located in London, GB
LAURENCE HENRY IRVING, OBE (1897-1988) Gypsy Camp in a Chalk Pit Signed with monogram Oil on canvas Framed 16 by 21 ½ in.; 40.5 by 54.5 cm. (frame size 60 by 65 cm., 23 ½ by 25 ½...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

1920's Silver Gelatin Print by Tina Modotti of a Diego Rivera Fresco
Located in Chicago, IL
Original gelatin silver print by Photographer Tina Modotti. Stamped “Photographs-Tina Modotti Mexico, D.F.” on reverse. Archivally matted to 16” x 20”. The Patio in the Public Edu...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

1920s Silver Gelatin Print by Tina Modotti of Diego Rivera Mural
Located in Chicago, IL
An original 1920s silver gelatin print by photographer Tina Modotti, showing a fresco in the Agricultural School-Chapingo, Mexico by artist Diego Rivera. Photo is stamped “Photographs-Tina Modotti Mexico, D.F.” on reverse. Archivally matted to 16” x 20” Tina Modotti was born in Udine, Italy in 1896 and by the age of 14 she was supporting her entire family by working in a local silk factory. Modotti’s father emigrated to San Francisco, sending for his family in 1913. Modotti was hired in the sewing room at the I. Magnin department store, but her great beauty attracted the attention of her superiors who then employed her to model the store’s fashions. In 1915, Modotti attended San Francisco’s Pan-Pacific Exposition, where she got her first look at Modern art and photography. She also met her first husband at the Exposition, painter and poet Roubaix de l’Abrie Richey. At this time Modotti began acting in local Italian theatre and was discovered by a talent scout for the new silent film industry in Hollywood. She arrived in Los Angeles in 1918 and was cast in “The Tiger’s Coat” and “I Can Explain”. Through her Hollywood connections, Modotti met the married photographer Edward Weston, with whom she began an affair. Modotti was a favorite subject of Weston’s photographs, but moreover he taught her the art of photography. She actually ran Weston’s studio in exchange for photography lessons. Due to the on-going affair between Modotti and Weston, Modotti’s husband moved to Mexico where he died of smallpox. This tragedy and the death of her father made Modotti dissatisfied with Hollywood. Modotti and Weston arrived in Mexico in 1923 at a time when the country was in the midst of a social, political and cultural revolution. She photographed the Mexican...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

1920s Silver Gelatin Print by Tina Modotti of a Diego Rivera Fresco
Located in Chicago, IL
An original 1920s silver gelatin print by photographer Tina Modotti, showing a Diego Rivera fresco in the Secretariat of Education in Mexico City, Mexico. Photo is stamped “Photogra...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Landscape. Oil on canvas, 54x73 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Landscape. Oil on canvas, 54x73 cm
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

1920s Silver Gelatin Print by Tina Modotti of Diego Rivera Fresco
Located in Chicago, IL
An original 1920s silver gelatin print by photographer Tina Modotti, showing a fresco in the Secretariat of Education in Mexico City by artist Diego Rivera. Photo is stamped “Photog...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Arthur John Balliol Salmon - The Fancy Dress Party - 1920s British Drawing
Located in London, GB
ARTHUR JOHN BALLIOL SALMON (1868-1953) The Entertainer Signed twice, dated and dedicated l.c.: TO JOHN PAUL (ALI BABA) BALLIOL SALMON ‘21 Black chalk heightened with white Framed ...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Chalk

1920s Silver Gelatin Print by Tina Modotti of Clemente Orozco Fresco
Located in Chicago, IL
An original 1920s silver gelatin print by photographer Tina Modotti, showing a detail of an image of St. Francis in a fresco in a prep school in Mexico City by Clemente Orozco. Ar...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Cranes. Early 20th century, Art Nouveau, cardboard, canvas, oil, 84x61 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Author unknown, initials A.N. Cranes. Early 20th century, Art Nouveau, cardboard, canvas, oil, 84x61 cm
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Cardboard, Canvas, Oil

Woodstock: Field with Trees in Hilly Landscape
Located in Philadelphia, PA
William S. Butz (American, active Woodstock, N.Y., 1911-39) Field with Trees in Hilly Landscape Oil on canvasboard, 8 3/4 x 11 inches Framed: 15 x 17 inches (approx.) Signed on verso...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Still Life. 20s-30s, canvas, oil, 48.5x70 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Still Life. 20s-30s, canvas, oil, 48.5x70 cm
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Grandpa by Hannes Fritz-München - Oil on canvas 77x91 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Oil on canvas sold with frame Total size with frame 89x102 cm Hannes FRITZ-MÜNCHEN is an artist born in 1886 and died in 1981
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

'Delaware River Bridge' — 1920s Realism
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Anton Schutz, 'Delaware Bridge' (Delaware, New Jersey), etching, c. 1927. Signed in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, with skillfully wiped plate tone, on BFK Rives, cream wove paper, the full sheet with margins (1 1/2 to 2 1/8 inches), in excellent condition. Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 11 7/8 x 8 7/8 inches (302 x 225 mm); sheet size 15 7/8 x 12 1/4 inches (403 x 311 mm). ABOUT THIS IMAGE The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, originally named the Delaware River...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Etching

Young boy by Hannes Fritz-München - Oil on canvas 64x73 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Oil on canvas sold with frame Total size with frame 78x87 cm Hannes FRITZ-MÜNCHEN is an artist born in 1886 and died in 1981
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

'L' Abside de Notre Dame' — Vintage 1920s Paris, Realism
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Anton Schutz, 'L' Abside de Notre Dame' (The Apse of Notre Dame), etching, 1st state, c. 1927. Signed, titled, and annotated 'First State', in pencil. A supe...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Etching

Antique French Realist Art Deco Terrier Dog Portrait Framed Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Exquisite antique painting of terrier dogs by Jacques Cartier (1907 - 2001. Oil on board. Framed. Image size, 15H x 18L.
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Board, Oil

Night Shadows
Located in New York, NY
A superb, richly-inked impression of this iconic etching. Edition of approximately 500. Signed in pencil by Hopper, lower right. Published by The New Republic, New York. Catalogue ...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Etching

Portrait of Dodo - Pekingese Dog - Scottish 1920's art dog portrait oil painting
By Samuel Fulton
Located in London, GB
This absolutely charming portrait of a Pekingese dog called Dodo is attributed to much loved Scottish artist Samuel Fulton. Famous as an animal artist and chiefly a painter of dogs, this has got to be one of his best if you are a Pekingese fan. Painted circa 1920, Dodo, a lovely little black and tan dog is sat profile but is turning to look at the artist/viewer. Beneath him is a beautiful orange and brown Persian rug...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Portrait of an English Setter Stud- Glaisnock Jim - 1920's oil painting dog art
Located in London, GB
A fine large full-length portrait of an English Setter stud in a landscape. Painted by J C Wilson in 1921, this oil gouache oil on canvas is a beautiful depiction of the breed. The...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Gouache

Winter Sunlight - Realist Landscape Oil Painting by Ivan Fedorovich Choultse
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed and dated oil on canvas landscape by Russian Realist painter Ivan Fedorovich Choultse. This stunning piece depicts the winter sun shining down on a thick blanket of snow. The bare trees are creating blue shadows on the white snow and a stream runs through the landscape. The pale blue of the bright sky is just visible behind the trees. Signature: Signed lower left & dated 1921 Dimensions: Framed: 30"x35" Unframed: 21"x26" Provenance: Burlington Paintings - London (original labels verso) He was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, into a family of German origin (Schultze — original spelling of his family name – had lived in Russia since the 17th century). His first education was in electrical engineering. At the same time he tried to paint landscapes. When he was already thirty years old, he showed his first essays to a famous painter and member of Russian Academy of fine arts Constantin Jakovlevich Kryzhitsky (1858) —1911), who then invited Choultsé to study art. Other significant influences were Russian painter Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi (1841 —1910) and Swiss painter Alexander Calame (1810–1864). Together with Kryzhitsky in 1910 Choultsé travelled to Spitzbergen, where he painted many Arctic landscapes (Datskiy and Medvezhiy islands, Saint Magdalene's bay of the Spitzbergen archipelago etc.). After losing both of his teachers (Kuindzhi died in 1910 and Kryzhitsky committed suicide the year after) Choultsé begins to master his very own style of painting. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Panel, Oil

"Boating on the Morin River"
Located in Saint Amans des cots, FR
Pen, ink, watercolor and wash on paper by André Dunoyer de Segonzac, France, 1922-1924. Boating on the Morin River. Measurements : with frame: 52.5x65x2 cm - 20.7x25.6x0.8 inches / without frame: 36.5x45 cm - 14.4x17.7 inches. Signed lower left "A. Dunoyer de Segonzac". Colors may vary slightly depending on your screen. The lighter band at the top and the bottom of the piece, visible in the first picture, is only due to the reflection in the protective glass. It does not exist. In its frame gilt with gold leaf and its protective glass. André Dunoyer de Segonzac was born in Boussy-Saint-Antoine (Essonne) July 7, 1884. After his schooling at high school Henri IV, as early as 1900, he attends classes at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris in free listener where he will befriend Charles Dufresne. In 1903, he enters the private studio of Luc-Olivier Merson. In 1907, he studies with Jean-Paul Laurens and attends the La Palette and Colarossi academies in Montparnasse. He meets Luc-Albert Moreau and Jean-Louis Boussingault with whom he shares a studio. His first drawings are published in 1908 in The Great Review and The Witness. Nearly indifferent to contemporary aesthetic revolutions, Dunoyer de Segonzac undertakes, with Jean-Louis Boussingault and Luc-Albert Moreau, to revive Gustave Courbet's realism by performing still lifes, nudes, landscapes, in a thick paste and masonry . In one of his letters to the painter Maurice Boitel, he wrote in the 1950s: "I have not forgotten the heroic period of the independents - when we were grouped around Paul Signac, the charming and valiant Maximilien Luce - in these barracks where the living and authentic Art was grouped outside the academic formulas - or literary and systematic tendencies - which were to lead to this abstract aesthetic of which the painting dies. " In 1908, he begins exhibiting at the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Indépendants, with Paul Signac and Maximilien Luce. He befriends Apollinaire, Max Jacob, Raoul Dufy and Vlaminck. From this period, renting a house belonging to Signac, Dunoyer discovers the landscapes of Saint-Tropez, to which he will remain faithful and where he lived until the end of his life. He stays in Saint-Tropez only in the summer season. For the rest, he leads a real nomadic life, in search of the motive especially through the Île-de-France, the Grand Morin valley, Feucherolles, Chennevières-sur-Marne, Guyancourt, etc. "I also worked a lot on the banks of the Seine in Chatou, Bougival, Andrésy, Poissy and Triel that I particularly like, with its beautiful Gothic church that is reflected in the Seine and the high wooded hills that surround him", he will say. In 1910, he knows fashion designer Paul Poiret and meets Max Jacob, Raoul Dufy and Vlaminck. From 1910 to 1914, he travels to Italy, Spain, North Africa, and is interested in sport and dance (drawings of Isadora Duncan's Russian Ballets, 1911, The Boxers1910). From 1914 to 1918, mobilized in the infantry, he makes the war hardly, before being assigned to camouflage. He performs many war drawings, valuable for their artistic and documentary value. From 1919, he appears again in many exhibitions, including major Parisian salons. Nearly indifferent to contemporary aesthetic revolutions, Dunoyer de Segonzac undertakes, with Boussingault and Moreau, to revive Courbet's realism by performing still lifes, nudes, landscapes, in a thick and masonry paste. Enlisted in engraving by Jean Émile Laboureur, he makes nearly 1,600 brass plaques from 1919 to 1970. He was president of the Society of French painters-engravers. In 1921, he meets Paul Valéry, Léon-Paul Fargue and Jean Cocteau. In 1928, he makes a trip to America where he met with great success. In 1930, he becomes friend with Derain. In 1933 he receiveds the Carnegie Foundation of Pittsburgh Award and in 1934 the Venice Biennale. During the Occupation, in November 1941, he takes part in a "study trip" to Germany, organized by Arno Breker, accepting, like other artists of the most renowned, to visit the hotspots of German culture as well as artist workshops. After the war, he is exhibited in the best galleries...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Pen

Manhattan from the River - Dutch 1920's art oil crayon drawing New York city
Located in London, GB
This fantastic 1920's oil crayon drawing is by Dutch artist Adriaan Lubbers. It shows a birds eye view of New York. The view is of the river and boats towards Manhattan. A really ic...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil Crayon

The Landslip Coastal View - British 1920s art landscape oil painting NEAC artist
By Evelyn Cheston
Located in London, GB
This lovely, exhibited landscape oil painting is by British New English Art Club female artist Evelyn Cheston. It was painted circa 1920 when Cheston was resident in Devon. The view ...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Still Life of Tulips and Fruit - British 1920's art floral oil flowers
Located in London, GB
This superb British still life oil painting is attributed to circle of William Nicholson. Painted circa 1920 it is a really lush and vibrant composition of white tulips in a blue jug...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Portrait of Susan Isabel Dacre - British exh oil painting of feminist artist
Located in London, GB
A beautiful, colourful British 1920's exhibited oil on canvas portrait painting by Francis Dodd RA and with extensive provenance. The work depicts the Feminist and famous artist Susa...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

The Train Set - British 20's art interior oil portrait boy playing female artist
By Agnes L Reid
Located in London, GB
This charming oil painting is by British female artist Agnes L Reid. Painted circa 1920 the painting is of a little boy playing on the floor with his train set, with balloons and a b...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

River Landscape - British 1920's art Bath landscape oil painting female artist
Located in London, GB
This lovely British 20th century river landscape oil painting is by noted female artist Margaret Maitland Howard. The location may be Bath but needs more research. The composition is a tranquil river landscape with a man fishing from a boat in the foreground, a bridge and buildings beyond. A neo classical building stands on the right bank...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Mother's Love - Bedtime - British 20's art mother child portrait oil painting
Located in London, GB
This charming British portrait oil painting is by noted artist Allan Douglas Davidson. Painted circa 1920, the painting is an endearing bedtime scene of a mother and young son embracing as she gets his pyjamas on ready for bed. Stood on the bed he is the ideal height to kiss his mother, whilst teddy is already tucked in bed, waiting to be joined. The blond hair of the child and auburn hair of his mother both gleam in the light as they embrace. A really sweet painting and an excellent example of Davidson's skill as an artist. Signed lower left. Provenance. Essex estate. Condition. Oil on canvas 32 inches by 26 inches unframed and in good condition. Frame. Housed in a complementary frame, 40 inches by 34 inches framed and in good condition. Allan Douglas Davidson, R.B.A., R.O.I., R.M.S. (1873-1932) was an English painter who predominantly worked in oils and specialized in portraits, interiors and female nudes. Allan Davidson was born in London on 14 May 1873. His father was the historical painter Thomas Davidson. Allan studied art at the Royal Academy Schools in London, where he won a medal and the Armitage Prize, he also studied at the Académie Julian in Paris. He was elected to the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 1921 and was also a member of the Langham...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Girl in White Lace Shawl - British 1929 art portrait oil painting
Located in London, GB
This lovely British portrait oil painting is by noted artist Lionel Ellis. Painted in 1929 it is a half length standing portrait of a young woman in a blue dress with a white lace sh...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Portrait John Gilbert - Australian 20's exhibited art male portrait oil painting
Located in London, GB
A stunning portrait of Mr John Gilbert. This original oil on canvas was painted by James Peter Quinn in 1929 and was exhibited at The Paris Salon of that year. A fine portrait, it is in excellent condition and framed in the original period frame. This is a fine painting by a noted Australian listed artist. Signed right. Provenance. Exhibited at the Paris salon 1929. Condition. Oil on canvas in very good condition, image size 40 inches by 30 inches. Housed in its original gallery frame, 47 by 37 inches framed. Excellent condition. James Peter Quinn (1869-1951) was born on 4 December 1869 at 60 Bourke Street, Melbourne. He was the third son of John Quinn, restaurant-keeper born in Antigua, West Indies, and his English wife Ann, née Long. Little is known of Quinn's childhood and early education; both parents died when he was young. His guardians apprenticed him to an engraver, but he undertook part-time studies at the school of design, National Gallery of Victoria, under Frederick McCubbin in 1887-89, and at the school of painting under George Folingsby and Bernard Hall in 1890-93. Awarded several student prizes, he won the gallery's travelling scholarship in 1893. Quinn went to London in 1894 but quickly left for Paris where he studied at the Académie Julian, at the Académie des Beaux-Arts under Jean Paul Laurens, and with Colarossi and Delécluse. He returned to London about 1902 and married fellow art-student Blanche Louise Guernier there on 29 September. By 1904 he had exhibited with the Royal Academy of Arts and went on to establish a reputation as a highly successful portrait painter. His finest and most sensitive work was produced before 1910. His family were the subjects of many paintings, including 'Mère et Fils', awarded an honourable mention at the Old Salon, Paris, in 1912. He also painted many self-portraits. His many commissioned works included portraits of Joseph Chamberlain, the Duchess of York and, later, the Duke of Windsor. In 1918-19 he was an official war artist with the Australian Imperial Force in France, and exhibited war paintings at the Grafton Galleries, London. In 1919, with George Coates he was an official artist to the Canadian War Records. He was a council-member of the London Portrait Society, and a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, exhibiting regularly with them and the Royal Academy, and in Paris with the Old and New salons. Quinn's sudden return to Australia in December 1935, alone, followed the death of his gifted artist-son René. He held exhibitions at the Fine Art Society's Gallery, Melbourne, in 1936 and the Royal South Australian Society of Arts Gallery next year. Quinn ostensibly returned as an acclaimed artist, was invited to rejoin the Victorian Artists' Society he had joined first in 1888, and was its president (but for one year) in 1937-50. Yet a coolness existed. Though he had little in common with the modernist painters of the period, his commitment to a tolerant brotherhood of artists found no allies among the aggressively conservative old guard. In 1937 he clashed publicly with (Sir) Robert Menzies who in opening a V.A.S. exhibition denigrated modern art. In spite of the affection felt for him by many artists and students, Quinn was somewhat isolated. He continued to exhibit, winning the Crouch prize, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, in 1941. In the mid-1940s he taught briefly at the National Gallery school. A lover of good food, wine and conversation, Quinn delighted in mixing with all classes. Frequenting the haunts of journalists, writers and the more Bohemian fringe, he was easily recognizable with his bow tie, grey curly hair and cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. Survived by one son, he died of cancer on 18 February 1951 at Prahran and was buried in St Kilda cemetery. His war portraits are held by the Australian War...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Lost in Thought - Australian art 1920's portrait oil painting woman flowers
By Frederick William Leist
Located in London, GB
A fine oil on canvas which dates to circa 1920 by noted Australian artist Frederick William Leist. It is a super portrait oil painting which depicts a beautiful young woman lost in contemplation. Almost Orientalist by design, it is a super roaring twenties painting. Full of vitality and impressionistic colour and influences of 20th century portraiture, it is a very evocative image. Signed lower right. Provenance. Collection IMI PLC. Condition. Oil on canvas. Unframed size is 30 inches by 25 inches, in excellent condition. Housed in a fine Bourlet gilt gallery frame. Framed size is 40 inches by 35 inches, in excellent condition. Frederick William (Fred) Leist (1873-1945) born Sydney. He was the eighth surviving and fifteenth child of Edward Frederick Leist, builder, and his wife Harriet Eliza, née Norris, both Londoners. Leist was educated at Crown Street Public School and, while training as a furniture designer in the workshops of David Jones Ltd, studied art at Sydney Technical College before becoming a student of the Art Society of New South Wales; under Julian Ashton's tuition he learned plein air techniques. 1898 he married Ada Sarah Roberts. Leist drew for the Bulletin in the 1890s and became staff artist on the Sydney Mail; he was also local representative for the London Graphic from 1900. According to William Moore he 'was the first to portray the Australian girl as a definite type'. Leist was an original council-member of the Society of Artists, Sydney, in 1895 and, after their merger, of the Royal Art Society of New South Wales. However in 1907 he was one of the twelve who re-established the Society of Artists. The Leists moved to England and from 1910 to 1925 he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy of Arts. His first successful picture, 'The Mirror', a portrait of his daughter, was hung on the line at the Royal Academy in 1911 and next year at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français. At the 1914 Royal Academy exhibition his painting of two Spanish guitar players, 'The Rivals', was acclaimed. The Review critic wrote: 'it is a composition in light and a pattern of colour, given power and meaning by restraint'. Noted for his studies of handsome women, Leist was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists and to the Chelsea Arts Club in 1913 and next year to the Royal Institute of Oil Painters; later he also exhibited with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. During World War I, Leist worked for the War Office designing recruiting posters. Then, in September 1917, he was appointed an official war artist with the Australian Imperial Force and attached to 5th Division headquarters as an honorary lieutenant. From September to December and from June to August 1918, 'dodging shells and mustard gas', he produced about 150 small sketches, drawings and watercolours, and a portrait of Lieutenant-General Sir Talbot Hobbs. He later fulfilled commissions to paint four large battle scenes including 'Battle of Polygon Wood' and 'Capture of Mont St Quentin'. The striking colours of these battle scenes are in strong contrast to the delicacy and muted tones of his watercolours such as 'The Lacemaker'. In London, Leist consolidated his reputation: he was represented in the 1918 exhibition of Australian war...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Clarissa - British exhibited art 20's oil painting portrait actress Olive Groves
By Sir Gerald Festus Kelly
Located in London, GB
A large, original portrait of Clarissa. It depicts Olive Groves as Clarissa in Lionel and Clarissa at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith in 1926. Given to Olive Groves in 1966 by Sir G...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

A Geological Landscape - British art 1920's landscape oil painting female artist
Located in London, GB
This gorgeous and vibrant early twentieth century British landscape oil painting is by Margaret Maitland Howard. Painted circa 1920 the landscape is of a rocky out crop or escarpment...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Portrait of George Hopkinson - British 20's male oil painting Russian Jewish art
Located in London, GB
This superb portrait oil painting is by noted Russian Jewish artist Jacob Kramer. The sitter is a friend of the artist, George Hopkinson, proud Yorkshireman and textile businessman w...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Manhattan from the River - Dutch 1920's art oil crayon drawing New York city
Located in London, GB
This fantastic 1920's oil crayon drawing is by Dutch artist Adriaan Lubbers. It shows a birds eye view of New York. The view is of the river and boats towards Manhattan. A really ic...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil Crayon

The University Church of St Mary Oxford - Dutch 1920's art watercolour painting
By Willem Leendert Bruckman
Located in London, GB
This beautiful exhibited watercolour painting is by Dutch listed artist Willem Leendert Bruckman. It depicts the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford, South Porch. The Un...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

Ramshackle Barn (de-accessioned from the Denver Art Museum)
Located in New York, NY
Asa Cheffetz Ramshackle Barn (de-accessioned from the Denver Art Museum), ca. 1929 Wood-engraving Pencil signed, numbered 27/100 and titled by the artist on the front 13 × 10 1/4 inches Unframed - affixed to matting De-accessioned from the collection of the Denver Art Museum Asa Chaffetz, "the engraver's engraver" This is the original numbered wood engraving from 1929; not a later re-print This print was honorable mention in the International Exhibition of prints, Art Institute of Chicago, 1929 Exhibited: New England engraved: The prints of Asa Cheffetz: An Exhibition of his wood engraving & an exploration of his life as an artist. Springfield, MA: Museum of Fine Arts, 1984 (A different example) Asa Cheffetz Biography: Born in Buffalo, New York, Cheffetz studied at the School Of The Museum Of Fine Arts in Boston under Philip Leslie Hale...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Engraving

"Moonlit River Scene", Early 20th Century Oil on Canvas by Luis Graner y Arrufi
By Luis Graner Y Arrufi
Located in Madrid, ES
LUIS GRANER Y ARRUFI Spanish, 1863 - 1929 MOONLIT RIVER SCENE signed and dated "L. Graner, 1925" (lower right) Oil on canvas 20-1/8 X 30 inches (51X 76 cm.) framed: 25-3/4 X 35-3/4 inches (65 X 90.5 cm.) PROVENANCE NEAL AUCTION COMPANY, New Orleans, LA, USA Private Collection, Barcelona Graner paints this work, Moonlit on the river, during his stay in the United States in the last stage of his artistic life, from 1910 to 1928, in full stage of maturity. This artwork reflects the constant search of the artist for the effects of light in his work. This persistent concern for light remains throughout his artistic life, which he learned in his Parisian stage under the influence of the painter Frances Platour. The silver light of the moon and the small lights at distance, which are tiny foci of artificial light, reflecting the river water, forming a chromatic range of greens, ocher and pearly that give a certain mystery to the composition, creating a modern approach to the landscape, by placing the two large trees at the edge of the river in the foreground Luís Graner y Arrufí, Spanish (1863–1929) was a Catalan painter in the Realistic style. He was born in Barcelona, and studied at the Escola de la Llotja from 1883, with Antoni Caba (color/composition) and Benet Mercadé (drawing). During his final year at school, he received a grant to study in Madrid, where he copied and learned from the Old Masters at the Museo del Prado. After that, supported by a fellowship, he moved to Paris and became a member of the Academie des Beaux-Arts. Later, he returned to Barcelona, but continued to travel to cities throughout Europe, including Berlin, Munich and Düsseldorf. Influenced by Richard Wagner's concept of "Gesamtkunstwerk" (Total Work of Art), he was motivated to create his own total art experience and organized the "Sala Mercè" (Mercy Hall) in Barcelona's Rambla District. The project involved contributors from every artistic discipline, including the new field of cinematography. The room was decorated by Antoni Gaudí. Other participants included Adrià Gual, Santiago Rusiñol, Ramon Casas...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"View in Gent" Piet Lippens (Belgian, 1890-1981) circa 1920s
Located in SANTA FE, NM
"View in Gent" Piet Lippens (Belgian, 1890-1981) Circa 1920s Oil on canvas, signed lower left 23 3/8 x 19 3/8 (24 x 28 frame) inches Piet Lippens was a...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Female Nude - 1920s chalk drawing by Belgian Symbolist artist Marcel Delmotte
Located in London, GB
MARCEL DELMOTTE (1901-1984) Nude Signed and dated l.r.: M Delmotte/1928 Black and red chalks Framed 33 by 20 cm., 13 by 8 in. (frame size 53 by 39 cm., 21 by 15 ¼ in.) The son of...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Chalk

Seated Nude (version 1) from the portfolio Maillol: Sculpture and Lithography)
Located in New York, NY
Aristide Maillol Seated Nude (version 1) from the portfolio Aristide Maillol: Sculpture and Lithography, 1925 Lithograph on watermarked paper 12 1/2 × 19 1/2 inches Edition AP Hand-s...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Portrait Of Violin Player By Neville Stephen Lytton, Of Claude Tryon
Located in York, GB
A Portrait of Claude Tryon (d.1949),holding a violin .This is a painting of the artists son in law Oil on canvas in gilt frame . Early 20th century size of painting...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Wettersteinkamm - The blue of the mountains -
Located in Berlin, DE
Adalbert Holzer (1881 Munich - 1966 Munich). Wettersteinkamm. Watercolour, 29 x 34.5 cm (visible size), 37.5 x 43 cm (frame), signed and dated at lower right 'ADALBERT HOLZER [19]23'. Framed behind glass. Frame shows signs of wear. - The blue of the mountains - About the artwork The Wetterstein ridge is revealed to the viewer from a gentle, snow-covered hill. In contrast to conventional depictions of mountains, the painting is composed entirely of shades of blue, which condense into the blue-grey of the rock or fade into the white of the snow. As a complementary colour to the blue, Holzer virtuously activates the ochre ground. The uniform yet exciting polarity of the colours emphasises the massive majesty of the mountains and at the same time underlines the special character of the Wetterstein ridge. Holzer transferred the translucency of glass painting, in which he was originally trained, to watercolour and developed a pictorial language related to the art of Ferdinand Hodler, which earned him the nickname 'Master of Blue' and led to the appreciation of his watercolours in particular. About the artist After an apprenticeship as a stained glass painter at the Kunstgewerbeschule, Adalbert Holzer studied at the Munich Art Academy under Carl von Marr...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

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

Large Scale Maritime Painting -- Three Masted Braque in Rough Seas
Located in Soquel, CA
Stunning large scale painting of an early 20th century Braque sailing ship named "Medusa" by Charles Miller (American, 19th/20th Century), 1926. Signed and dated lower left corner. C...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Linen

Sailors at Cafe du Globe
By Charles Rocher
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Charles Rocher (1890-1962. Sailors, ca. 1920s. Gouache on paper. Sheet measures 19 x 25 inches. Considerable damage and loss as depicted. Signed lower left.
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Gouache

Black and White Etching -- Rodez
Located in Troy, NY
This detailed etching depicts Notre Dame in France. The foreground shows an alleyway, with cracking and peeling buildings, plants climbing the walls, and a shifting stone road. Each ...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Etching, Paper

Mary Pickford Douglas Fairbanks at Walpi First Mesa Hopi Village 1920 Photograph
Located in Soquel, CA
Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks at Walpi First Mesa Hopi Village 1920 Photograph Original Sepia toned Silver gelatin photographic print by Charles Roshe (British, 1885-1974). Provenance: Mary Pickford, Elizabeth (Bess) Huggins. Image 10.75"H x 13.75"W He was Mary Pickford's favorite cinematographer and a personal friend, shooting all of the films in which she starred from 1918 to 1927, before they had a falling out during production of Coquette (1929). He was the first cinematographer to receive an Academy Award, along with Karl Struss, for Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), and won again for The Yearling (1946), with Leonard Smith and Arthur Arling. He was also nominated four times. Walpi, pueblo (village), Navajo county, northeastern Arizona, U.S., on the edge of a high mesa in the Hopi Indian Reservation. It comprises a group of angular stone houses of two to three stories crowded on a narrow tip of the steep-walled mesa at an elevation of 6,225 feet (1,897 metres). The original pueblo (founded c. 1700) was on a lower part of the mesa, but following the Pueblo Rebellion, the inhabitants moved to the top as a defensive measure against Spanish retaliation. Walpi is known for an antelope ceremony and for snake dances, held during odd years in August and generally closed to non-Hopi spectators. Shitchumovi (Sichomivi) pueblo is adjacent and Hano is nearby. Pickford was the first Canadian to win an Oscar. She was also the second to win best actress and the first for a role in a film with sound. She was one of the founding members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 1919 Pickford took the lead in organizing the United Artists Corporation with Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks. In 1920, after the dissolution of her first marriage (1911–19) to actor Owen Moore, she married Fairbanks (divorced 1936). Pickford’s popularity continued unabated in Pollyanna (1920), Little Lord...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

SCARCE EARLY OROZCO - CABEZA DE MUJER -
Located in Santa Monica, CA
JOSE CLEMENTE OROZCO (1883 – 1949) CABEZA DE MUJER, ( Woman's Head: Mexican Woman) 1929 (Orozco 9) Lithograph, signed and numbered 23/50. in pencil. Pri...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Lithograph

Fishing in Vejle Fjord - Realist Oil, River Landscape by Peder Monk Monsted
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
A charming riverscape oil on canvas by Danish Realist painter Peder Mork Monsted. The painting depicts a beautiful spring landscape on a bright day. A man stands fishing on the bank of a river outside a pink cottage. Flowers are bursting into life on the riverbank and int he cottage garden. Signature: Signed, titled and dated 1920 lower left Original artist's label verso Dimensions: Framed: 20"x26" Unframed: 14"x20" Provenance: Private collection - Denmark Mønsted was born at Grenå, Denmark. He was the son of Otto Christian Mønsted and Thora Johanne Petrea Jorgensen. His father was a prosperous ship-builder. At an early age, he began to receive painting lessons at the art school in Aarhus. From 1875 to 1879, studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts with Niels Simonsen and Julius Exner. In 1878, Mønsted studied under the artist Peder Severin Krøyer. In 1882, he spent some time in Rome and Capri then, the following year, visited Paris, where he worked in the studios of William Adolphe Bouguereau. In 1889, he went to Algeria. Three years later, he travelled to Greece, where he was a guest of King George I who had been born a Danish prince. While there, he also did portraits of the Greek royal...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

William Henry Barribal - 1920s British watercolour of a Girl in a Fancy Bonnet
Located in London, GB
WILLIAM HENRY BARRIBAL (1873-1956) Her Best Bonnet Watercolour and bodycolour over traces of pencil Framed 23.5 by 18.5 cm., 9 ¼ by 7 ¼ in. (frame size 42 by 36 cm., 16 ½ by 14 ¼...
Category

1920s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

Two Girls with Horses and Dog - Signed Stone Lithograph - 1928
Located in Paris, FR
Marie LAURENCIN Two Girls with Horses and Dog (1928) Stone Lithograph Printed in Atelier Mourlot Printed signature in the plate On China paper 31 x 42 c...
Category

1920s 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.

Recently Viewed

View All