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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
Period: 21st Century and Contemporary
Solitary, Painting, Watercolor on Watercolor Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
An interesting lone prominent dead tree dramatically present in the foreground of a country feild setting. :: Painting :: Realism :: This piece comes with an official certificate...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

Scottish Highlands with Children Playing in the Mountains by Contemporary Artist
Located in Preston, GB
The Scottish Highlands - A colourful and dramatic original acrylic on canvas depicting children walking in the Mountains of Scotland. Entitled "The Road to Glencoe" by British Contem...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Gesso, Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Watercolor

Engagement
Located in Malmo, SE
Free shipment worldwide. Painted on the sides.No frame needed. Signature: signed and dated in the right corner and titled at the verso. Reproduced in the book: ”Unwrapping Yrjö Ede...
Category

Early 2000s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Balance-original realism sunset ocean-seascape oil painting-contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
In Joanne Parent's captivating seascape masterpiece titled "Balance," the artist invites viewers into a serene realm where nature's harmonies converge. Crafted with meticulous detail...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"The Necklace" Oil on board by Telopa
Located in Carmel, CA
Telopa, the father and son of artists, paints women in an elegant Mannerist style that combines classic beauty and mythological, symbolic allegory. A...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

"Untitled" - Oil Painting of Nude Reclining Female Figure
Located in Denver, CO
Rebecca Venn's (US based) "Untitled" is an original, handmade oil painting on canvas paper that depicts a nude female model laying on her back. This is ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Pine, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
"This work is a representation of the unadorned beauty of nature," shares artist Jose Luis Bermudez. The clear blue sky stretches pristinely in soft hues, provi...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Pocket Autumn Collection Autumn leaf #3 [2024], Baroque Still Life, Small art
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Autumn Leaf Collection (Pinky Ochre) is an original oil painting by Dani Humberstone as part of her Pocket Painting series featuring small scale realistic oil paintings, with ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A girl II - XXI century, Contemporary Realistic Figurative Mixed Media Drawing
Located in Warsaw, PL
Contemporary realistic figurative mixed media drawing PROVENANCE Exhibited at Katarzyna Napiorkowska Gallery. The Gallery is a primary representative for this artist. The Gallery o...
Category

Early 2000s Realist Art

Materials

Chalk, Pastel, Cardboard, Pencil

Oil on Canvas of Brigitte Bardot
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Quotes within painting: "A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you. Do you have to have a reason for loving? It is sad to grow old but nice to ripen. I leave before being left. I decide. I left a world in which I was a queen to enter one in which I'm a human being. I am not an actress. I can only play me - on and off the screen Every age can be enchanting, provided you live within it My wild and free side unsettled some, and unwedged others When I love, I do it without counting. I give myself entirely. And each time, it is the grand love of my life I never do anything by chance. People are forever finding something wrong with you. I have been very happy, very rich, very beautiful, much adulated, very famous and very unhappy. Success is unpredictable and fragile." As an undergraduate Christina Major developed into a portrait painter. Major has been interested in the ways the identity of both artist and subject can coexist in a portrait. Major also has a desire to combine portrait painting with writing (inspired from her Graphic Design studies) as well as to develop methods of using paint to express a merging of herself with the individual depicted in the portrait. Her creative research focuses on the traditional form of the portrait as a powerful form of representing an individual and how meaning can be expanded through scale, brushstroke, color, texture, composition and the many variables that portraiture deals with. Major looks to expand on the traditional portrait painting...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Bird, Original, Watercolor Handmade Painting
Located in Granada Hills, CA
50 Artist: Artyom Abrahamyan, Work: Original Painting, Handmade artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Watercolor on Paper, Year: 2022 Style: Realism, Subject: Bird, Size: 12 x 16 inch, ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

"Awakening" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Matt Talbert ( US based) "Awakening" is an oil painting that depicts a nude feminine form in pearls with an Afro reclining with her hands clasped in her hair. Artist bio/statement:...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

The Unveiling-original surreal landscape oil painting-modern contemporary Art
Located in London, Chelsea
"The Unveiling" by Harry Brioche is a compelling original realist aerial landscape painting that captures the anticipation and drama of nature in transition. Executed with mastery us...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Romantic Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dog painting bathed in Caravaggio light
Located in Charleston, US
This dog painting is of a regal tri-color Cavalier King Charles Spaniel by romantic realist Faith Cameron Semmes. The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is bathed in "Caravaggio light" w...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

pocket dark blue sloes, Baroque Still Life Painting, Small Art, Fruit Art
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Dark Blue Sloes is an original still-life painting by artist Dani Humberstone. This painting is a small scale renaissance inspired still life in a photorealistic style and sol...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Pink and White Peonies, Original Floral Painting, Affordable Art, Contemporary
Located in Deddington, GB
Pink and White Peonies by Tushar Sabale [2021] Please note that insitu images are purely an indication of how a piece may look Spring Pink and White peon...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Pocket Pinky Red Pomegranate, Baroque Still Life, fruit
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Pinky Red Pomegranate 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 baroqu...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Sparrow, Bird, Watercolor Handmade Painting, One of a Kind
Located in Granada Hills, CA
65 Artist: Artyom Abrahamyan, Work: Original Painting, Handmade artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Watercolor on Paper, Year: 2023 Style: Classic Art, Subject: Sparrow, Size: 12 x 16...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Blue Jay, Bird, Watercolor Handmade Painting, One of a Kind
Located in Granada Hills, CA
58 Artist: Artyom Abrahamyan, Work: Original Painting, Handmade artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Watercolor on Paper, Year: 2023 Style: Classic Art, Subject: Blue Jay, Size: 12 x 1...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

Pocket Raspberry Original Painting, Baroque style, Realism, food
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Raspberry 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...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Robin, Bird, Watercolor Handmade Painting, One of a Kind
Located in Granada Hills, CA
178 Artist: Artyom Abrahamyan, Work: Original Painting, Handmade artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Watercolor on Paper Year: 2023 Style: Classic Art Title: Robin Size: 12 x 16 inch, (...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Contemporary print "Seven Black Cats"
Located in Sempach, LU
In my creation, I blend feline grace with human poise, evoking a deep, mysterious bond. The gold-hued backdrop and floral whispers balance solemn black cats, symbolizing unity amid d...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Foil

"The snake's gaze. Hypnosis" Original Oil Painting by Liliya Volskaya
Located in Sempach, LU
The paintings are drawn with acrylic on the hardboard (back side made of the double cardboard). Acrylic paints are used to create the painting on canvas animals and ecology. A cruci...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Lacquer

"First Steps" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Austin Howlett's "First Steps" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a tall female figure walking through a snow covered landscape. Artis...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

[Buggereau (b. 1956)] Untitled #1
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas with silver leaf, black painted wood frame with gold leaf Signed and dated in red, l.r. $6000.00 + $500.00 framing This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Reynard Fox Painting in Snowy Winter Landscape Celebrates the Fox's Cunningness
Located in Charleston, US
Beth Carlson's dramatic fox painting, titled "Reynard," emphasizes the fox's power of wit over strength. The cunning fox is set against a beautiful snowy winter backdrop. The fox pa...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Interstate, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Jesse Aldana presents a skyscape from a ground-level angle in realistic detail. White clouds, flattened in their haste, race across the sky. It leaves th...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

NYC Landscape Oil Painting Michael Budden Macy's Parade Series Stars & Sonic
Located in Chesterfield, NJ
Macy's Star & Sonic II Part of a series of 11 paintings. An oil painting on canvas panel by award winning contemporary artist Michael Budden that showcases images from the Macy's Tha...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Spring Collection: Pocket Daffodil [2024], Baroque Still Life, flower
Located in Deddington, GB
Spring Collection: Pocket Daffodil 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 ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Cyclamens
Located in Sempach, LU
Cyclamens picked in my garden set in a transparent vase. The various shades of pink and the choice of details made it possible to convey the beauty of these flowers. My intention was...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Bird man, Painting, Watercolor on Watercolor Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
I love to paint portrait from live model and also from picture. I took this bird man picture from Niagara Fall, Canada. Sorry I forgotten his name but he looks after most of the beau...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

Village_01, Painting, Watercolor on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This a very early morning village near by a river :: Painting :: Realism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: Yes :...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

Pocket Bumble Bee 3, Baroque Still Life, Insect, Animals, Affordable art, Spring
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Bumble Bee 3 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 l...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Painter in the forest, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Plein air, Poland, 2022. On the second day, I was in the forest with my painter colleague, and we painted together. She painted the forest path and I painted her painting. A beautif...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Garfish hunter/angler, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Plein air, Poland, 2022. In the near where the Czerwona flows into the Baltic Sea is a very popular fishing spot. Anglers have been targeting garfish and from what I've seen they ha...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Lighthouse Bastorf, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Plein air festival Baltic Sea Kuehlungsborn 2022. This picture was painted at the Plein air festival in Kuehlungsborn on a path below the Bastorf lighthouse. It was very hot and har...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Among the mallows, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
A portrait of a woman is an inexhaustible source to express your vision of female attractiveness, sexuality and mood. Original oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed on the front side ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Innocence, Painting, Watercolor on Watercolor Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This is one of my studio painting. :: Painting :: Realism :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: Yes :: Signed: Yes ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

The way to Peace, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Plein air, Poland, 2022. Plein air in the forest near Klopotowo. The whole thing exuded such a calmness, I felt at home and calmed down immediately. Perhaps warring factions should ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Gorse eye-catcher, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Plein air, Poland, 2022. On the way back to my accommodation in Klopotowo, I saw this eye-catcher flowering gorse in the Forest afar. Oil on linen laminated on HDF. :: Painting :: ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Dune protection, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Plein air, Poland, 2022. As I searched between the dunes for protection from the sun and wind, I found this wonderful sheltered spot and painted it right away. Oil on cotton lamina...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Pocket White Anemone, Original Painting, Baroque style, Realism
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket White Anemone 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 ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Worker_01, Painting, Watercolor on Watercolor Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
I love to paint portrait from live model and also from picture. I took this man picture from Toronto during his break time, his name is Ben. I was trying to capture his passionate pe...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

Goblets XXV, Sweet wrapper art, contemporary wall sculpture, conversation art
Located in Deddington, GB
Goblets XXV is a signed original wall sculpture made from sweet wrappers by Joanne Tinker of a selection of colourful wine goblets on a black shelved frame. Joanne Tinker wall sculpt...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Metal, Foil

New York City Street Scene Oil Painting Michael Budden Visual Variations
Located in Chesterfield, NJ
Visual Variations A NYC Collage oil/panel Image is 10 x 8 unframed, 16.63 x 13.63 framed An oil painting on canvas panel by award winning contemporary artist Michael Budden that show...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Parishioner, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A cow grazes as it passes by, munching on the grass. Against the burgundy wall of the structure, large white doors provide contrast and frame the body of the ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

Pocket Song Sparrow Egg, Baroque Still Life, Birds, Animals, Nature, Affordable
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Song Sparrow Egg 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 sti...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Evening (Ode to B. Foster), " Original Autumn Landscape Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
"Evening (Ode to B. Foster)" by Shawn Krueger (United States) is a handmade landscape oil painting that is painted on a cradled board and ready to hang. Krueger depicts a marsh in th...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Dividing Light II, Contemporary Expressionistic Style Painting, Realist Art
Located in Deddington, GB
Dividing Light II [2021] Please note that insitu images are purely an indication of how a piece may look Dividing Light II is an original painting by artist Sheryl Roberts. Sheryl has mastered the composition of dramatic light...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Eagle, Bird, Watercolor Handmade Painting, One of a Kind
Located in Granada Hills, CA
130 Artist: Artyom Abrahamyan, Work: Original Painting, Handmade artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Watercolor on Paper, Year: 2023 Style: Classic Art, Title: Eagle, Size: 12 x 16 in...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Pocket Snowdrop 4, Original painting, Baroque Still Life, Floral art, Flower
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Snowdrop 4 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 lif...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Spring Collection: Pocket Blackbird's Egg (c), Original Painting, Egg, Realism
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Crimson Strawberry (c) 2024 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 ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

“Lilies” realist oil paint still life with landscape in background en plain air
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Melissa Franklin Sanchez was born in 1984, in Warwickshire, England. In 2002 she graduated from her humanistic studies: Art, Music, English Literature, Performing Arts and Ballet. In...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Copper

"L'intruso" Pappagallo Ara Olio cm. 50 x 65 2018
Located in Torino, IT
Bellissima opera realista, Pappagallo Ara Luisa Albert è una magistrale interprete della scuola realista vicino alla pittura fiaminga. Le nature morte e bellissimi animali vengono tr...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Balance, Painting, Oil on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
A portrait of a woman is an inexhaustible source to express your vision of female attractiveness, sexuality and mood. Original oil painting, accompanied by a Certificate of Authenti...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Painting of the Chrysler Building 42nd Street New York City by British Artist
Located in Preston, GB
Painting of the Chrysler Building 42nd Street New York City by Contemporary British Artist, Angela Wakefield. Art measures 24 x 36 inches Frame measures 30 x 42 inches Framed in a ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

Armenian Contemporary Art by Kamsar Ohanyan - Autumn Wind
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Kamsar Ohanyan is an Armenian artist born in 1991 who lives and works in Yerevan, Armenia. He studied in Yerevan at State Pedagogical University with Kh. Abovyan at th...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Armenian Contemporary Art by Kamsar Ohanyan - Spring Day
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Kamsar Ohanyan is an Armenian artist born in 1991 who lives and works in Yerevan, Armenia. He studied in Yerevan at State Pedagogical University with Kh. Abovyan at th...
Category

2010s 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.

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