"Nomos", Oil Painting
By Christopher Remmers
Located in Denver, CO
Christopher Remmers' (US based) "Nomos" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a nude man hugging a glowing orb of light to himself as the landscape around him is engulfe...
Oil, Panel
Invocation, Woman Holding a Glowing Orb in a Surreal Landscape, Oil on Linen
By Christopher Remmers
Located in Denver, CO
“Invocation” is a large-scale contemporary figurative painting from 2022, created in oil on linen. A woman in a flowing white dress and headscarf holds a luminous orb against a vast,...
Linen, Oil
Alchemy #1
By Christopher Remmers
Located in Denver, CO
Alchemy #1, 2021
Linen, Oil, Panel
Luminous
By Christopher Remmers
Located in Denver, CO
"Luminous," is an original oil painting by Christopher Remmers. It is framed and ready-to-hang.
Oil, Wood Panel
Rune
By Christopher Remmers
Located in Denver, CO
"Rune," is an original oil painting by Christopher Remmers. It is framed and ready-to-hang.
Oil, Linen
Subversion
By Christopher Remmers
Located in Denver, CO
"Subversion," is an original oil painting by Christopher Remmers. It is framed and ready-to-hang.
Linen, Oil
Cristina
By Christopher Remmers
Located in Denver, CO
"Cristina," is an original oil painting by Christopher Remmers. It is framed and ready-to-hang.
Oil, Panel
Grasping at Unity
By Christopher Remmers
Located in Denver, CO
"Grasping at Unity," is an original oil painting by Christopher Remmers. It is framed and ready-to-hang.
Linen, Oil
$5,000
H 32 in W 16 in
"Patient Martyr" - Realist Male Portrait, Oil Painting on Aluminum Panel
By Zack Zdrale 1
Located in Denver, CO
"Patient Martyr" is a realist oil painting on aluminum panel by American painter Zack Zdrale, depicting a male model with his arms outstretched and intertwined above his head, leanin...
Oil, Panel
$3,800
H 12 in W 24 in
"Awaken" - Realist Nude Male Portrait, Oil Painting on Panel
By Brian O'Neill
Located in Denver, CO
O’Neill’s work has been showcased in galleries and museums across the United States, Canada, England, and Japan. O’Neill is a graduate of the Ani Art Academy apprenticeship program,...
Oil, Panel
"Aura" Oil Painting
By David Cheifetz
Located in Denver, CO
David Cheifetz's "Aura" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a nude woman's torso in profile overlaid with blue and green colors around her hands. About the Artist: D...
Oil
$4,000
H 39.38 in W 19.69 in D 1.58 in
Italian Contemporary Art by Matteo Nannini - Adam
By Matteo Nannini
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Matteo Nannini is an Italian artist born in 1979 in Bologna who lives and works in Cento, Ferrara, Italy. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. Painter by...
Canvas, Oil
"Glow, " Oil Painting
By Karen Offutt
Located in Denver, CO
Karen Offutt's "Glow" is an original, handmade painting that depicts a close up view of a feminine face with her eyes closed as her necklace and alabaster skin reflect brightly again...
Oil, Panel
"Exposed" - Original Oil Painting on Panel
By Matt Talbert
Located in Denver, CO
Artist bio/statement: Matt Talbert is a contemporary oil painter living in Southern California. Both a graduate from the Orange County School of the Arts and the Laguna College of A...
Oil, Panel
$3,750
H 24 in W 16 in
"Clatterer" (2023) By Allen Williams, Original Oil Portrait Painting
By Allen Williams
Located in Denver, CO
"Clatterer" (2023) by Allen Williams is an original oil painting on a sealed illustration board that depicts an eerie and disturbing portrait of a demonic figure. This painting measu...
Oil, Board, Illustration Board
$4,079
H 45.87 in W 25.99 in
Sebastian: Contemporary Oil Painting on Linen, Unframed, 116.5 x 66 cm
By Felix Campean
Located in BARCELONA, ES
Felix Campean's artwork presents a scene of a human body emerging with astonishing anatomical precision, capturing every detail of musculature and skin with hyper-realistic fidelity....
Linen, Oil
Eva 90x70 cm, oil/canvas, 2007
By Igor Maikov
Located in Riga, LV
Igor Maikov (1966) Education: 1981 - 1984 The Art Academy of Latvia 1973 - 1983 Salaspils Primary and Secondary School Exhibitions: 1994 - Group Exhibition «Rol-Art», Latvia ...
Canvas, Oil
"Exhale" by Brian O'Neill, Oil painting, Male Nude
By Brian O'Neill
Located in Denver, CO
Brian O'Neill's (US based) "Exhale" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a nude male figure stooped over and keeling on the ground, with his back exposed and bowing his...
Silver, Gold Leaf
$2,331Sale Price|20% Off
H 39.38 in W 20.08 in
Afectata: Oil Painting on Linen, Hyper-Realistic Figurative Art, 2010+
By Felix Campean
Located in BARCELONA, ES
Felix Campean's work presents a hyper-realistic human body, displaying every muscle and texture with astonishing precision. The intense colors and slightly distorted shape of the bod...
Linen, Oil
"Into the Night, " Oil Painting
By Sara Scribner
Located in Denver, CO
Sara Scribner's (US based) "Into the Night" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a woman in a long pink dress walking towards a background of obscure darkness. About ...
Oil, Panel
"Recall, " Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Alla Bartoshchuk's "Recall" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a nude female figure in the company of laughing blue and purple women, where some limbs appear bodiless...
Oil, Panel
"Where is Home?", Oil Painting
By Pegah Samaie
Located in Denver, CO
Pegah Samaie's (CA based) "Where is Home?" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a reclining nude woman, wrapped in a white fabric, gently touching the golden compass th...
Oil, Panel
$3,000
H 16 in W 12 in D 0.25 in
"Spark" (2024) Oil Painting by Karen Offutt, Nude Female Portrait
By Karen Offutt
Located in Denver, CO
Karen Offutt's (US based) "Spark" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a nude female on an abstracted background. The painting is framed, with overall dimensions of 18 ...
Oil, Panel
"Katie, " Oil Painting
By Sara Scribner
Located in Denver, CO
Sara Scribner's (US based) "Katie" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a realistic portrait of a blonde feminine figure in profile clutching white flowers tightly to h...
Oil, Panel
Allegory of Abundance
Located in New York, NY
Painted in collaboration with Hendrick van Balen (Antwerp, 1575 – 1632). Provenance: Private Collection, Uruguay, since the 1930s. The eldest son of Jan Breughel the Elder, Jan the...
Copper
$4,200
H 18 in W 18 in D 1.5 in
Glimpse of Something That Seemed All Potential - Nude Original Oil Painting
By Rick Sindt
Located in Chicago, IL
Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographic stills, repurposing them...
Oil, Panel
$2,133
H 34.65 in W 27.56 in
Edmond Suau (1871-1929) Une Académie, Standing man, signed oil on canvas
Located in Paris, FR
Edmond Suau (1871-1929) Une Académie, Standing man, oil on canvas signed lower left 88 x 70 cm In quite good condition, some damages - small lacks of painting - in the lower part, ...
Oil
$12,000Sale Price|20% Off
H 36.5 in W 21 in D 1 in
"Male Youth with Pole", Superb Painting of Male Nude by Sigvard Mohn, 1910s
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Sensitively painted with a rich but subdued palette and dramatic lighting, this large painting of a male youth leaning on a long pole was made by Sigvard Mohn, a Minnesota-born artis...
Paint
Forsyth Mushroom Pouf Ottoman in Zebra
Located in SAINT LOUIS, MO
This Forsyth mushroom pouf ottoman was created and designed by the Forsyth design team. Each ottoman is handcrafted in Saint Louis. A cute decorative piece for any room adding textur...
Zebra Hide
$3,729
H 19.69 in W 23.63 in D 0.04 in
Maruzzella Oil Painting on Canvas, Contemporary Portrait, Signed, 2021
By Marco Fariello
Located in Roma, IT
Maruzzella is one of the best works by the artist Marco Fariello realized in 2021. It is an academic drawing of a Portrait of a young woman with an enchanted look. It is an oil pai...
Canvas, Oil
$2,797
H 35.44 in W 17.72 in D 0.04 in
Klaudia frontal nude - Oil Paint by Marco Fariello - 2021
By Marco Fariello
Located in Roma, IT
Klaudia frontal nude is one of the best works by the artist Marco Fariello. It is made on canvas, painted in oil in 2021. The subject of the work is the representation of a nude of ...
Canvas, Oil
$6,250
H 18 in W 24 in
Pressure System, Male Nude Crouching on a Stone Pedestal, Original Oil on Panel
By Zack Zdrale 1
Located in Chicago, IL
Pressure System by Zack Zdrale is a blend of contemporary elements yet reminiscent of the great masters. A male figure crouches down on a stone pedestal, his taut muscles and lean p...
Oil, Panel
$1,500
H 31 in W 15 in D 0.8 in
Nude Woman, Original Oil Painting, Handmade Artwork, One of a Kind
By Ashot Muradyan
Located in Granada Hills, CA
Artist: Ashot Muradyan Work: Original Painting, Handmade Artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Oil on Linen Year: 2022 Style: Impressionism, Subject: Nude Woman, Size: 31" x 15" x 0.8'' i...
Canvas, Oil
$1,400
H 9 in W 12 in
"Blake of Night" (2012) By John Tarantola, Original Nude Oil Portrait Painting
By John Tarantola
Located in Denver, CO
John Tarantola's original nude portrait "Blake of Night" (2012) is a beautiful surrealist oil on panel painting that depicts an athletic nude male figure crawling forward on a slab o...
Oil, Panel
Mirror with Dragons, Italy, 1940s
Located in Isle Sur La Sorgue, Vaucluse
An Asian -nspired mirror with unusual shape, framed by two carved wood dragons, seeming to entwine around the glass.
Wood
$14,000
H 24 in W 48 in
"Skylover" Contemporary Realist Male Nude Oil Painting, 24x48 Inches, framed
By Anthony Ackrill
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
"Skylover" is a contemporary realist male nude perspective oil painting in a unique wood frame. An ellipse shaped canvas displays a man laying on the ground under the morning sky. Hi...
Canvas, Oil
Zeus and Ganymede - oil silverleaf Neo Mythology
By Paula Craioveanu
Located in Forest Hills, NY
"Zeus and Ganymede", oil and silver leaf on canvas, 39x39in / 100x100cm Inspired by the legend of Zeus and Ganymede. Part of my NeoMythology project. Shipped as it is, stretched. Thi...
Oil, Canvas
$9,500
H 24 in W 48 in D 1.5 in
The Abyss - Original Oil Painting of Nude Figures Wandering Into a Body of Water
By Bruno Surdo
Located in Chicago, IL
This beautiful grouping of nude figures wandering into the abyss are seen from behind in various states of undress. Master painter Bruno Surdo creates compelling and mysterious narr...
Canvas, Oil
$1,551
H 7.09 in W 7.88 in D 0.79 in
Feminine & Masculine XV - Modern Figurative Oil Painting, Beach View, Realism
By Julita Malinowska
Located in Hallein, AT
Artodyssey "Julita Malinowska's paintings belong to those, which once seen - are never forgotten. The open spaces, sometimes cool and bright, at other times heavily saturated with co...
Canvas, Oil
$6,500
H 35.5 in W 23.5 in
"In the Room Where You Sleep" by Daire Lynch, Original Oil Painting, Nude Female
By Daire Lynch
Located in Denver, CO
"In the Room Where You Sleep" by Daire Lynch (Ireland based) is an original oil, acrylic and gold leaf on canvas that depicts a red haired nude model in striking lighting with a whit...
Gold Leaf
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.
Figurative art, as opposed to abstract art, retains features from the observable world in its representational depictions of subject matter. Most commonly, figurative paintings reference and explore the human body, but they can also include landscapes, architecture, plants and animals — all portrayed with realism.
While the oldest figurative art dates back tens of thousands of years to cave wall paintings, figurative works made from observation became especially prominent in the early Renaissance. Artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and other Renaissance masters created naturalistic representations of their subjects.
Pablo Picasso is lauded for laying the foundation for modern figurative art in the 1920s. Although abstracted, this work held a strong connection to representing people and other subjects. Other famous figurative artists include Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. Figurative art in the 20th century would span such diverse genres as Expressionism, Pop art and Surrealism.
Today, a number of figural artists — such as Sedrick Huckaby, Daisy Patton and Eileen Cooper — are making art that uses the human body as its subject.
Because figurative art represents subjects from the real world, natural colors are common in these paintings. A piece of figurative art can be an exciting starting point for setting a tone and creating a color palette in a room.
Browse an extensive collection of figurative paintings on 1stDibs.
A hyperrealist canvas by Heinz Schönhammer transforms a café classic into an unforgettable still life.
With a solo show at the Denver Art Museum and a commission from the Met, the Cree Canadian painter has become an international sensation.