Frank Egginton
Mid-20th Century Realist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Realist Landscape Paintings
Oil, Canvas, Cotton, Cotton Canvas, Board
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2010s Dutch Modern Decorative Bowls
Travertine
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Wood
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Marble
20th Century Thai Chinoiserie Decorative Bowls
Ceramic, Porcelain
Vintage 1920s English Art Deco Bedroom Sets
Chrome
2010s Austrian Jugendstil Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Brass
Late 20th Century European Porcelain
Porcelain
Antique 1640s British Jacobean Blanket Chests
Oak
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Iron, Wrought Iron, Gold Leaf
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Wall Mirrors
Glass, Mirror, Laminate, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Dining Room Chairs
Brass, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Contemporary Art
Ceramic, Paint
2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century German Country Armchairs
Wicker, Rattan, Wood
Antique Late 19th Century Italian Grand Tour Figurative Sculptures
Marble, Bronze
Antique Early 19th Century Dutch Vases
Delft, Faience
A Close Look at Realist Art
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.