John Emslie
1890s Victorian Portrait Paintings
Oil
People Also Browsed
18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Indian Folk Art Tribal Art
Metal, Silver Plate
Early 20th Century Papua New Guinean Tribal Collectible Jewelry
Shell, Abalone, Mother-of-Pearl
19th Century Realist Portrait Paintings
Oil, Canvas
Early 2000s Impressionist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 19th Century Academic Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Paint
1940s American Realist Still-life Paintings
Oil, Board
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Peruvian Pre-Columbian Natural Specimens
Coral
Early 20th Century Moroccan Folk Art Collectible Jewelry
Metal
19th Century Realist Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Academic Nude Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Academic Nude Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Antique 19th Century Turkestan Collectible Jewelry
Silver, Brass
Vintage 1920s French Art Deco Paintings
Canvas, Wood
Antique Late 18th Century Chinese Qing Sculptures and Carvings
Boxwood
Finding the Right figurative-paintings for You
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.