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Peter J Greenhill

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Grand 19th Century English Marine Painting in Stunning Light
Grand 19th Century English Marine Painting in Stunning Light

Grand 19th Century English Marine Painting in Stunning Light

By John Wilson Ewbank

Located in London, GB

John Wilson Ewbank (1799 - 1847) Shipping in the Harbour, South Shields Oil on canvas 39.5 x 58 inches unframed 47.75 x 66.5 inches framed Provenance: Christie's October 2002; L...

Category

19th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

19th Century landscape oil painting of figures fishing by a river lock
19th Century landscape oil painting of figures fishing by a river lock

19th Century landscape oil painting of figures fishing by a river lock

By Robert John Hammond

Located in Nr Broadway, Worcestershire

Robert John Hammond British, (1853-1911) Fishing by the Lock Gate Oil on canvas, signed & dated 1893 Image size: 19.5 inches x 14.5 inches Size including frame: 25.75 inches x 20.75...

Category

19th Century Victorian Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mountain Lake Oil Painting of a Loch in the Scottish Highlands by British Artist
Mountain Lake Oil Painting of a Loch in the Scottish Highlands by British Artist

Mountain Lake Oil Painting of a Loch in the Scottish Highlands by British Artist

By Andrew Grant Kurtis

Located in Preston, GB

Mountain Lake Oil Painting of a Loch in the Scottish Highlands by British Artist, Andrew Grant Kurtis M.A.(Lon) B.Des.(Hons) L.S.I.A.D. Art measures 24 x 18 inches Frame measures 2...

Category

20th Century Realist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

HUGE OIL PAINTING By MAJOR John E .Bale 19th Century BRITISH SCHOOL
HUGE OIL PAINTING By MAJOR John E .Bale 19th Century BRITISH SCHOOL

HUGE OIL PAINTING By MAJOR John E .Bale 19th Century BRITISH SCHOOL

By John Edward Bale

Located in Ferndown, GB

OIL PAINTING SIGNED 19th Century BRITISH SCHOOL Fine Original Antique 19th Century British OIL PAINTING GOLD GILT FRAME By Major John Edward Bale Excellent Condition Panel, ...

Category

Late 19th Century Realist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil

Ladies in Poppy Meadow Picking Wild Flowers Signed Impressionist Oil Painting
Ladies in Poppy Meadow Picking Wild Flowers Signed Impressionist Oil Painting

Ladies in Poppy Meadow Picking Wild Flowers Signed Impressionist Oil Painting

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

"Path Across the Fields" by Paul Morgan, British 20th century signed oil on board, framed Framed: 21 x 24.5 inches Board : 16 x 20 inches Provenance: private collection Condition: ve...

Category

20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil

19th century English River landscape with figures, horses, cottage, sheep
19th century English River landscape with figures, horses, cottage, sheep

19th century English River landscape with figures, horses, cottage, sheep

By John Frederick Tennant

Located in Woodbury, CT

Well painted and very interesting composition attributed to the English landscape painter john Frederick Tennant. His work is very similar to this piece in the use of many differen...

Category

1840s Victorian Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

19th Century landscape oil painting of a harvest in Derbyshire
19th Century landscape oil painting of a harvest in Derbyshire

19th Century landscape oil painting of a harvest in Derbyshire

By George Turner

Located in Nr Broadway, Worcestershire

George Turner British, (1843-1910) Harvesting near Barrow-on-Trent Oil on canvas, signed & dated (18)86, further inscribed verso Image size: 19.25 inches x 29.25 inches Size includ...

Category

19th Century Victorian Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

18th Century, Old Master European Landscape Painting Italian School
18th Century, Old Master European Landscape Painting Italian School

18th Century, Old Master European Landscape Painting Italian School

$6,000Sale Price|20% Off

H 34.25 in W 44.5 in D 3 in

18th Century, Old Master European Landscape Painting Italian School

Located in Atlanta, GA

Italian School, 18th century. A masterful example of 18th-century Italian School artistry, this Old Master landscape painting captures the sublime beauty of an idealized European co...

Category

Antique 18th Century Italian Baroque Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Giltwood, Paint

Large Traditional Signed Oil Painting Gilt Swept Frame River Woodlands Birds
Large Traditional Signed Oil Painting Gilt Swept Frame River Woodlands Birds

Large Traditional Signed Oil Painting Gilt Swept Frame River Woodlands Birds

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

European artist, second half 20th century signed lower corner oil on canvas, framed framed: 25 x 35 inches canvas: 20 x 30 inches provenance: private collection, England condition: v...

Category

Late 20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Fine Large Victorian Signed Oil Fisherman in Highland River Landscape1880's
Fine Large Victorian Signed Oil Fisherman in Highland River Landscape1880's

Fine Large Victorian Signed Oil Fisherman in Highland River Landscape1880's

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Fisherman in Highland Landscape by James Mudd (English, 1821 - 1906) signed oil on canvas, framed framed: 28.5 x 41 inches painting: 24 x 36 inches provenance: private collection, En...

Category

Late 19th Century Victorian Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil

Late 19th century antique landscape oil painting from Denmark
Late 19th century antique landscape oil painting from Denmark

Late 19th century antique landscape oil painting from Denmark

Located in Ebberup, DK

This is an original antique oil on plate landscape painting estimated to be from the late 1900s. The painting displays a romantic scenery in the forest with a small arched bridge cr...

Category

Antique Late 19th Century Danish Art Nouveau Paintings

Materials

Paint

Antique English Grand Tour Old Master Oil Figures  Classical Arcadian Landscape
Antique English Grand Tour Old Master Oil Figures  Classical Arcadian Landscape

Antique English Grand Tour Old Master Oil Figures Classical Arcadian Landscape

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Classical Landscape English School, early 19th century, unsigned oil on canvas, unframed canvas : 19 x 27 inches Provenance: private collection, UK Condition: The painting is in very...

Category

Early 19th Century Old Masters Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Fine Antique Scottish Oil Highlands Loch Scene Tranquil Pastoral Landscape
Fine Antique Scottish Oil Highlands Loch Scene Tranquil Pastoral Landscape

Fine Antique Scottish Oil Highlands Loch Scene Tranquil Pastoral Landscape

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Highland Landscape E.C Hamblin, British late 19th/early 20th century signed oil on canvas, framed dated 1914 verso framed: 25 x 35 inches canvas: 20 x 30 inches provenance: private c...

Category

Early 20th Century Victorian Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil

Country Cottage
Country Cottage

Country Cottage

By Abraham Hulk the Younger

Located in Hillsborough, NC

Late 19th/early 20th century oil on canvas painting in the manner of Abraham Hulk the Younger (1851-1922), and George Vincent (1796-1832). These artists painted in the Dutch style, t...

Category

Late 19th Century Victorian Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Early 20th Century English Autumn river landscape, cows drinking from the stream
Early 20th Century English Autumn river landscape, cows drinking from the stream

Early 20th Century English Autumn river landscape, cows drinking from the stream

By Abraham Hulk the Younger

Located in Woodbury, CT

Early 20th Century English Autumn river landscape with cows drinking from a stream. Abraham Hulk Junior was born in the Netherlands in 1851 to renowned Dutch marine painter Abraham ...

Category

1890s Victorian Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

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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.

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.