$1,108Sale Price|35% Off
H 12 in W 14 in D 3 in
Original Oil Painting of River Landscape in Ireland by 20th Century Irish Artist
By Manson Blair
Located in Preston, GB
Original Oil Painting of a River Landscape in County Tyrone, Ireland, by Irish Artist, Manson Blair
Canvas, Oil
$1,640Sale Price|35% Off
H 12 in W 15 in D 3 in
Original Oil Painting Slemish Mountain County Antrim Ireland by Irish Artist
By Manson Blair
Located in Preston, GB
Original Oil Painting Slemish Mountain County Antrim Ireland by Irish Artist, Manson Blair Art
Canvas, Oil
$1,279Sale Price|25% Off
H 16 in W 20 in D 3 in
Mother & Child at a Beach on West Coast of Ireland by 20th Century Irish Artist
By Manson Blair
Located in Preston, GB
Counties Galway, Donegal and Mayo to seek inspiration for his work. Manson Blair is an award winning member
Canvas, Oil, Glass, Paint, Board
Sold
H 11 in W 13 in D 2 in
Original Oil Painting of Snow Landscape in Ireland by 20th Century Irish Artist
By Manson Blair
Located in Preston, GB
Original Oil Painting of Snow Landscape in Ireland, by Irish Artist, Manson Blair. This piece would
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 17 in W 21 in D 3 in
Original Oil Painting of the River Dun in County Antrim Ireland by Irish Artist
By Manson Blair
Located in Preston, GB
Original Oil Painting of the River Dun in County Antrim Ireland by Irish Artist, Manson Blair Art
Canvas, Oil
$1,697
H 10 in W 12 in D 2.5 in
Painting of Lake & Trees in the English Countryside by 20th Century Artist
By James Wright
Located in Preston, GB
Painting of Lake & Trees with Birds in the English Countryside by 20th Century British Artist, James Wright Signed, Original, Oil on Canvas, housed in a beautiful ornate gold frame....
Canvas, Oil
$3,221Sale Price|20% Off
H 20 in W 30 in D 2.992 in
Horse Drawn Plough with Two Horses Ploughman and Dog by British Landscape Artist
By James Wright
Located in Preston, GB
Horse Drawn Plough with Two Horses, Ploughman and his Dog. Signed, Oil on Canvas, housed in a gilt frame, by British Landscape Artist, James Wright. Art measures 24 x 16 inches Fram...
Canvas, Oil
$2,444
H 22.05 in W 33.86 in
Sunset on the Cheshire Plain - Large Impressionist Horses in Landscape Painting
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
A beautiful large signed and dated 1943 English impressionsit oil on board depicting horses in a landscape at sunset, by William Ongley Miller. Excellent quality and condition atmos...
Oil
$3,033Sale Price|35% Off
H 26 in W 36 in D 3 in
Oil Painting of a Woodland Scene in the English Countryside by British Artist
By James Wright
Located in Preston, GB
Oil Painting of a Woodland Scene in the English Countryside by 20th Century Modern British Artist, James Wright Art measures 30 x 16 inches Frame measures 36 x 22 inches This 198...
Cotton Canvas, Oil, Canvas
$1,987Sale Price|40% Off
H 29 in W 41 in D 2.5 in
Loch Katrine in the Scottish Highlands Realist Landscape Vintage Oil Painting
By William McGregor
Located in Preston, GB
Loch Katrine in the Scottish Highlands Landscape Vintage Painting. A beautiful realist oil painting of the Scottish Highlands from a highly respected British Artist. Art measures 36...
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil
$1,255Sale Price|20% Off
H 17 in W 21 in D 2 in
Young Boy Fishing in River with Cottage in Wild Meadow in English Countryside
Located in Preston, GB
Young Boy Fishing in River with Cottage in a Wild Meadow in the English Countryside by British Artist, Les Parson Art measures 16 x 12 inches Frame measures 21 x 17 inches The p...
Canvas, Oil
$6,498Sale Price|20% Off
H 24 in W 27.5 in D 2 in
Coastal Seascape Landscape Painting with Boats by 20th Century French Artist
By Pierre de Clausade
Located in Preston, GB
Coastal Seascape Landscape Painting with Boats by 20th Century French Artist, Pierre de Clausade (1910-1976). Oil on canvas, Signed on the lower right, Titled "Vers Le Large, Bretag...
Canvas, Oil, Cotton Canvas, Paint
$2,150Sale Price|30% Off
H 25 in W 29 in D 2.5 in
Oil Painting of Loch in the Scottish Highlands by 20th Century British Artist
By Wendy Reeves
Located in Preston, GB
Oil Painting of Loch in the Scottish Highlands by 20th Century British Artist Wendy Reeves. Art measures 20 x 16 inches Frame measures 29 x 25 inches (frame commensurate with age) ...
Canvas, Oil
$4,290Sale Price|20% Off
H 22 in W 30 in D 2.25 in
Oil Painting of Rural Winter Scene with Oak Trees in England by British Artist
By Peter Symonds
Located in Preston, GB
Oil painting of Rural Winter Scene with Oak Trees in England by Contemporary British Artist, Peter Symonds Art measures 24 x 16 inches Frame measures 30 x 22 inches Peter Symonds ...
Canvas, Oil, Cotton Canvas, Paint, Cotton
$1,842Sale Price|30% Off
H 23 in W 29 in D 2 in
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 16 x 12 inches Frame measures ...
Canvas, Oil
$1,597Sale Price|40% Off
H 20 in W 34 in D 2 in
Seascape Painting of the Devon Coastline at Sunrise on South Coast of England
Located in Preston, GB
Seascape Painting of the Devon Coastline at Sunrise on the South Coast of England, by 20th Century British Artist, Bob Tucker. Art measures 30 x 16 inches Frame measures 34 x 20 i...
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil
$1,414Sale Price|20% Off
H 15 in W 19 in D 2 in
Lush Green English Countryside with Cottage & River by British Landscape Artist
Located in Preston, GB
Lush Green English Countryside with Cottage & River by British Landscape Artist, Lesley Hammett (Born 1955) Art measures 16 x 12 inches Frame measures 19 x 15 inches This paintin...
Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Oil
$1,729Sale Price|35% Off
H 21 in W 27 in D 2 in
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 with two boys fishing with their dog, by British Artist, Andrew Grant Kurtis M.A.(Lon) B.Des.(Hons) L.S.I.A.D. Art mea...
Canvas, Oil
$1,425Sale Price|40% Off
H 20 in W 30 in D 2.5 in
River Landscape with Highland Cows & Sheep in the Scottish Mountains
By Wendy Reeves
Located in Preston, GB
River Landscape with Highland Cows & Sheep in the Scottish Mountains by 20th Century British Artist, Wendy Reeves. Original, Oil on canvas, Signed Art measures 24 x 14 inches Fr...
Canvas, Oil
$3,218Sale Price|34% Off
H 14 in W 18 in
Antique 19th century English Impressionist classical landscape with figures
By Joseph Vickers De Ville
Located in Woodbury, CT
Outstanding English Impressionist landscape with figures strolling under trees with the sea beyond. Joseph Vickers de Ville was a son of the farmers Joseph and Mary Deville. He was...
Oil, Wood Panel
$1,552Sale Price|35% Off
H 23 in W 29 in D 3 in
Beech Trees with Figures in a National Trust Forest in Northern Ireland
Located in Preston, GB
Beech Trees with Figures in a National Trust Forest in Northern Ireland by 20th Century Artist, Allan Ardies (1918 - 2014) Art measures 24 x 18 inches Frame measures 29 x 23 inche...
Oil, Canvas
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.