Sarah Becktel

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.

Animal paintings depict the beauty and power of nature in an elegant way that can complement any room. Interacting with animals has long captured the imagination and has been interpreted in diverse artistic media.

Some of the oldest works of art have included animals, such as a cave painting found in Indonesia dating back more than 45,500 years that shows a wild pig in red ocher pigment. Animals have continued to appear in every era and style of art, from realism to Pop art and everything in between.

Some paintings portray animals in their natural habitat, highlighting the majesty of wild creatures roaming the plains, forests and jungles. These paintings often feature deer, tigers, wild mustangs and other wildlife. Others focus on domestic animals such as dogs — pay a visit to the Museum of the Dog if you don’t believe us — as well as cats and how they interact with the world and their owners.

Picking the right animal painting for a room — as well as knowing how to arrange your new wall art — can take time. But, in the end, it will tastefully reflect your interests and passions. While an expansive landscape painting helps open up a small space, hanging a horse painting in a den shows a love for equine culture and can invite interesting conversation.

There is animal art to fit every collection on 1stDibs. Explore a wide selection of animal paintings and animal prints in a range of styles and designs to match any home or office.