Eric Zener is a self-taught Photorealist artist recognized for his figure paintings of lone subjects often submerged in swimming pools.
Zener employs water as a metaphorical tool to express renewal and personal transformation. It speaks to the collective desire in all of us to retreat from the noise of the world, challenging the shallow, surface-level questions and concerns that frame our daily lives. Additionally, Zener works across a broad spectrum of materials, including paint, silver leaf, and resin, to create texture, depth, and dimensionality in his work.
Zener’s work has been exhibited in the United States, and internationally, for over 25 years. His solo exhibition history has largely been with his long-standing dealers in San Francisco and New York. Additionally, Zener has had numerous shows in Asia, Australia and Europe. Eric’s work has been featured and reviewed extensively in art magazines and other publications. Apart from gallery representation his work has also been included in museum shows and international residency programs.
Find original Eric Zener art on 1stDibs.
$72,000Sale Price|20% Off
SELF - Contemporary Realism / Swimmer / Waterscape / Male Figure
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Original oil painting by Eric Zener. Eric Zener’s photorealistic paintings and resins are focused on four motifs: landscapes, figures in bed or on tightropes, and bodies in water. ...
Canvas, Oil
ETHEREAL- Blue Water / Female Swimmer / Floating Free / Photorealism
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Original oil painting by Eric Zener. Signed on the back in pencil "Eric Zener" Eric Zener’s photorealistic paintings and resins are focused on four motifs: landscapes, figures in b...
Canvas, Oil
SUMMER RIPPLE - Contemporary / Figurative / Swimmer
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Original Painting by Eric Zener. Eric Zener (b. 1966, Astoria, OR) completed his BA in 1988 at the University of California, Santa Barbara. As an artist he has been engaged in a qu...
Canvas, Oil
A Blending Into - Realism Figurative Painting, Oil on Canvas, 36x60
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Signed on Verso. Eric Zener (b. 1966, Astoria, OR) completed his BA in 1988 at the University of California, Santa Barbara. As an artist he has been engaged in a quest to observe a...
Canvas, Oil
HOW TO BE HAPPY - Underwater Photorealism / Female Swimmer / Large Portrait
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Original oil painting by Eric Zener. Eric Zener (b. 1966, Astoria, OR) completed his BA in 1988 at the University of California, Santa Barbara. As an artist he has been engaged in ...
Canvas, Oil
$58,000
ABOVE IT ALL - Contemporary Realism / Male Figure Swimmer / Ladder Journey Sky
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Original Painting by Eric Zener Eric Zener (b. 1966, Astoria, OR) completed his BA in 1988 at the University of California, Santa Barbara. As an artist he has been engaged in a que...
Canvas, Oil
PATHWAYS - Abstract Landscape / Branches and Tree / Blue and Brown
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Original Oil Painting by Eric Zener Eric Zener (b. 1966, Astoria, OR) completed his BA in 1988 at the University of California, Santa Barbara. As an artist he has been engaged in a...
Canvas, Oil
The Dissidents: Discourse on the Golden Mean
By Michael Tole
Located in New Orleans, LA
Michael Tole says of his work… This work draws a connection between the didactic moralizing tendencies of Neo Classicism (represented in the style of the painting) and Modernism (represented in the architectural setting). Though modern art eschews the naturalistic imagery used by Neo Classicists, both movements pursued a self-important, austere, self-consciously masculine aesthetic that they saw as synonymous with virtue. Set in the MoMA courtyard, a passel of men lounge about, regarding a golden statue which looks terribly out of place in this modernist vitrine. The uncomfortable architectural setting, prisonlike and cold, provides a foil for the odalisque-like young men sprawled on hard stone benches and paying homage to the central idol. In my current work, The Revisionist Histories, I am writing letters to art history, literature, and mythology in an attempt to reflect the social changes that have reshaped our society over the past century. As part of this agenda, I explore the evolution of gender norms, power dynamics, and representation within Western visual culture and what this implies for the negotiation between pleasure, justice, and our culturally specific discourse on beauty. The seed for The Revisionist Histories was sewn when I caught a glimpse of my preteen daughters watching music videos on their iPad as I chopped veggies for dinner. Out of the corner of my eye I caught glimpses of music videos featuring Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, and Doja Cat gyrating across the tiny screen. A better parent might have snatched the iPad away, but I was overcome with hallucinatory visions of this pop diva...
Oil, Canvas
$900
H 11.82 in W 27.56 in D 1.19 in
Israeli Contemporary Art by Dondi Schwartz - View to a Life
By Dondi Schwartz
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Dondi Schwartz is an Israeli artist born in Canada in 1961 who lives and works in the Kibbutz Beeri, Negev, Israel. Schwartz studied art at the Avni School of Arts in...
Canvas, Oil
$50,000
H 40 in W 30 in D 0.75 in
"New Expression #42" Colorful Contemporary Abstract Portrait, Signed Original
By Masri Hayssam
Located in Carmel, CA
Masri Hayssam (Lebanese-Italian, born 1965) "New Expression #42" 2023 Acrylic and oil paint on canvas, stretcher bars Signed in the bottom left corner and on verso. "New Expression ...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic, Stretcher Bars
$10,857
H 76.78 in W 51.19 in D 1.97 in
The republican picnic Stéphane Fauchille Contemporary art painting colour humour
By Stéphane Fauchille
Located in Paris, FR
Oil paint on canvas Unique work Hand-signed by the artist Stéphane Fauchille, dream anthropologist “Would you, for a moment, like to become the Claude Lévi-Strauss of the aborigin...
Canvas, Oil
$27,500
H 28 in W 22 in D 0.75 in
"Her" - Bold Colorful Modern Mixed Media Textured Abstract Portrait of a Woman
By Masri Hayssam
Located in Carmel, CA
Masri Hayssam (Lebanese, born 1965) "Her" 2022 Oil and acrylic paint on paper adhered to a stretched canvas Signed on the bottom right and back of the painting. "Her" by Masri captu...
Canvas, Paper, Mixed Media, Glue, Oil, Acrylic, Stretcher Bars
"Boudoir” oil on canvas by Michele
By Michele 85
Located in Carmel, CA
Michele's paintings are about the timeline of human life and its effect on art. For the last 15 years, Michele has been deconstructing the subject matter. In as much as she enjoys ...
Canvas, Oil
$3,709
H 25.6 in W 21.26 in D 0.79 in
“Cypress Alley” French Riviera in the Light of the South, Mixed Media Painting
By Andrée de Frémont
Located in Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
To evoke the French Riviera and the light of the South, a sketch made by Andrée de Frémont on the French Riviera has become canvas. It is camping a h...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
$38,000
H 36 in W 24 in D 0.75 in
"Disrupted" by Masri - Colorful Abstract Portrait Painted with Artist Bare Hands
By Masri Hayssam
Located in Carmel, CA
Masri Hayssam (Lebanese, born 1965) "Disrupted" 2024 Oil Paint, Acrylic Paint, Mixed Media, Canvas, Stretcher Bars The artist signed the bottom right and back of the painting. "Disr...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Stretcher Bars
$5,600
H 38.19 in W 51.19 in D 1.97 in
Parallel events #2 - Hélène Duclos, 21st Century, Contemporary Painting
By Hélène Duclos
Located in Paris, FR
Oil on canvas Signed Unique work 1 / Hélène DUCLOS, 2016 – Artist Statement “Questioning the human condition and the position of being alive – What is it to be a living being? Who /...
Canvas, Oil
$3,000
H 19.69 in W 19.69 in D 1.19 in
Georgian Contemporary Art by Teona Yamanidze - Ortonesque
By Teona Yamanidze
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas
Canvas, Oil
$9,028
H 68.12 in W 48.43 in D 1.97 in
Strawberries Stéphane Fauchille Contemporary art colour painting landscape
By Stéphane Fauchille
Located in Paris, FR
Oil paint on canvas Unique work Hand-signed by the artist Stéphane Fauchille, dream anthropologist “Would you, for a moment, like to become the Claude Lévi-Strauss of the aborigin...
Canvas, Oil
$72,000
H 72.05 in W 96.07 in D 2.05 in
American Contemporary Art by Maxwell Stevens - Autumn Leaves, Rehearsal
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas, artwork signed at the back Maxwell Stevens is an American artist born in 1971 who lives and works in New York, USA. He received an MFA in Painting from the School of ...
Canvas, Oil
$30,000
H 63 in W 51.19 in D 2.17 in
American Contemporary Art by Maxwell Stevens - Drum Circle, Central Park
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas, artwork signed at the back Maxwell Stevens is an American artist born in 1971 who lives and works in New York, USA. He received an MFA in Painting from the School of ...
Canvas, Oil
I Can Buy Myself Flowers. Peonies
By Wencke Uhl
Located in New Orleans, LA
I Can Buy Myself Flowers marks the first gallery solo exhibition of Bonn, Germany-based painter Wencke Uhl. First appearing in the 27th Annual NO DEAD ARTISTS International Exhibitio...
Canvas, Paper, Acrylic, Oil
$4,457
H 21.66 in W 18.12 in D 1.97 in
The bird of the island Hélène Duclos Contemporary art painting blue sky dance
By Hélène Duclos
Located in Paris, FR
Oil paint on canvas Unique work Hand-signed lower right by the artist “My artistic research has expanded over the years, crossing paths already traveled and taking new directions. ...
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 50 in W 44 in
ENVELOP - Contemporary Figurative Realism / Swimmer / Diver / Water
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Original Painting by Eric Zener. The painting is signed.
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 44 in W 88 in
REJOINING, photo-realism, landscape, dense forest, grey sky, green, vivid color
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Original oil painting by Eric Zener.
Canvas, Oil
LOOKING AHEAD, man in water, photorealism, underwater, swimmer
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Eric Zener’s photorealistic paintings and resins are focused on four motifs: landscapes, figures in bed or on tightropes, and bodies in water. Zener manipulates light to create psych...
Resin, Mixed Media
EPHEMERA I, Swimmer, Blue Water, Pool, Bubbles, Female Form
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Eric Zener’s photorealistic oil paintings are focused on four motifs: landscapes, figures in bed or on tightropes, and bodies in the water. A self-taught artist, Zener manipulates li...
Canvas, Oil
Sold
H 88 in W 66 in
Unbound, Contemporary Realist Painting, Oil, Figurative, Swimmer, Ocean, Blue
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
In this painting, a large female swimmer comes into close-view as she rises from under the blue pool water towards the surface. The painting is similar to a large selfie or an underw...
Canvas, Oil
Where I End and You Begin
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Eric Zener’s photorealistic paintings and resins are focused on four motifs: landscapes, figures in bed or on tightropes, and bodies in water. Zener manipulates light to create psych...
Canvas, Oil
Deep Voyager
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Eric Zener’s photorealistic paintings are focused on four motifs: landscapes, figures in bed or on tightropes, and bodies in water. Zener manipulates light to create psychologically ...
Canvas, Oil
A Clear Opening Ahead
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Eric Zener (b. 1966, Astoria, Oregon) is an American photorealist artist best known for figure paintings of lone subjects, often in or about swimming pools. Zener is a self-taught ar...
Canvas, Oil
Breaking the Surface Tension
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Eric Zener’s photorealistic paintings are focused on four motifs: landscapes, figures in bed or on tightropes, and bodies in water. Zener manipulates light to create psychologically ...
Canvas, Oil
Thin Line Study II
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Eric Zener’s photorealistic oil paintings are focused on four motifs: landscapes, figures in bed or on tightropes, and bodies in water. Zener manipulates light to create psychologica...
Mixed Media, Resin
Blissful Descent
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Eric Zener’s photorealistic paintings are focused on four motifs: landscapes, figures in bed or on tightropes, and bodies in water. Zener manipulates light to create psychologically ...
Canvas, Oil
Letting Go
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Eric Zener (b. 1966, Astoria, Oregon) is an American photorealist artist best known for figure paintings of lone subjects, often in or about swimming pools. Zener is a self-taught artist. His new series turns to large scale, bright yet enigmatic canvases based on amusement park water slides...
Oil
In the Stillness
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Oil Painting by Eric Zener of a woman swimming in a pool, viewed from under the water.
Oil, Canvas
Lotus
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
Eric Zener’s photorealistic oil paintings are focused on four motifs: landscapes, figures in bed or on tightropes, and bodies in water. Zener manipulates light to create psychologica...
Oil, Canvas
Reaching for More
By Eric Zener
Located in New York, NY
A female swimmer diving underwater.
Oil, Canvas