Realist Art
REALIST STYLE
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.
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Style: Realist
Pocket Blackbird's Egg (c), Original Painting, Bird, Nature, Egg, Blue
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Blackbird's Egg (c) is an original oil painting by Dani Humberstone as part of her Pocket Painting series featuring small scale realistic oil paintings, with a nod to baroque ...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Modern Marilyn - Original handsigned lithograph - 199ex
Located in Paris, FR
Jean-Baptiste VALADIE
Modern Marilyn
Original lithograph
Handsigned in pencil
Limited /199copies
On vellum 76 x 56 cm (c. 30 x 22 in)
Excellent condition
Category
Late 20th Century Realist Art
Materials
Lithograph
Hyperreal Blue Glass Balloon Sculpture
Located in East Quogue, NY
Blue hyperreal glass water balloon sculpture by Dylan Martinez.
These hyperrealistic water balloons are made of solid sculpted glass sandblasted and acid-etched to resemble real wa...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Glass, Blown Glass
Racing Horses
Located in Clinton Township, MI
Kentucky Derby lovers---this is for you! Horse racing whether it the the Belmont or the Preakness--decorate for your home party with this moving oil painting rendition of racing ho...
Category
Late 20th Century Realist Art
Materials
Oil
"First Steps" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Austin Howlett's "First Steps" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a tall female figure walking through a snow covered landscape.
Artis...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Panel, Oil
Pocket Blue Tit's Egg, Original Painting, Egg , Nature, Still life
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Blue Tit's Egg is an original oil painting by Dani Humberstone as part of her Pocket Painting series featuring small scale realistic oil paintings, with a nod to baroque still...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Hyperreal Lemonade Yellow Glass Balloon Sculpture
Located in East Quogue, NY
Hyperreal lemonade yellow glass water balloon sculpture by Dylan Martinez.
Dylan Martinez’s hyperrealistic water balloons are made of solid sculpted glass sandblasted and acid-etc...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Glass, Blown Glass
Goldfinch, Bird, Watercolor Handmade Painting, One of a Kind
Located in Granada Hills, CA
163
Artist: Artyom Abrahamyan,
Work: Original Painting, Handmade artwork, One of a Kind
Medium: Watercolor on Paper
Year: 2023
Style: Classic Art
Title: Goldfinch,
Size: 12 x 16 inc...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Watercolor, Paper
Pocket Bluer Blackbird's Egg (c), Original Painting, Bird, Nature, Egg, Blue
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Bluer Blackbird's Egg (c) is an original oil painting by Dani Humberstone as part of her Pocket Painting series featuring small scale realistic oil paintings, with a nod to ba...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Hyperreal Pink Glass Balloon Sculpture
Located in East Quogue, NY
Pink hyperreal glass water balloon sculpture by Dylan Martinez.
These hyperrealistic water balloons are made of solid sculpted glass sandblasted and acid-etched to resemble real wa...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Glass, Blown Glass
Pocket Quail Egg (c), Original Painting, Egg, Nature
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Quail Egg (c) is an original oil painting by Dani Humberstone as part of her Pocket Painting series featuring small scale realistic oil paintings, with a nod to baroque still ...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Lounging in Verbier, Swiss Alps, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Estate edition. Larger and smaller sizes available.
Holidaymakers in sun loungers on the slopes at Verbier, Switzerland, February 1964.
Visual Description: In one of Slim Aarons m...
Category
1960s Realist Art
Materials
Lambda
Old Violinist - Late 19th Century Figurative Lithograph
Located in Soquel, CA
Finely detailed late 19th century chromo-lithograph portrait of a violinist street musician by John George Brown (British, 1831-1913). Many of Brown’s paintings were reproduced in lithography (Chromo-lithograpy), as is the case with the one offered here. Presented in a rustic antique Oak wood frame with giltwood fillet. Image, 15.63"H x 10.63"W.
John George Brown was a British citizen and an American painter born in Durham, England. His parents apprenticed him to the career of glass worker at the age of fourteen, in an attempt to dissuade him from pursuing painting. He studied nights at the School of Design in Newcastle-on-Tyne while working as a glass cutter there between 1849 and 1852, and evenings at the Trustees Academy in Edinburgh while working at the Holyrood Glass Works between 1852 ad 1853. After moving to New York City in 1853, he studied with Thomas Seir Cummings at the National Academy of Design where he was elected a National Academician in 1861. Brown was the Academy’s vice-president from 1899 to 1904.
Around 1855, he worked for the owner of the Brooklyn Glass Company, and later he married the daughter of his employer. His father-in-law encouraged his artistic abilities, supporting him financially, letting Brown pursue painting full-time. In 1866, he became one of the charter members of the Water-Color Society, of which he was president from 1887 to 1904. Brown became famous for his depictions of street urchins found of the streets of New York (bootblacks, street musicians, posy sellers, newsboys, etc.).
Brown’s art is best characterized as British genre painting...
Category
1870s Realist Art
Materials
Paper, Lithograph
Lions
By Geza Vastagh
Located in Houston, TX
Vastagh, Geza (1866-1919) Well listed Hungarian artist. Unsigned 22 x 28. Oil on canvas, depicting a lion and lioness, one of his favourite subjects.
Expert's report on hand, circa ...
Category
Early 20th Century Realist Art
Materials
Oil
'Fluffy Yellow Quince' Pocket, Original Painting, Still Life, Food Art
Located in Deddington, GB
'Fluffy Yellow Quince' Pocket is an original oil painting by Dani Humberstone as part of her Pocket Painting series featuring small scale realistic oil paintings, with a nod to baroq...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Idyllic Cottage by River with Sheep in the English Countryside by British Artist
Located in Preston, GB
Idyllic Cottage by River with Sheep in the English Countryside by 20th Century British Artist, Jason Threlfall
Art measures 14 x 10 inches
Frame measures 22 x 18 inches
Signed Vint...
Category
1970s Realist Art
Materials
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil
River Meadow with Cattle & Cottage in the English Countryside by British Artist
Located in Preston, GB
River Meadow with Cattle & Cottage in the English Countryside by British Artist, Tony Mercier (Born 1945)
Art measures 16 x 12 inches
Frame measures 20 x 16 inches
Signed Vintag...
Category
1980s Realist Art
Materials
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil
"Winter Barn" by artist named Berger
Located in Clinton Township, MI
Winter--in all its delicate beauty-- in this lithograph by artist named Berger who pencil signed it and titled it also.
It is beautifully framed in a gold wooden frame.
Category
Late 20th Century Realist Art
Materials
Lithograph
Dance class - Woodcut - Vintage Louvre Museum edition after Edgar DEGAS
By Edgar Degas
Located in Paris, FR
Edgar DEGAS (after)
Dance class
Woodcut print after a painting of Degas
Egraved by G. Regnier
On vellum 65 x 50 cm (c. 26 x 20in)
Edited by Chalcographie du Louvre, authenticated wi...
Category
Late 20th Century Realist Art
Materials
Woodcut
Street with Church
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork "Street with Church" c.1925 is an original color etching by Austrian artist Luigi Kasimir 1881-1962. It is hand signed in pencil by the artist at the lower center. The p...
Category
Early 20th Century Realist Art
Materials
Etching
Afternoon by the Shore, American School, circa 1870s, Sailboats, Landscape, Oil
Located in Wiscasset, ME
"Afternoon by the Shore" is an oil painted in the classic realist style by a nineteenth century American School artist. The painting features people on the rocky shoreline looking ou...
Category
Late 19th Century Realist Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
Toby Rosenthal (German Jewish painter) - 19th century figure painting - Portrait
Located in Varmo, IT
Tobias Edward Rosenthal, known as Toby (Strasbourg 1848 - Munich 1917) - Portrait of a gentleman from San Francisco.
123 x 92 cm.
Antique oil painting on canvas, without frame.
- ...
Category
Late 19th Century Realist Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Woody's First Flight
Located in Colorado Springs, US
Original Bronze Sculpture by Gerald Balciar.
Edition #91/100.
Signature inscribed on base of sculpture.
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Materials
Bronze
Urban Red
Located in Colorado Springs, US
Original Bronze Sculpture by Gerald Balciar.
Edition #16/100.
Signature inscribed on base of sculpture.
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Materials
Bronze
Lift Off
Located in Colorado Springs, US
Original Bronze Sculpture by Gerald Balciar.
Edition #8/100.
Signature inscribed on base of sculpture.
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Materials
Bronze
Farm Lane at Winter in Suffolk in the English Countryside by British Artist
Located in Preston, GB
Farm Lane at Winter in Suffolk in the English Countryside by British Artist, Kevin Curtis (1958-2009)
Art measures 30 x 20 inches
Frame measures 35 x 25 inches
Vintage Original Pai...
Category
1980s Realist Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Portrait painting of Diana Spencer
Located in Oostende, BE
Oil on canvas portrait painting of Diana Spencer as a child (Lady Di, ex of King Charles of England).
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Canvas
Oil on canvas painting 'Mirror, blue hour (2023)'
Located in Oostende, BE
Oil on canvas painting. Was put in a new walnut frame.
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Canvas
Contemporary portrait "Remove Before Flight"
Located in Zofingen, AG
The central figure, clad in a NASA bomber jacket, embodies ambition and the courageous pursuit of dreams. Her confident and poised stance contrasts with the dynamic movement of fight...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
Oil on canvas painting of a honey bee, called 'Creature of Importance'
Located in Oostende, BE
Oil on canvas painting of a honey bee. The work is called 'Creature of Importance'.
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Canvas
Ship at the Dock - 1960's San Francisco Maritime Black & White Photograph
By Gene Wright
Located in Soquel, CA
A beautiful black and white photograph of the ship "Balclutha" in dock, with Coit Tower in the background by famed San Francisco photographer Gene Wright (American, 20th Century). Im...
Category
1960s Realist Art
Materials
Photographic Paper
"Chaton 51" by Marina Dieul, Original Oil Painting, Kitten with Blue Eyes
By Marina Dieul
Located in Denver, CO
Marina Dieul's "Chaton 51, 2024" is an exquisite handmade original oil on panel artwork, measuring 4 x 4 x 1 inches, that comes directly from the artist's studio. This piece is a pri...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Oil, Panel
Lily, exquisite etching & intaglio, Signed/N Readers Digest Assoc Art Collection
Located in New York, NY
Arnold Iger
Lily (Readers Digest Association Art Collection), 1988
Intaglio (Hand Signed, Dated, Titled, Numbered & Framed)
Signed in pencil lower right recto Numbered "77/350" on lo...
Category
1980s Realist Art
Materials
Etching, Intaglio
Mountain Lake Oil Painting of a Loch in the Scottish Highlands by British Artist
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 ...
Category
20th Century Realist Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Still Life with Grapes and Plums, Oil on Board, 1866, Realist Art
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Still Life with Grapes and Plums" is a 10" x 12", oil on board still life by British painter Edward Ladell. The painting is framed and signed "EL 1866" in the lower left. Provenance...
Category
1860s Realist Art
Materials
Oil, Board
Atlas - Graphite Drawing on Paper of Impossible Body Pose, Original
Located in Chicago, IL
This study in human contortion represents and impossible pose. By capturing twists and poses of the figure which could not be performed in real life, the artists tests his knowledge ...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Graphite
"Dreams of Ecstasy", Martin Eichinger, Figurative, Bronze, Romance, 70x12x17 in.
Located in Dallas, TX
Immerse yourself in a world where emotions run high and desires are laid bare with our stunning Dreams of Ecstasy sculpture. Crafted with exquisite detail, this towering masterpiece ...
Category
Early 2000s Realist Art
Materials
Bronze
Sunset Surf Glow - Oil On Canvas - Landscape Painting By Dante Rondo
Located in Carmel, CA
Any novelist battling through writer’s block might be excited to encounter Dante Rondo, whose life has been a collage of free-spirited experiences that would satisfy the most vicario...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Oil
Changing Chapters-original modern seascape sunset oil painting-contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
"Changing Chapters" by Eva Volf is a captivating seascape masterpiece rendered in oil on canvas, skillfully employing the realism style to evoke a profound sense of tranquility and t...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Bird's Nest, 3 Eggs" by Thane Gorek, Original, Mixed Media Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Thane Gorek's (US based) "Bird's Nest, 3 Eggs" is an original, handmade mixed media painting that depicts three baby blue eggs tucked in together in a bird's nest of twigs that resid...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Mixed Media, Board
High Line Reflections, Oil Painting
By Nick Savides
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
On a late October afternoon, a peaceful tableau of New York unfolds from the High Line. Looking west above 22nd Street, the light reflections form a distinct pa...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Materials
Oil
"Melancholy in Red" Oil Painting by Joseph Lorusso, Female Portrait
Located in Denver, CO
Joseph Lorusso's (US based) "Seeing Shadows" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a female figure at a table with a wine glass in the foreground. The painting is frame...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Materials
Panel, Oil
"Back " Oil cm. 45 x 75
By Luisa Albert
Located in Torino, IT
Raffinato nudo di schiena
Splendida luce
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Oil
Painting Realistic French school Still life fruits and vegetables 19th
Located in PARIS, FR
Hippolyte MICHAUD
Beaune, 1823 – Beaune, 1886
Oil on canvas
60 x 73 cm (x cm with frame)
Signed and dated lower left “hM / 1852”
Hippolyte Michaud studied from 1840 at the Dijon sch...
Category
1850s Realist Art
Materials
Oil
Almazan Realistic Still Life Acrylic Painting
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
Almazan Realistic Still Life Acrylic Painting
MIQUEL was an artist focused on the art of realism. His structured works on his great mastery of drawing, are romantic and translates ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Materials
Wood, Oil
Jared Coffin House, Broad St.
By Li Xiao
Located in Greenwich, CT
Li Xiao was born in 1957 in Shanghai, China. Xiao commenced showing interest in the fine arts at a very young age and has been consistently developing his talent as a painter ever si...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Federal Street in Early Fall
By Li Xiao
Located in Greenwich, CT
Li Xiao was born in 1957 in Shanghai, China. Xiao commenced showing interest in the fine arts at a very young age and has been consistently developing his talent as a painter ever si...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Garden Shadows" by Sheri Farabaugh, Original Painting, CO Governor's Mansion
Located in Denver, CO
"Garden Shadows" by Shari Farabaugh (United States) is a handmade landscape oil painting that depicts an ornate window painted from the grounds of the Colorado Governor's Mansion in ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Materials
Oil
"Bird's Nest, 1 Egg" by Thane Gorek, Original, Mixed Media Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Thane Gorek's (US based) "Bird's Nest, 1 Egg" is an original, handmade mixed media painting that depicts one baby blue egg tucked in together in a bird's nest of twigs that resides o...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Mixed Media, Board
"Bird's Nest, 2 Eggs" by Thane Gorek, Original, Mixed Media Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Thane Gorek's (US based) "Bird's Nest, 2 Eggs" is an original, handmade mixed media painting that depicts two baby blue eggs tucked in together in a bird's nest of twigs that resides...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Mixed Media, Board
"Little Branch, " Framed Limited Edition Giclee Print, 24" x 18"
Located in Westport, CT
This realistic limited edition print captures a highly detailed, cropped, close-up view of water lightly rippling over rocks. The water reflects light above it to add dimension and d...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Giclée, Digital
Antique Italian Signed Florence Architctural Cityscape Framed Original Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Very finely painted 19th century Italian watercolor of a villa in Florence Italy. Watercolor on paper. Framed. Signed. Image size, 17H x 11L.
Category
1890s Realist Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Olde World Charm, Original Oil Painting
By Deb Komitor
Located in Denver, CO
"Olde World Charm" by Deb Komitor (United States) is a handmade landscape oil painting that is ready to hang.
Deb Komitor was born and raised in Ohio and now resides in Colorado Sp...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Materials
Oil
The Journey's End (Framed hand-printed cyanotype: 24 x 36 inches)
Located in Oakland, CA
FRAMED. Image itself measured 20 x 30 inch original photograph and is matted and framed in 24 x 36 inch (60 x 91cm) white metal gallery frame with a 1-inch profile.
This photograph ...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Photogram
Always in my Dream-original abstract landscape oil painting- modern Artwork
Located in London, Chelsea
Step into the enchanting world of "Always in my Dream" by the talented artist Faryal Ahmad. This captivating original landscape painting, executed with finesse in oil on canvas, tran...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Caminante No Hay Camino (Framed hand-printed cyanotype: 23 x 29 inches)
Located in Oakland, CA
Timothée Chalamet bought this same landscape at The Other Art Fair in Los Angeles in 2023.
One of 20 editions, all printed by hand outdoors in natural sunlight.
If you would like ...
Category
2010s Realist Art
Materials
Photogram
"Reclining Woman" Bronze Portrait, Reclining Woman with Reddish Patina
Located in New York, NY
Karl Bitter
Reclining Woman, 1897
Signed: Bitter 97
Stamped: GORHAM M F G CO.
Bronze
10.25 x 10.25 x 4 inches
Initially from Vienna, Karl Bitter first studied art at the city’s Kun...
Category
1890s Realist Art
Materials
Bronze
"Early Mornin Snow" COWBOY, HORSES, CABIN, LIGHT AFTER G. HARVEY WESTERN
By Arturo Mercado
Located in San Antonio, TX
Arturo Mercado
(1938 -2016)
Austin Artist
Image Size: 20 x 14.5
Frame Size: 30 x 25
Medium: Oil ON CANVAS
"Early Mornin Snow"
Biography
Arturo Mercado (1938 -2016)
Arturo Mercado w...
Category
1970s Realist Art
Materials
Oil
Realist art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Realist art available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add art created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, orange, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Slim Aarons, Michael Budden, Daniel Pollera, and Su Yu. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Realist art, so small editions measuring 0.1 inches across are also available.