Realist Figurative Photography
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
Madame Jean Serpieri
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Madame Jean Serpieri sits in the ballroom of the Tour La Reine near Athens, wearing a gown which belonged to the wife of Otto, the first king of m...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons,
Mady de la Houssaye
(Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mady de la Houssaye in Martinique, March 1973.
Slim Aarons
Mady de la Houssaye, Martinique, March 1973
Chromogenic Lambda print
Printed Later
Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Complimentar...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons
Sports Car Couple
(Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1955: John Bryant with his AC sports car in Kinnerton Place, London SW1. His passenger is Margaret McAulay.
40 x 40 inches
$3950
30 x 30 inches
$3350
20 x 20 inches
$3000
Compli...
Category
1950s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Las Brisas Steps, Acapulco
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A group of women going down the the steps to the pool at Warren Avis' villa, 'La Barranca' at Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, April 1979.
Estate edition of...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Esther Williams Poolside, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress and former swimming champion, Esther Williams, in a Florida swimming pool, 1955
40 x 40 inches
$3950
30 x 30 inches
$3350
20 x 20 inches
$3000
Complimentary deal...
Category
1950s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Katherine Hepburn
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1953: American film star Katharine Hepburn (1907 - 2003) driving along the waterfront with Irene Mayer Selznick at Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of ...
Category
1950s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Penthouse Pool, Estate Edition, Poolside Landscape with Acropolis, Athens Greece
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons’s Penthouse Pool captures a sunlit moment of casual glamour at the Canellopoulos penthouse pool in Athens, Greece. Taken in July 1961, the photograph shows a group of you...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons
George Hamilton with Horse on Capri
(Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
April 1966: Actor George Hamilton with a horse on the island of Capri
Slim Aarons
George Hamilton with Horse on Capri
Chromogenic Lambda Print
Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Estate st...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons, School Riding (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Girls of Foxcroft School, near Middleburg, Virginia wait at the stables for their horses. Foxcroft is considered to be the elite of America's private schools. Circa 1960
Slim Aarons...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Fairfield Croquet
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Players in the Fairfield County Hunt Club's croquet tournament, Fairfield, New England.
40 x 60 inches
$3950
30 x 40 inches
$3350
20 x 30 inches
$3000
Complimentary dealer shippi...
Category
1990s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Verbier View, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Verbier View, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
This early 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers admiring the vie...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Five Fireman 1940s Mid Century WPA Era Modern Baltimore Black
White Photograph
Located in New York, NY
Fine Fireman 1940s Mid Century WPA Era Modernism Baltimore Black & White Photograph. A. Aubrey Bodine (American, 1906-1970). Gelatin silver print, signed...
Category
1940s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Capote At Home, New York, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the author Truman Capote (1924 - 1984) relaxing with a book and a cigarette in his clutter...
Category
1950s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Penthouse Pool, Estate Edition, Poolside Landscape with Acropolis, Athens Greece
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons’s Penthouse Pool captures a sunlit moment of casual glamour at the Canellopoulos penthouse pool in Athens, Greece. Taken in July 1961, the photograph shows a group of you...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Saint-Tropez Boucherie, Estate Edition, French Riviera 1971
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Discover the quintessence of French Riviera charm in Slim Aarons' iconic photograph, 'Saint-Tropez Boucherie,' on Rue des Commercants, Saint-Tropez, 1971. This image is a beautiful i...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons "Adriatic Sailors
(Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons, 'Adriatic Sailors'
1956
Young holidaymakers from Milan enjoy a sail on the Adriatic, 1956.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenti...
Category
1950s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Skiing Waiters, Vermont, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features three skiing waiters on a ski slope, with the man in the foreground carrying a bird on a...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Iconic Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Tania Mallet in the Bahamas
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1961: Actress Tania Mallet relaxes on a red-curtained four poster in Eleuthera, in the Bahamas. She is best known for her role as the unfortunate Tilly Masterson in the Bond film 'Go...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Penthouse Pool, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Free Shipping
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Young women by the Canellopoulos penthouse pool, Athens, July 1961.
40 x 40 inches
$5400
30 x 30 inches
$4200
20 x 20 inches
$3600
60 x 60 inches
$6300 (giclee print, not availab...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Cortina d
Ampezzo, Italy
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Skiers walk up a mountain in Cortina D'Ampezzo, a ski resort in northern Italy, 1962.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estat...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Bohemia
s Barracks (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Artistic denizens gather in the lobby of the Chelsea Hotel on W. 23rd Street, Manhattan, New York City, 1968. Clockwise from left, Photographer Sandra Daley, architect Nicholas Quenn...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Vintage Silver Gelatin Signed Print Old Jew in Jerusalem Pious Craftsman
Located in Surfside, FL
Rare vintage signed and dated silver gelatin black & white framed photograph.
This photo is signed but I cannot make out the signature. It is from the aftermath of the six day war. Leonard Freed, Micha Bar Am, Henri Cartier-Bresson, David Rubinger...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Slim Aarons
El Venero, Marbella, Spain
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
El Venero, the Moorish villa of Hector and Chico de Ayala in Marbella, Spain, 1971.
Slim Aarons worked mainly for society publications, taking pictures of the rich and famous both b...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Photo Purim Pestalozzi Str Synagogue Berlin Vintage Silver Gelatin Photograph
Located in Surfside, FL
Edward Serotta
Purim in the Pestalozzi Strasse Synagogue Berlin.
silver gelatin print, matted, captioned by hand and hand signed and numbered. B/W photographs documenting Jewish li...
Category
1990s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Slim Aarons, Coconut Cocktail (Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Teddy Stauffer and a friend share a cocktail, from a coconut shell, Acapulco, Mexico, 1952.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the...
Category
1950s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Positano Beach, Italy, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features an elevated view looking down on sunbathers and parasols on the beach at La Scogliera bea...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Flight. Photograph, 30x48 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Flight
Photograph, 30x48 cm
Category
1990s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
$364 Sale Price
20% Off
Slim Aarons
Verbier Skier
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons
Verbier Skier
1964
C print
Estate edition of 150
A blonde skier on the slopes at Verbier, February 1964.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certific...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Double Dutch #11: Black girls playing jump rope games in Philadelphia urban city
By Ron Tarver
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This black and white photograph depicts a Black girls' team in the urban city of Philadelphia practicing the art of Double-Dutch jump rope. This series of images provide a snapshot o...
Category
1980s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment
Double Dutch #37: Black girls playing jump rope games in Philadelphia urban city
By Ron Tarver
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This black and white photograph depicts a Black girls' team in the urban city of Philadelphia practicing the art of Double-Dutch jump rope. This series of images provide a snapshot o...
Category
1980s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment
Untitled (East Side Series)
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original silver gelatin print from the 1960's by American social documentary photographer Milton Rogovin.
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Myanmar 2: street photograph of men and bicycle in Southeast Asia landscape
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This photograph is from among Vincent Dixon's series created in Borneo, Myanmar, Paris, Pushkar, Los Angeles, New York, London, Miami, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid,...
Category
2010s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment
Holiday Motel, Afternoon: cinematic photograph, Los Angeles, mid-century modern
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Nadine Rovner orchestrates lush cinematic scenes, exploring a visual world of heightened tension, anticipation, anxiety, longing and desire. These carefu...
Category
2010s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Inkjet
Myanmar 3: portrait photograph of young girl child in green, Southeast Asia
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This photograph is from among Vincent Dixon's series created in Borneo, Myanmar, Paris, Pushkar, Los Angeles, New York, London, Miami, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid,...
Category
2010s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment
Myanmar 1: child Buddhist monk playing by Southeast Asia temple landscape
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This photograph is from among Vincent Dixon's series created in Borneo, Myanmar, Paris, Pushkar, Los Angeles, New York, London, Miami, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid,...
Category
2010s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment
Skiing Waiters (Slim Aarons)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Three skiing waiters on a ski slope, with the man in the foreground carrying a bird on a tray, the second man carrying a wine in an ice bucket and the third carrying a menu, circa 19...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Untitled (Lower West Side)
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original gelatin silver print by American social documentary photographer Milton Rogovin depicting a resident of Buffalo's West Side in the early 1970's. This work is hand signed ...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Untitled (Lower West Side)
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original gelatin silver print by American social documentary photographer Milton Rogovin depicting a resident of Buffalo's East Side in the early 1960's. This work is hand signed ...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
$6,800 Sale Price
20% Off
Egrets in Flight: black
white photograph, silhouette of birds
trees in sky
By Ron Tarver
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
This black and white photograph of birds in flight against the sky is part of artist Ron Tarver's long-term, ongoing project, " Land, Sea, Air," that explores the wide-ranging syste...
Category
2010s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment
Photography - Boy on the donkey at mountains. 1979. 30x40 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Photography by Dmitry Zyubritsky Boy on the donkey at mountains. 1979. Size 30x40 cm
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
$459 Sale Price
20% Off
Slim Aarons
Westin Excelsior, Venice
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Portofino
1957
C print
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
The Westin Excelsior Hotel on the Lido in Venice, 1957. (...
Category
1950s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Silver Gelatin
Cotton Bay
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
The Campbells' pool at Cotton Bay, on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas, November 1982.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of a...
Category
1980s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
All Aboard, Monaco, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of Friends boarding a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
This is an estate stamped...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
All Aboard, Monaco, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of Friends boarding a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
This is an estate stamped...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
All Aboard, Monaco, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of Friends boarding a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
This is an estate stamped...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
All Aboard, Monaco, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of Friends boarding a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
This is an estate stamped...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Coming Ashore, Italy, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of t...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Coming Ashore, Italy, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of t...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Sundowners at the Carlton, Cannes
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Two bikini-clad holidaymakers enjoy a glass of wine outside the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, 1958.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from th...
Category
1950s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
A Colourful Crew, Bermuda, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of colourfully dressed friends on board the Calypso clothing store owned boat, Bermuda.
...
Category
1970s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
A Friendly Chat, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a man wearing diving equipment talking with a girl in a wicker chair on the beach, Bahamas...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
A Friendly Chat, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a man wearing diving equipment talking with a girl in a wicker chair on the beach, Bahamas...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
A Friendly Chat, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a man wearing diving equipment talking with a girl in a wicker chair on the beach, Bahamas...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Beach Near Portinatx, Ibiza, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1980s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers at a beach near Portinatx, Ibiza, Spain.
This is an estate stamped and han...
Category
1980s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
On Board The Palawan, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1990s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Olive Watson (left) taking her friends out sailing off the coast of Maine on her yacht, P...
Category
1990s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
On Board The Palawan, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1990s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Olive Watson (left) taking her friends out sailing off the coast of Maine on her yacht, P...
Category
1990s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
On Board The Palawan, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1990s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Olive Watson (left) taking her friends out sailing off the coast of Maine on her yacht, P...
Category
1990s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
On Board The Palawan, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1990s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Olive Watson (left) taking her friends out sailing off the coast of Maine on her yacht, P...
Category
1990s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Holidaymakers in Bermuda, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers relaxing on a beach in Bermuda.
This is an estate stamped and hand numbere...
Category
1960s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Poolside In Kenya, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a woman sitting at the edge of a swimming pool in Kenya, December 1958.
This is an estate...
Category
1950s Realist Figurative Photography
Materials
Lambda
Realist figurative photography for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Realist figurative photography 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 figurative photography 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, red, pink and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Slim Aarons, Ron Tarver, Graham Nash, and Milton Rogovin. Frequently made by artists working with Digital Print, and Lambda Print 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 figurative photography, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative photography made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $105 and tops out at $75,000, while the average work sells for $3,000.
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