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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
Slim Aarons Il Canille (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Sunbathers lounge on the white-painted terrace of Il Canille, built into the rocks of Pizzolungo overlooking the waters off the coast of the island of Capri, Italy, in August 1980. I...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Stocking Island, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s aerial seascape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a high angle view of people swimming next to the ketch 'Traveler II' , Stocking Island...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Palm Springs Party, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a poolside party at a desert house, designed by Richard Neutra for Edgar J. Kaufmann, in ...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Bermuda Beach, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A woman running towards the ocean on a beach in Bermuda, 1957. The bather wears a vintage coral red swimsuit, which provides a pop of color against the sun-dappled turquoise waves. F...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Verbier Skiers, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Winter Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Verbier Skiers, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Winter Portrait Photograph This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers at Verbier....
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Cotton Bay
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Campbells' pool at Cotton Bay, on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas, November 1982. 20 x 24 inches $2500 16 x 20 inches $2150 12 x 16 inches $1800 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complim...
Category

1980s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

St Tropez Garden
Located in Los Angeles, CA
An elegant woman poses in a garden in St Tropez, August 1977. 20 x 30 inches $3000 20 x 24 inches $2500 16 x 20 inches $2150 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer shipping t...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Saint-Tropez
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Holidaymakers on the deck of yacht in Saint-Tropez, France, August 1971. 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Abercorns On Windermere
Located in Los Angeles, CA
James and Alexandra Hamilton, the 5th Duke and Duchess of Abercorn holiday on Windermere Island in the Bahamas, with their children Sophia and James, April 1980. 40 x 60 inches $395...
Category

1980s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Double Dutch #16: Black girls playing jump rope games in Philadelphia urban city
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

2010s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Villa Vera
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The bar at the Villa Vera Hotel Spa and Racquet Club in Acapulco, January 1968. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer thi...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

By The Pool In Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A tanned man surrounded by young women in bikinis by the pool at Warren Avis's villa in Acapulco, Mexico, January 1978. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Un...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Tres Vidas, Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests enjoy cocktails at the pool bar of the Tres Vidas private members club in Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurre...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Tres Vidas, Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests enjoy cocktails at the pool bar of the Tres Vidas private members club in Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurre...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Tres Vidas, Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests enjoy cocktails at the pool bar of the Tres Vidas private members club in Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurre...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Tres Vidas, Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests enjoy cocktails at the pool bar of the Tres Vidas private members club in Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurre...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Slim Aarons Lake Tahoe Trip (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Young women canoeing on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, 1959. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 20 x 20 inches $3000 This is a vibrant photograph, printed by the Slim Aar...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Las Brisas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The coastline near Warren Avis' villa in Las Brisas, Acapulco, January 1978. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer this v...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

The Klosters, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Klosters, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph This early 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers pass by the Hotel Chesa Grischuna...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Motorboats In Antibes Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Motorboats moored on the coast near the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on the French Riviera, August 1969. Slim Aarons Chromogenic Lambda print Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate Ed...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Capote At Home, New York, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
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

Eleuthera Pool Party
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Circa 1970, Eleuthera Pool Party, Bahamas. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inches $3000 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, ...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Keep Your Cool (Backgammon in Acapulco) (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Carmen Alvarez enjoying a game of backgammon with Frank 'Brandy' Brandstetter in a swimming pool at Acapulco, 1978. Slim Aarons Keep Your Cool (Backgammon in Acapulco) Chromogenic Lambda print Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate Edition Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Stamped and hand numbered by the Slim Aarons Estate. Certificate of Authenticity included. 72 x 48 inches $4900 60 x 40 inches $3950 40 x 30 inches $3350 30 x 20 inches $3000 20 x 16 inches $2150 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Over the course of a career lasting half a century, Slim Aarons (1916-2006) portrayed high society, aristocracy, authors, artists, business icons, the celebrated and their milieu. In doing so, he captured a golden age of wealth, privilege, beauty and leisure that occurred alongside—but quite separate from—the cultural and political backdrop of the second half of the Twentieth Century. Photograph is unframed Slide show includes a close-up of the Slim Aarons estate's stamp. Collector will get the next number in the edition * We are pleased to offer the entire archive of the Slim Aarons Estate, offering the official Slim Aarons Estate Edition (only offered in this edition of 150). * Undercurrent Projects, New York, is proud to represent Aarons' full collection of negatives and transparencies. Housed at Getty Images Hulton Archive in London, The Slim Aarons Estate has released the limited Estate edition as a Lambda print, which is a modern c-type prints. They have chosen Lambda prints for their sharpness, clarity, colour saturation and quality, compared to archival inkjet prints. Lambda printing gives true continuous tone. Internal: Slim Aarons Poolside Glamour Photography, Vintage Backgammon, Vintage Sport, Acapulco, Vintage Pools, Vintage Games...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Harbour Island
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Harbour Island in the Bahamas, 1970. 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 20 x 24 inches $2500 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide....
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Peggy Guggenheim
Located in Los Angeles, CA
September 1978: Peggy Guggenheim (1898 - 1979) in the Palazzo Venier Dei Leoni, Venice. The palace houses her private art collection, including Picass...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Ladies Of Lyford Cay
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Grace, Mrs Dauphinot, Marina Posson and Baroness Meriel de Posson in Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, April 1974. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inches $3000 ...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Swimming In The Bahamas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Brightly coloured swimmers in a pool in Nassau on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas, 1959. 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 10 x 12 inches...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

La Concha Beach Club
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A view of La Concha Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Slim Aarons Venice Gondolas (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Gondolas moored in Venice, 1957. In the background is the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, on San Giorgio Maggiore island. Slim Aarons Venice Gondolas Chromogenic Lambda print Printe...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Ladies Of Lyford Cay
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Grace, Mrs Dauphinot, Marina Posson and Baroness Meriel de Posson in Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, April 1974. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inches $3000 ...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, Leonard Dalsemer Villa, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Leonard Dalsemer and his family at their villa in Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, April 1974. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is p...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Capote At Home, New York, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
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

Capote At Home, New York, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
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

Arturo Pani s Villa
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The swimming pool at Arturo Pani's villa, Acapulco, Mexico, January 1968. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer this vibr...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

C Print

Hamilton Hostess
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mrs George Davenport Aldrich and dogs on the lawn of her estate in Hamilton, Massachusetts, circa 1960. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inches $3000 Complimenta...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Fishing On Honeymoon Porch, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features acouple relaxin on a porch in Exuma, Bahamas. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered ...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Island Lookout
Located in Los Angeles, CA
May 1968: Nattily dressed, W Clifford Klenk with his telescope and his wife, Hope in their Hog island house. 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inches $3000 20 x 20 inches $2500 12 x 1...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Treasure Cay
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Treasure Cay resort on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas, March 1986. 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer sh...
Category

1980s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Commander Whitehead
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Commander Edward Whitehead (1908 - 1978), the public face of Schweppes, leans on a silver Rolls Royce at Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, April 1974. Commander Whitehead served in ...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Table Hopping
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1959: Senator Jack Kennedy (President John F Kennedy) greeting old friends at an 'April in Paris' ball held in the Waldorf's Grand Ballroom, New Yor...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Island Lookout
Located in Los Angeles, CA
May 1968: Nattily dressed, W Clifford Klenk with his telescope and his wife, Hope in their Hog island house. 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inches $3000 20 x 20 inches $2500 12 x 1...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Hamilton Hostess
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mrs George Davenport Aldrich and dogs on the lawn of her estate in Hamilton, Massachusetts, circa 1960. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inches $3000 Complimenta...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Campbell Falls Picnic, Massachusetts, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a family enjoying a picnic on the bank of the Whiting River near Campbell Falls, Massachu...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Freeport Yachts
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Yachts in a marina in Freeport, in the Bahamas, April 1969. 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer shipping to ...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Commander Whitehead
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Commander Edward Whitehead (1908 - 1978), the public face of Schweppes, leans on a silver Rolls Royce at Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, April 1974. Commander Whitehead served in ...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Spot The Ball
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1960: A polo match at the Myopia Hunt Club, Hamilton, Massachusetts. The club was so named because of the near-sightedness of its original members. ...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Saint-Tropez Beach
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The beach at Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera, August 1971. 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 20 x 24 inches $2500 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer shipping ...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Spot The Ball
Located in Los Angeles, CA
circa 1960: A polo match at the Myopia Hunt Club, Hamilton, Massachusetts. The club was so named because of the near-sightedness of its original members. ...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Swimming In The Bahamas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Brightly coloured swimmers in a pool in Nassau on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas, 1959. 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 10 x 12 inches...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Harbour Island, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a couple relaxing at the beach on Harbour Island, Bahamas. This is an estate stamped and...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Great Harbour Cay
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A horseshoe beach on Great Harbour Cay, Bahamas, March 1973. 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer shipping to...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Nassau Beach Hotel
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The outdoor swimming pool at Nassau Beach Hotel, Nassau, Bahamas, 1959. The hotel was the first to built by Howard Johnson outside the United States. 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 i...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Peace And Plenty
Located in Los Angeles, CA
People by the pool at Club Peace And Plenty, Georgetown on the island of Great Exuma, Bahamas, April 1967. 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 10 x 12 ...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Great Harbour Cay
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A horseshoe beach on Great Harbour Cay, Bahamas, March 1973. 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer shipping to...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Fishing On Honeymoon Porch, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features acouple relaxin on a porch in Exuma, Bahamas. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered ...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Fishing On Honeymoon Porch, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features acouple relaxin on a porch in Exuma, Bahamas. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered ...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Commander Whitehead
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Commander Edward Whitehead (1908 - 1978), the public face of Schweppes, leans on a silver Rolls Royce at Lyford Cay, New Providence Island, April 1974. Commander Whitehead served in ...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Freeport Beach
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A beach in Freeport, in the Bahamas, April 1969. 40 x 60 inches $3950 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer...
Category

1960s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Great Harbour Cay
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A bather on the beach on Great Harbour Cay, Bahamas, March 1973. 30 x 40 inches $3350 20 x 30 inches $3000 20 x 24 inches $2500 10 x 12 inches $1350 Complimentary dealer shippin...
Category

1970s Realist Figurative Photography

Materials

Lambda

Black Pearl Trippers
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Henry B. Cabot Jr. (standing, centre) with his son Henry Bromfield Cabot III and their host Barclay (Buzzy) H Warburton III (in striped shirt) aboard the brigantine 'Black Pearl', ci...
Category

1960s 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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