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Realist 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
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Photography

Materials

Lambda

French Leave Hotel
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the French Leave Hotel, owned by actor Craig Kelly, at Eleuthera in The Bahamas, 1960. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inche...
Category

1960s Realist Photography

Materials

Lambda

Governing Couple
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Nancy Reagan and her husband film star and Governor of California, Ronald Reagan (later the 40th President of the USA) in Acapulco, mexico. Complimentary dealer shipping to your fr...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Colin Tennant, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Colin Tennant, 3rd Baron Glenconner, on the island of Mustique, which he owns privately, March 1973. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and s...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

Lambda

Villa Borghese Lion, Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A young girl eating an ice cream while sitting on a sculpture of a lion in the grounds of the Villa Borghese in Rome, Italy, 1970 Slim Aarons Estate Ed...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

Lambda

Nirvana Quartet
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Oscar Obregon Salazar Gomez Velez Guzman y Murphy (centre, left) with Karen Murphy, Robin Goodland and Melissa Engelhardt at the Villa Nirvana hotel, Acapulco, Mexico, 1986. Compli...
Category

1980s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Eden-Roc Pool, France, Estate Edition Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests round the swimming pool at the Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc, Antibes, France, This is an estate st...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

Lambda

Caleta Beach, Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A high angle view of Caleta Beach (aka Morning Beach) in Acapulco, Mexico, January 1961. The Hotel Boca Chica can be seen to the right. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 2...
Category

1960s Realist Photography

Materials

Lambda

Tres Vidas, Acapulco, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests relaxing in the shade at the Tres Vidas private members club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Tres Vidas, Acapulco, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests relaxing in the shade at the Tres Vidas private members club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Villa Nirvana
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects ...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Lake Worth
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A vibrant purple twilight sky over the Lake Worth inlet, Palm Beach, Florida, 1955 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inches $3000 Complimentary dealer shipping to...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

Lambda

Villa Nirvana
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects ...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Photo Student, Teacher Lander School Budapest Vintage Silver Gelatin Photograph
Located in Surfside, FL
Edward Serotta Student and Teacher, The Lander School of Budapest. Judaica. silver gelatin print, matted, captioned by hand and hand signed and numbered. B/W photographs document...
Category

1990s Realist Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

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 Photography

Materials

C Print

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 Photography

Materials

C Print

Slim Aarons, Dolores del Rio, Acapulco (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mexican film star Dolores Del Rio (1905 - 1983) floating in a swimming pool in Acapulco, 1952. 20 x 20 inches $2500 Estate stamped and hand numbered ...
Category

1950s Realist Photography

Materials

Lambda

Las Brisas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A villa in Las Brisas, Acapulco, February 1972. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer this vibrant photograph, printed by...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Hibiscus Flowers, Mexico, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a woman surrounded by red hibiscus flowers in a swimming pool...
Category

1960s Realist Photography

Materials

Lambda

Villa Nirvana
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects ...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

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 Photography

Materials

C Print

Caleta Beach, Acapulco
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A high angle view of Caleta Beach (aka Morning Beach) in Acapulco, Mexico, January 1961. The Hotel Boca Chica can be seen to the right. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 2...
Category

1960s Realist 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 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 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 Photography

Materials

C Print

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 Photography

Materials

Lambda

Nirvana
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The pool at Villa Nirvana, Acapulco, Mexico. Old Acapulco can be seen across the bay. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to off...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Acapulco Lunch
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A long afternoon lunch at Acapulco. Among the guest are (from left to right) film star Douglas Fairbanks Junior (1909 - 2000), couturiers Oscar de la Renta, and standing behind him E...
Category

1960s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Acapulco Lunch
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A long afternoon lunch at Acapulco. Among the guest are (from left to right) film star Douglas Fairbanks Junior (1909 - 2000), couturiers Oscar de la Renta, and standing behind him E...
Category

1960s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Top People s Eatery, San Francisco, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Journalist Lucius Beebe beside a gold place setting in t...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

Lambda

Governing Couple
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Nancy Reagan and her husband film star and Governor of California, Ronald Reagan (later the 40th President of the USA) in Acapulco, mexico. Complimentary dealer shipping to your fr...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Lake Worth
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A vibrant purple twilight sky over the Lake Worth inlet, Palm Beach, Florida, 1955 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 24 x 24 inches $3000 Complimentary dealer shipping to...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

Lambda

Guests At Villa Nirvana
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, 1978. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud ...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

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 Photography

Materials

C Print

Villa Nirvana
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects ...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

La Concha Clientele
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the La Concha Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is prou...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

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 Photography

Materials

C Print

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 Photography

Materials

C Print

Rowing Off Sicily, Estate Edition (Taormina, Italy: rocky turquoise seascape)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons' Rowing Off Sicily, an Estate Edition photograph, is a vintage scene of two couples out rowing off the coast of Sicily, Italy, near Taormina,...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

Lambda

La Barranca, Acapulco, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Bandleader Teddy Stauffer (1909 - 1991) at La Barranca, Warren Avis' villa in Acapulco, January. ...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

Lambda

Villa Nirvana
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects ...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

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 Photography

Materials

Lambda

Armando s Beach Club
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Sunbathers at Armando's Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is pro...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Acapulco Holiday
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Deckchairs lined up beside a swimming pool in Acapulco, February 1966. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to offer this vibrant...
Category

1960s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Guests At Villa Nirvana
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, 1978. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud ...
Category

1970s Realist Photography

Materials

C Print

Acapulco Rocks
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Architect Arturo Pani and his wife by their swimming pool at home in Acapulco, Mexico. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent Projects is proud to o...
Category

1950s Realist Photography

Materials

Lambda

Realist photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Realist 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 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, Pico Garcez, Kind of Cyan, and Massimo Listri. 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 photography, so small editions measuring 3.94 inches across are also available. Prices for 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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