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
Boating In Antigua
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
American actor Hugh O'Brian (left) hoists the sail on a dinghy, Antigua, West Indies, 1961.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Acrylic Polymer, Lambda
Slim Aarons Sugarbush Chalet
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A group of people relaxing in a chalet in the Sugarbush Mountain ski resort, one of the largest ski resorts in New England, in Warren, Vermont, USA, circa 1960.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places." Taking pictures of the rich and famous both before and after serving as a photographer for the US military magazine Yank during World War II. His work has been included in the publications Town and Country, Holiday, Venture and LIFE.
Aarons was known for the positive portrayals he gave to the people he photographed and was invited to high-society gatherings for exactly this reason. His subject matter covered American and European society as well as nobility and both minor and major stars of the day.
Print is also available in 30 x 30", 40 x...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Princess Caroline of Monaco (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Princess Caroline of Monaco, with her pet dog Tiffany, Monte Carlo 1977.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authent...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Droulers And Daughters (Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Roberta Droulers sitting with her daughters, Nathalie and Virginie, in the lobby of the Villa D'Este on Lake Como, Tivoli, near Rome, Italy, circa 1984.
Estate stamped and hand numb...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons
Vuccino and Rava in Capri
(Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Vuccino and Rava in Capri
1958
C print
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150
with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Carla Vuccino, wearing a swimming cap, and...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Delos Column #2
By Lee Wells
Located in New York, NY
Delos Column #2
30 x 20 inches
Edition of 10
20 x 16 inches
edition of 20
Where light was born
It’s a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s an ark of history, floating lazily on the wat...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Photography
Materials
Archival Pigment
Saint-Tropez Boucherie (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A boucherie or butcher's shop on Rue des Commercants in Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera, 1971.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity f...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Darker, Two
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
30 x 45 inches ($5200) and 40 x 60 inches ($7200) limited editions of 10, printed on Archival Watercolor Fine Art Paper, 335 gram weight, signed by the artist.
Cheryl Maeder was b...
Category
2010s Realist Photography
Materials
C Print
Darker, Three
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
30 x 45 inches ($5200) and 40 x 60 inches ($7200) limited editions of 10, printed on Archival Watercolor Fine Art Paper, 335 gram weight, signed by the artist.
Cheryl Maeder was b...
Category
2010s Realist Photography
Materials
C Print
Zephyria I, Estate Edition. Monte Carlo French Riviera Speedboat Seascape
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Monte Carlo, 1970: This classic landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a vintage wooden and red painted speedboat carrying holidaygoers in the ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Surfing in Biarritz
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Author and screenwriter Peter Viertel (1920 - 2007) with his surfboard on the beach at Biarritz, France, 1960.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of au...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Cafe in Monte Carlo (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Diners on a cafe terrace in Monte Carlo, Monaco, 1975.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Slim Aarons (1916-2006) wo...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Julie London (Aarons Estate Print)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
1957: Singer Julie London enjoying breakfast in bed at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authe...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
"Luzia" - Christiane Klisch - Nude - Acryl on Canvas
Located in Winterswijk, NL
Luzia by Artist Christiane Klisch.
Part of a female torso.
The female body is only shown in part. Gestures and posture create their own visual language. The choice of color alienat...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Photography
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
$1,391 Sale Price
20% Off
"What´s up" - Christiane Klisch - Nude - Acryl on Canvas
Located in Winterswijk, NL
What´s up by Artist Christiane Klisch.
Part of a female torso.
The female body is only shown in part. Gestures and posture create their own visual language. The choice of color ali...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Photography
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
$1,391 Sale Price
20% Off
"Red II" - Christiane Klisch - Nude - Acryl on Canvas
Located in Winterswijk, NL
Red II by Artist Christiane Klisch.
Part of a female torso.
The female body is only shown in part. Gestures and posture create their own visual language. The choice of color aliena...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Photography
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
$1,391 Sale Price
20% Off
"Fabricia" - Christiane Klisch - Nude - Acryl on Canvas
Located in Winterswijk, NL
Fabricia by Artist Christiane Klisch.
Part of a female torso.
The female body is only shown in part. Gestures and posture create their own visual language. The choice of color alie...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Photography
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
$1,391 Sale Price
20% Off
Verbier Skier (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A blonde skier on the slopes at Verbier, February 1964.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Slim Aarons (1916-2006) w...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Botanical Rhapsody
Realistic/Abstract Floral Pattern Photograph Blue/White
Located in Wellesley, MA
"Botanical Rhapsody" by Judith Allen-Efstathiou is an exquisite photographic cyanotype print in deep blue and white of wildflowers abstracted. Highly intricate and lavishly depicted...
Category
2010s Realist Photography
Materials
Mulberry Paper, Photographic Paper
"Mapping the Walk" Realistic/Abstract Photographic Flower Study in Blue / White
Located in Wellesley, MA
"Mapping the Walk" by Judith Allen-Efstathiou is an exquisite cyanotype photographic print on mulberry paper in deep blue and white of wildflowers abstracted. Highly intricate and ...
Category
2010s Realist Photography
Materials
Mulberry Paper, Photographic Paper
Slim Aarons
Pebble Beach
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Riders from the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center wend their way through the Californian sand dunes and pampas grass, November 1976.
Estate stamped and han...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Biblioteca dell
Abbazia, St.Gallen, 2002
Located in New York, NY
Massimo Listri is a Florence-based photographer whose work often presents interiors of great architectural and cultural importance, some open to the public, others not easily accessi...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Photography
Materials
C Print
Hotel Taormina Pool Sicily, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph Sea Rocky Shore
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This landscape photograph features a seaside swimming pool at the Hotel Taormina, Sicily, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons in August 1975.
In this classic Sicilian seas...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Cafe in Monte Carlo (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Cafe in Monte Carlo, 1975
Chromogenic Lambda print
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Diners on a cafe terrace in...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Fabrizia Lanza di Mazzarino (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Donna Fabrizia Lanza di Mazzarino relaxing in a boat on a small lake in the grounds of the Villa Tasca d'Almerita in Sicily, Italy, in October 1984. Printed Later.
Estate stamped an...
Category
1980s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Skiers at Verbier (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Skiers at Verbier, 1964
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publica...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Palm Beach Arts Festival (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
The Palm Beach Arts Festival Procession, Florida, 1964.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Scotti
s Yacht
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Guests on board Italian Count Hannibal Scotti's yacht, 'Scotland Cay', Monte Carlo harbour, Monaco.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 wit...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons
Lake Tahoe Ladies
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Caption:A group of young women in their bathing suits on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, 1959.
Slim Aarons worked mainly for society publications, taking pictures of the rich and fa...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons
Tania Mallet
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
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 Ma...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Madame Jean Serpieri
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
December 1961—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 f...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Lighthouse with Beach Cruiser - Black
White Landscape Photograph
Located in Soquel, CA
"Lighthouse & Bicycle", black and white photograph on Fujicolor professional paper of the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor Breakwater Lighthouse by Richard Francis Singer (American, 20th Cent...
Category
2010s Realist Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper
$319 Sale Price
20% Off
Slim Aarons, Roca Llisa
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons
Roca Llisa, 1978 (printed later)
C print
estate edition of 150
Fosca, Vera, and Fiona Bertran holidaying in Roca Llisa, on the island of Ibiza, Spain, 1978.
Estate stamp...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons, Skiing Waiters (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons
Skiing Waiters, 1960
C print
Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150
Caption: Three skiing waiters on a ski slope, with the man in the foreground carrying a bird on a...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
In Capri (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
1958: Robert Hornstein, the artist Novella Parigini and Prince Dado Ruspoli on Capri.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certific...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons, Coral Beach, Bermuda
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons
Coral Beach, Bermuda, 1977.
C print
estate edition of 150
A view of Coral Beach, Bermuda, 1977.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of aut...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons, Roca Llisa
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons
Roca Llisa, 1978 (printed later)
C print
estate edition of 150
Fosca, Vera, and Fiona Bertran holidaying in Roca Llisa, on the island of Ibiza, Spain, 1978.
Estate stamp...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons
Skiing Waiters
(Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons
Skiing Waiters, 1960
C print
Edition of 150
Caption: Three skiing waiters on a ski slope, with the man in the foreground carrying a bird on a tray, the second man carri...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
#InTheSky Series: New York #22
By James Bacchi
Located in East Hampton, NY
#1 in Series of 7
New York #22 Freedom Tower
Black & White Photography
#inthesky
22”x17” photographic prints on archival paper
#inthesky
A mobile photography essay that began in 2...
Category
2010s Realist Photography
Materials
C Print
Poolside Party (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Guests by the pool at Nelda Linsk's desert house in Palm Springs, January 1970. The house was designed by Richard Neutra for Edgar Kaufman
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition ...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Massimo Listri, Castello di Rivoli III - Torino
Located in New York, NY
Castello di Rivoli III - Torino
"What makes his work unique is how he has made interiors look so absolutely vivid, as if they had a secret life of their own that only he knows how t...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Photography
Materials
C Print
Slim Aarons, Poolside Party (Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Guests by the pool at Nelda Linsk's desert house in Palm Springs, January 1970. The house was designed by Richard Neutra for Edgar Kaufman
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition ...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons, Time For A Guinness
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Caption: April 1959: Gloria Guinness enjoying a swim in her pool at Manalapan, Palm Beach, Florida.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity ...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons, Vermont Winter (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
circa 1960: Students from Stowe Preparatory School track through deep snow near Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak, Vermont.
Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certif...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Slim Aarons, Sunbathers at Il Canille
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
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. ...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Darker, Six
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
30 x 45 inches ($5200) and 40 x 60 inches ($7200) limited editions of 10, printed on Archival Watercolor Fine Art Paper, 335 gram weight, signed by the artist.
Cheryl Maeder was b...
Category
2010s Realist Photography
Materials
C Print
Tyrolean Churches, Tyrol, Estate Edition, Winter Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1990 winter landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Andreas Kirche and Liebfrauen Kirche in Kitzbuhel in the Austrian Tyrol, 1990.
This is ...
Category
1990s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
El Dorado Beach, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
El Dorado Beach on the south side of Lake Tahoe in El Dorado County, California, circa 1959.
Slim Aarons
Mittersill Castle, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Chromogenic Lambda print
1959,...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Decked In Finery, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
An unknown guest at a New Year's Eve party held at the Romanoff Restaurant in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and s...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Decked In Finery, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
An unknown guest at a New Year's Eve party held at the Romanoff Restaurant in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and s...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Skiing At Courchevel, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Skiers on the slopes at Courchevel, France, 1963.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included
Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons Estate
Modern estate edit...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Pebble Beach, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Riders from the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center wend their way through the Californian sand dunes and pampas grass, November 1976.
Slim Aarons
Pebble Beach, Slim Aarons Estate Editio...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Pebble Beach, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Riders from the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center wend their way through the Californian sand dunes and pampas grass, November 1976.
Slim Aarons
Pebble Beach, Slim Aarons Estate Editio...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Paradise Island, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Versailles Gardens and the French Cloister at the Ocean Club on Paradise Island, opposite Nassau on the Bahamas, May 1968.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity in...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Paradise Island, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Versailles Gardens and the French Cloister at the Ocean Club on Paradise Island, opposite Nassau on the Bahamas, May 1968.
Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity in...
Category
1960s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Joan Collins Relaxes, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Film star Joan Collins relaxes with her pink poodle on her pink bed.
Slim Aarons
Joan Collins Relaxes, Estate Edition
Chromogenic Lambda print
1955, Printed Later
Slim Aarons Estate...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Joan Collins Relaxes, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Film star Joan Collins relaxes with her pink poodle on her pink bed.
Slim Aarons
Joan Collins Relaxes, Estate Edition
Chromogenic Lambda print
1955, Printed Later
Slim Aarons Estate...
Category
1950s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Pebble Beach Hunt, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Riders gather in the courtyard of Richard Collins' House for the stirrup cup libation, before the start of the Pebble Beach Hunt of English and American foxhounds, November 1976. The...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Pebble Beach Hunt, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Riders gather in the courtyard of Richard Collins' House for the stirrup cup libation, before the start of the Pebble Beach Hunt of English and American foxhounds, November 1976. The...
Category
1970s Realist Photography
Materials
Lambda
Crowded Kitzbühel, Austria, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1980 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers making their way between the slopes in Kitzbühel, Austria.
This is an estate stamped and...
Category
1980s 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.