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Realist Art

REALIST STYLE

Realist art attempts to portray its subject matter without artifice. Similar to naturalism, authentic realist paintings and prints see an integration of true-to-life colors, meticulous detail and linear perspectives for accurate portrayals of the world. 

Work that involves illusionistic techniques of realism dates back to the classical world, such as the deceptive trompe l’oeil used since ancient Greece. Art like this became especially popular in the 17th century when Dutch artists like Evert Collier painted objects that appeared real enough to touch. Realism as an artistic movement, however, usually refers to 19th-century French realist artists such as Honoré Daumier exploring social and political issues in biting lithographic prints, while the likes of Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet painting people — particularly the working class — with all their imperfections, navigating everyday urban life. This was a response to the dominant academic art tradition that favored grand paintings of myth and history. 

By the turn of the 20th century, European artists, such as the Pre-Raphaelites, were experimenting with nearly photographic realism in their work, as seen in the attention to every botanical attribute of the flowers surrounding the drowned Ophelia painted by English artist John Everett Millais.

Although abstraction was the guiding style of 20th-century art, the realism trend in American modern art endured in Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth and other artists’ depictions of the complexities of the human experience. In the late 1960s, Photorealism emerged with artists like Chuck Close and Richard Estes giving their paintings the precision of a frame of film.

Contemporary artists such as Jordan Casteel, LaToya Ruby Frazier and Aliza Nisenbaum are now using the unvarnished realist approach for honest representations of people and their worlds. Alongside traditional mediums, technology such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and immersive installations are helping artists create new sensations of realism in art.

​​Find authentic realist paintings, sculptures, prints and more art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Realist
LUNA DE CARNAVAL GOYO DOMINQUEZ SPANICH CONTEMORARY ARTIST
Located in Pollenca, Illes Baleares
I was born in the bosom of a modest family. My father had a natural talent for drawing and he made portraits of his brothers during a long convalescence due to a serious illness. Und...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Oil Painting of River Landscape in Ireland Countryside by Modern Irish Artist
Located in Preston, GB
Oil Painting of River Landscape in Ireland Countryside by Modern Irish Artist. This original oil painting is an early example of the more traditional...
Category

1980s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Rose-finch Bird Watercolor on Paper Handmade Painting, One of a Kind
Located in Granada Hills, CA
442 Artist: Artyom Abrahamyan, Work: Original Painting, Handmade artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Watercolor on Paper Year: 2025 Style: Classic Art Title: Rose-finch Size: 12 x 16 inc...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

"Last Outpost" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Rob Alexander's "Last Outpost" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a green landscape of mountains with a mysterious structure encircled by whitewater waterfalls. (14...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Les Andelys in the Seine Valley France Pastel Art by 20th Century British Artist
Located in Preston, GB
Les Andelys in the Seine Valley France Landscape Pastel Art. A fine example of the beautiful work of British 20th Century Artist, Lionel Aggett (1938-2009). Signed front and rear, fr...
Category

1990s Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Oil Crayon, Oil Pastel, Pastel, Board

Crusader with shield and mace / - Ready to strike -
Located in Berlin, DE
Josef Moest (1873 Cologne - 1914 Rath), Crusader with shield and mace, around 1910. Bronze on a black marble pedestal (19 cm high). 57.5 cm (total height) x 21 cm (width) x 12 cm (de...
Category

1910s Realist Art

Materials

Bronze

Big dragonfly. Paper, mixed media, 21x30 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Big dragonfly Paper, mixed media, 21x30 cm Juris Utāns (1959-2022) was a Latvian painter. Worked in the field of critical realism, socially active and political art. Juris Utans' ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

French Genre Scene in Parisian park 19th Century Oil painting
By Emile Tabary
Located in Stockholm, SE
Signed by Émile Tabary. Lively scene in in a parisian park, pictured moment of city life of the late 19th century. In this painting, some irony and humor are very subtly felt. One of...
Category

Late 19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

The Smell of Us (Hand signed poster)
Located in New York, NY
Larry Clark The Smell of Us (Hand signed poster), 2015 Offset lithograph poster Pencil signed by Larry Clark on the back 10 1/2 × 15 1/2 inches Unframed Limited edition poster; hand ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

Portrait of Young Woman with Red Hair in a Red Dress with White Scarf, German
Located in Grand Rapids, MI
Wilhelm Carl Rauber (German, 1849-1926) Signed: Wilh. Rauber, 1890 ?, (lower, left) " Portrait of Young Woman with Red Hair in a Red Dress with White Scarf " Oil on Cradled Wood P...
Category

Late 19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Horse
By Aga Ousseinov
Located in Long Island City, NY
This bronze sculpture, from 1996, is a powerful rendering of a horse rearing. It is not uncommon to see stallions rearing; it is a tactic that can be used to dislodge a predator, to...
Category

1990s Realist Art

Materials

Bronze

"Plastic Figure 4" Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Jason Walker's (CAN based) "Plastic Figure 4" is an oil painting that depicts a lone pink plastic Cowboy figure toy drawing his weapon in the darkness. ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Strange summer" oil painting on wood, 100x100 cm
Located in Saint Pol de Léon, Bretagne
Coming from nowhere, this painting was born of a need to express something unmastered and a very strong impulse due to this troubled time that we all lived and where we lost our bear...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Incredible Trompe L Oeil Artist Studio Butterfly Still Life Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Very finely painted realist still life oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Image size, 20H by 23L.
Category

1940s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Chinese Garden, Huntington Library
Located in Pasadena, CA
Provenance Acquired by the gallery directly from the artist. FRAMED: 15.5" x 18.5" x 1.125"; UNFRAMED: 9" x 12"
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

The Upper Pool River Thames 1880s Maritime London Docklands Framed Oil Painting
Located in Sutton Poyntz, Dorset
Charles William Wyllie. English ( b.1853 - d.1923 ). The Upper Pool, River Thames, London. Oil On Canvas. Signed Lower Left. Image size 17.3 inches x 31.5 inches ( 44cm x 80cm ). Fra...
Category

Late 19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The dreamer
Located in Zofingen, AG
Once upon a time there was one tough girl. She did a lot of mistakes in her life and survived a lot of falls, including falls on the asphalt from her motorcycles and many times she balanced on the edge of life. But she didn't lost her good temper and ability to dream. *** In 2021 Evgeniy Monahov...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Jack Levine American Modernist Social Realist WPA Artist Lithograph Dinner Party
Located in Surfside, FL
This is being sold unframed. Reception in Miami. Born to Lithuanian Jewish parents, Levine grew up in the South End of Boston, where he observed a street life composed of European immigrants and a prevalence of poverty and societal ills, subjects which would inform his work. He first studied drawing with Harold K. Zimmerman from 1924-1931. At Harvard University from 1929 to 1933, Levine and classmate Hyman Bloom studied with Denman Ross. As an adolescent, Levine was already, by his own account, "a formidable draftsman". In 1932 Ross included Levine's drawings in an exhibition at the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard, and three years later bequeathed twenty drawings by Levine to the museum's collection. Levine's early work was most influenced by Bloom, Chaim Soutine, Georges Rouault, and Oskar Kokoschka. Along with Bloom and Karl Zerbe, he became associated with the style known as Boston Expressionism. In 1935, shortly after its formation, Levine joined the WPA’s Federal Art Project, where he was employed intermittently until 1939. In 1937, while with the WPA, Levine painted The Feast of Pure Reason...
Category

20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Color, Lithograph

Monograph: The Complete Paintings (Hand signed, inscribed by Philip Pearlstein)
Located in New York, NY
Philip Pearlstein The Complete Paintings, 1984 Hardback monograph with dust jacket Hand signed, dated and inscribed to Nadine by Philip Pearlstein 12 × 10 1/2 × 1 3/4 inches This i...
Category

1980s Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset

"Riverbed 4, " Framed Limited Edition Giclee Print, 24" x 24"
Located in Westport, CT
This realistic limited edition print by John Harris captures a close up view of water rippling over rocks in a riverbed. Natural light reflects off the surface of the water, enhancin...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Digital, Giclée

"Seascape with Harbor and Tower"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
Seascape with Harbor and Tower Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions (Framed): 97 x 67 cm Dimensions (Canvas): 75 x 47 cm No signatured This exquisite 18th-century seascape captures a liv...
Category

18th Century Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Amy Atkinson - Fillette - Newlyn School Portrait of a Young Girl
Located in London, GB
AMY ATKINSON (1859-1916) Fillette Signed l.r.: A B ATKINSON; signed and inscribed with title on the stretcher Oil on canvas Framed 25.5 by 20.5 cm., 10 by 8 in. (frame size 46 by ...
Category

Late 19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Party At Romanoff s, Beverly Hills, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograp
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a party at Romanoff's in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered ...
Category

1950s Realist Art

Materials

Lambda

"Fantasy Landscape"
By Bartolomeo Pedon
Located in Edinburgh, GB
Bartolomeo Pedon (1665-1732) – Fantasy Landscape Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 84 x 121 cm (unframed), 98 x 132 cm (framed) Provenance: Private collection This captivating oil ...
Category

18th Century Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Slim Aarons Yacht Holiday (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Tanned bodies on the deck of Dino Pecci Blunt’s yacht in Marbella, Spain 1967. Printed later. A group of bronzed young women captured from the back are seen enjoying the Spanish ho...
Category

1960s Realist Art

Materials

Lambda

Croissant - realistic painting
Located in New York, NY
This hyperrealistic painting by Roni Yoffe is from her latest body of works. It is oil on wood and comes not framed, but framing options are available. "My paintings in recent years ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Wood, Oil

1940s Philippino Masterpiece
Located in San Francisco, CA
I believe this powerful painting is by the very talented Philippines artist Virgilio Daclan. He was born in 1920 in Cebu city. He studied art in 1951 at the UP school of fine arts. T...
Category

Mid-20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Rowboat, Oil Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A lone rowboat rests on a lake, securely tied to a post and anchored underwater. Ripples gently disturb the reflection of the vessel, adding movement to the sce...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Jan Oytenbogaert
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled Jan Uytenbogaert" 1639 is an etching on paper After Rembrandt Van Rijn, 1606-1669, plate engraved By French renown engraver Charles Armand Durand, 1831-1905. Sign...
Category

17th Century Realist Art

Materials

Etching

The Essence of Harmony - original realism floral oil painting - contemporary art
Located in London, Chelsea
This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet Contemporary Art Gallery and online. "The Essence of Harmony" captures a moment of delicate tranquil...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Cathedral Group and Grand Teton Mountains Landscape
Located in Soquel, CA
Wonderful painting of mist at the base of Grand Teton Peak in the Grand Tetons titled "Morning Mist" by Keith Fay (American, 1920 - 2008), circa 1980), C. 19...
Category

1980s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor, Laid Paper

Message
Located in Denver, CO
"Message," is an original oil painting by Karen Offutt. It is unframed, but ready-to-hang.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Pocket Bluer Blackbird s Egg #3 (c), Original Painting, Egg Art
Located in Deddington, GB
Pocket Bluer Blackbird Egg #3 c is an original oil painting by Dani Humberstone as part of her Pocket Painting series featuring small scale realistic oil paintings, with a nod to bar...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Horses feeding in a Field in the English Countryside at Winter by British Artist
Located in Preston, GB
Original Painting of Horses feeding in a Field in the English Countryside at Winter by British Artist, Dennis Harper, ( b. 1940) British Artist known f...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Powers-court Estate. Playing Golf
Located in Zofingen, AG
On our trip to Ireland, we stopped at the Power Court estate, which reminds me a bit of the architecture of St. Petersburg.I saw people playing golf near the park. The weather was cloudy and the environment was sinking in sfumato, I wanted to immerse the viewer in this environment. The transparency of the watercolor made it possible to realize my idea. Exhibition: 2009 Exhibition at the Game of Imagination Gallery in the Press Centre of the Izvestiya Publishing House, Moscow. 2012 “Visible Images”, personal exhibition at the exhibition hall of the Russian Auction House in Gostiny Dvor, Moscow. 2024 The exhibition "Tail-wind". Museum and exhibition complex "Academy of Watercolor and Fine Arts of Sergey Andriaka". (Moscow) Publication: Златоверховникова О.Н. Семён Кожин. – М.: Принт люкс, 2007. – 120 с. Page 45 Златоверховникова О.Н. Семён Кожин. – М.: Белый город, 2009. – 64 с. – (Мастера живописи. Русские художники). ISBN: 9785779317184 Page 34 Семён Кожин. Зримые образы: [каталог персональной выставки] / Российский аукционный дом. – СПб.: Рекламное агентство MCMG, 2012. – 32 с. Page 25
Category

Early 2000s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor, Handmade Paper

Chinese Contemporary Art by Su Yu - Monica Cupid
Located in Paris, IDF
Oil on canvas Su Yu is a Chinese artist born in 1987 who lives & works in Beijing in China. He was an old student of prestigious art teachers as Shi Liang & Chen Danqing...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Italian Village Scene II
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork "Italian Village Scene II" c.1880 is a watercolor on paper by noted Italian artist Roberto Gigli, 1846-1922. It is signed at the lower rig...
Category

Late 19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

"The Path" (Pastoral Landscape with Olive Trees and Donkeys)
Located in Austin, TX
"Forest Scene with Donkeys" by Spanish Master Painter Bartolome Sastre size: 45 x 57.5 inches framed size 55 x 62.5 inches A a mesmerizing scene of a mystical grove of twisted, old ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Spring day Watercolor painting
Located in Zofingen, AG
A watercolor painting with flowers of apple tree. A bright, juicy watercolor painting filled with the warmth of the spring sun. The lush petals of a blooming apple tree grow against ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

"Cymbidium Orchids II" Oil painting
Located in Denver, CO
Narelle Zeller's "Cymbidium Orchids II" is an oil painting that depicts nine blush colored orchid flowers blossoming in contrast with the light grey bac...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Spring Rain, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Wooden spools convey a natural landscape reminiscent of towering cliffs. Hues of blue threads form a vista mimicking rain pouring down on dry land. The interp...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

Slim Aarons Palm Beach Society Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Jim Kimberly and his wife (far left) and friends with his white sports car and white boats moored on Lake Worth. A Palm Beach socialite, Kimberly acts as Honorary Consul of Jordan. April 1968. (Slim Aarons / Getty Images) Slim Aarons Palm Beach Society...
Category

1960s Realist Art

Materials

Lambda

Capri
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Carole A. Feuerman is an American sculptor and author known for co-founding the Superrealist movement in the 1970s. After having developed works linked to the poetics of the fragment...
Category

1990s Realist Art

Materials

Resin

Lilac
Located in Zofingen, AG
"Lilac” is a painting that pays homage to the natural beauty and timeless elegance of this spring flower. Painted with great precision and a keen eye for detail, this work exudes a c...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Woodpeckers on Tree, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A pair of little woodpeckers perch on opposite sides of a branch, busy probing the small holes they've made for fresh tree sap. The intricate features of their plumage and the textured bark create a striking contrast against the stark white background. Rendered in vibrant colors and fine detail, artist Emil Morhardt brings this charming scene to life.


About the Artist
Emil Morhardt is an acrylic painter from Santa Barbara, California who expresses his passion for birds through realistic acrylic paintings. He paints at home in a studio room that has large windows and a north-facing view of the mountains. He observes the animals from this window, watching roadrunners, foxes, bobcats, deer, and coyote run by. Surrounded by this wildlife, Emil paints bird portraits reminiscent of those by artist John James Audubon. He bases his paintings off hundreds of photographs he takes of birds in the wild and at wildlife recovery centers. Emil captures the freedom and inquisitiveness that birds display...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Acrylic

"Petunias" oil painting of white flowers in pot on table, springtime, realism
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
"Petunias" is a realist oil on canvas painting by Rachel Personett. A potting of white petunias overflows in verdant abundance. White blossoms glow against the dark background. Frame...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique Illustration of a Golfer by Listed Illustrator for Vanity Fair
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique illustration of a golfer getting out of a sand trap by well listed illustrator Leslie Saalburg whose work appeared in Vanity Fair and Esquire.
Category

1910s Realist Art

Materials

Gouache, Illustration Board

French Contemporary Art by Claudine Picard - Poires
Located in Paris, IDF
Claudine Picard is a French artist born in 1949 who lives & works in Sainte Marie, France. She is graduated from the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in 1973 (ENSAD).
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Pavilosta 2021. Oil on canvas, 50x70 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Pavilosta 2021. Oil on canvas, 50x70 cm
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A noble bulldog
Located in London, GB
Walter Herbert Wheeler (British, 1868-1960) A noble bulldog signed ‘WH Wheeler (lower right) oil on board 7 ¾ x 7 ¼ in. (19.7 x 18.3 cm.) with frame 10 x 9 ¾ in. (25.4 x 24.8 cm.) ...
Category

Early 1900s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

"RIDIN HIGH" COWBOY HORSE WESTERN ACTION MOTION NICE!!!
Located in San Antonio, TX
E. Salazar Texas Artist Image Size: 15 x 13 Frame Size: 19 x 17 Medium: Oil on Canvas "Riding High"
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Oil

Sir Alfred Munnings Watercolour Titled The Hunt
Located in Uppingham, GB
Sir Alfred James Munnings, P.R.A., R.W.S. (1878-1959) 'The hunt' Signed and dated 'A.J. Munnings. 1913.' (lower right) pencil, watercolour and bodycolour on a prepared sheet of paper...
Category

1910s Realist Art

Materials

Watercolor

Glorious Summer Path-original floral landscape oil painting-contemporary ART
Located in London, Chelsea
This exceptional artwork is currently on display and available for sale at Signet Contemporary Art Gallery and online. Rory J. Browne's "Glorious summer Path" offers a captivating g...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Guest"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
The subject of the painting’s story is inspired by thoughts about the structure of our world.Is it as obvious as our eyes can see?..
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Basket With Fruit - Hyperrealism - Oil On Canvas Italian Still Life Painting
Located in Napoli, IT
Basket with fruit - Maximilian Ciccone Italia 2011 - Oil on canvas cm.40x50. This oil on canvas painting is an incredible example of the artist's ability to capture breathtaking deta...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Adam and Eve / - United in Death -
Located in Berlin, DE
Hans Thoma (1839 Bernau - 1924 Karlsruhe), Adam and Eve, 1897. Algraph on strong wove paper, published by Breitkopf und Härtel in Leipzig as ‘Zeitgenössisches Kunstblatt Nr. 113’, 44...
Category

Early 1900s Realist Art

Materials

Paper

"Old McDonald s Farm" Aaron Bohrod, Pun Humor, Magic Realism, Midwestern Rural
Located in New York, NY
Aaron Bohrod Old McDonald's Farm, 1989 Signed lower right Oil on gesso board 14 x 18 inches Aaron Bohrod's work has not been limited to one style or medium. Initially recognized as ...
Category

1980s Realist Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Walking Leopard
Located in Pasadena, CA
Acquired by the gallery directly from the artist Artist Statement “By exploring the forms in this piece, and given the simplicity of the gesture, I can directly address the concept ...
Category

2010s Realist Art

Materials

Bronze

Henry IV child, King of France, after the original from Francois Joseph Bosio
Located in Riga, LV
Henry IV child, King of France, after the original from Francois Joseph Bosio (1768-1845). Bronze, silver plated.
Category

19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Bronze

"European genre painting"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
No Signatured This evocative 19th-century oil painting presents a tranquil yet atmospheric riverside scene, capturing a group of figures engaged in daily life. The composition is mas...
Category

19th Century Realist Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Realist art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Realist art available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add art created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, orange, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Slim Aarons, Michael Budden, Daniel Pollera, and Su Yu. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Realist art, so small editions measuring 0.1 inches across are also available.

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