Realist Art
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.
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1940s Realist Art
Lithograph
2010s Realist Art
Oil
Early 1800s Realist Art
Engraving
2010s Realist Art
Oil, Board
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Acrylic
1920s Realist Art
Bronze
2010s Realist Art
Oil
18th Century Realist Art
Oil
2010s Realist Art
Oil
1960s Realist Art
Paper, Watercolor
1950s Realist Art
Oil, Canvas
1960s Realist Art
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Realist Art
Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
1980s Realist Art
Paper, Ink, Gouache
20th Century Realist Art
Oil
2010s Realist Art
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Realist Art
Oil
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Realist Art
Oil, Panel
Mid-20th Century Realist Art
Oil
1970s Realist Art
Lithograph, Color
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Sunset reveals the vast grandeur of the Grand Canyon. The rugged cliffs glow with deep amber and violet hues beneath a sky brushed with luminous pastel clouds. ...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Oil
20th Century Realist Art
Oil, Board
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Oil
1890s Realist Art
Bronze
1960s Realist Art
Lambda
1980s Realist Art
Oil, Cardboard
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Giclée
1970s Realist Art
Lithograph
1980s Realist Art
Oil, Board
1890s Realist Art
Lithograph
2010s Realist Art
Oil, Linen, Panel
1750s Realist Art
Engraving
Early 18th Century Realist Art
Engraving
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Oil
1970s Realist Art
Gouache, Paper
Early 19th Century Realist Art
Aquatint
17th Century Realist Art
Engraving
1930s Realist Art
Bronze
Artist Comments
A woman glances sharply to her right, her expression poised between curiosity and caution. Rendered in stark black and white, the piece gives a timeless and cin...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Acrylic
2010s Realist Art
Oil, Panel, Canvas
1970s Realist Art
Oil, Cardboard
17th Century Realist Art
Engraving
2010s Realist Art
Oil, Wood Panel
1980s Realist Art
Lambda
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Art
Oil, Board
1950s Realist Art
Oil
2010s Realist Art
Acrylic
Mid-19th Century Realist Art
Oil, Masonite
2010s Realist Art
Oil
1980s Realist Art
Oil, Board
2010s Realist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1960s Realist Art
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Realist Art
Oil
2010s Realist Art
Oil, Panel