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Realist Portrait 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
New England Skiing, Estate Edition
New England Skiing, Estate Edition

New England Skiing, Estate Edition

By Slim Aarons

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Two women recline on improvised sunbeds in Cranmore Mountain, New Hampshire, circa 1955. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by th...

Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Capote at Home, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
Capote at Home, Slim Aarons Estate Edition

Capote at Home, Slim Aarons Estate Edition

By Slim Aarons

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 Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Venice Gondolas', Estate Edition
Slim Aarons 'Venice Gondolas', Estate Edition

Slim Aarons 'Venice Gondolas', Estate Edition

By Slim Aarons

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. Captured with the exquisite clarity and charm that epitomiz...

Category

1950s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Family Pool' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Slim Aarons 'Family Pool' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)

Slim Aarons 'Family Pool' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)

By Slim Aarons

Located in Los Angeles, CA

circa 1960: Mrs A Watson Armour III (Jean Schweppe) with friends and family enjoying the pool on their estate at Lake Forest, Illinois. A Wonderful Time - Slim Aarons Slim Aarons Family Pool 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. Collector will get the next number in the edition 60 x 60 inches $5100 48 x 48 inches $4500 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 20 x 20 inches $2500 16 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 Lake Forest, Vintage Poolside Glamour, Vintage Sport, Swimming, Vintage Holiday, 60s, vintage Illinois...

Category

1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons 'Family Pool' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Slim Aarons 'Family Pool' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)

Slim Aarons 'Family Pool' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)

By Slim Aarons

Located in Los Angeles, CA

circa 1960: Mrs A Watson Armour III (Jean Schweppe) with friends and family enjoying the pool on their estate at Lake Forest, Illinois. A Wonderful Time - Slim Aarons Slim Aarons Family Pool 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. Collector will get the next number in the edition 60 x 60 inches $5100 48 x 48 inches $4500 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 20 x 20 inches $2500 16 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 Lake Forest, Vintage Poolside Glamour, Vintage Sport, Swimming, Vintage Holiday, 60s, vintage Illinois...

Category

1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Family Pool, Estate Edition Photograph
Family Pool, Estate Edition Photograph

Family Pool, Estate Edition Photograph

By Slim Aarons

Located in Los Angeles, CA

circa 1960: Mrs A Watson Armour III (Jean Schweppe) with friends and family enjoying the pool on their estate at Lake Forest, Illinois. A Wonderful Time - Slim Aarons Slim Aarons Family Pool 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. Collector will get the next number in the edition 60 x 60 inches $5100 48 x 48 inches $4500 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 20 x 20 inches $2500 16 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 Lake Forest, Vintage Poolside Glamour, Vintage Sport, Swimming, Vintage Holiday, 60s, vintage Illinois...

Category

1960s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Slim Aarons, Polo Party, 1981 (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
Slim Aarons, Polo Party, 1981 (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)

Slim Aarons, Polo Party, 1981 (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)

By Slim Aarons

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Paul Butler, patriarch of one of America’s foremost polo families, with his son, daughter, grandchildren and son-in-law, Palm Beach, April 1981. Left to right: Adam Butler, Reutie Bu...

Category

1980s Realist Portrait Photography

Materials

Lambda

Realist portrait photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Realist portrait 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 portrait 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, pink, red and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Slim Aarons, Bob Willoughby, Mitchell Funk, 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 portrait photography, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are also available. Prices for portrait 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 $380 and tops out at $75,000, while the average work sells for $3,000.