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.
Coffee With Dalí, Madrid, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Spanish artist Salvador Dali enjoys a cup of coffee on the terrace of the Ritz Hotel, Madri...
Lambda
Harriet De Rosiere, France, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Viscountess Harriet de Rosiere at Mougins, near Cannes in France. This is an estate-stamped and hand-n...
Lambda
Anne Anka, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Anne Anka, wife of singer Paul Anka and daughter of Count Charles de Zogheb, with her daughters (lef...
Lambda
Japan – Woman in winter outfit with umbrella (background of Mt. Fuji)
Located in Middletown, NY
Yokohama, Japan. Hand-tinted albumen print, 10 1/4 x 8 inches (259 x 201 mm), unmounted; light cockling at corners. [Nagasaki University Library, Catalog Number : 468]. A young wom...
Watercolor, Photographic Paper
Saint-Tropez Beach, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features sunbathers on the beach at Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera. This is an estate-stamped and hand-n...
Lambda
Les Sophores, Saint-Tropez, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Janine Bril in the garden of Les Sophores, her villa in Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera. This is ...
Lambda
$2,400
Beach Near Portinatx, Ibiza, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1980s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers at a beach near Portinatx, Ibiza, Spain. This is an estate stamped and han...
Lambda
It's A Hard Life, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the photographer Slim Aarons riding a bike along the quayside with cameras slung round his neck during ...
Lambda
Andros Island, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a family enjoying a quiet beach on Andros Island. This is an estate stamped and hand num...
Lambda
Cooly, drawing Jinrikisha (Rickshaw)
Located in Middletown, NY
Hand-tinted albumen print, 7 3/4 x 10 inches (195 x 252 mm), pasted onto a gold-edged board with caption hand-written in black ink.
Watercolor, Photographic Paper
Early Riders, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former mayor Frank Bogert leading an early-morning ride through Andreas Canyon in Palm Springs, south...
Lambda
To Any Lengths, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features photographer Slim Aarons photographing film starlet Mara Lane from the top of an extending ladder by th...
Lambda
To Any Lengths, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features photographer Slim Aarons photographing film starlet Mara Lane from the top of an extending ladder by th...
Lambda
To Any Lengths, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features photographer Slim Aarons photographing film starlet Mara Lane from the top of an extending ladder by th...
Lambda
To Any Lengths, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features photographer Slim Aarons photographing film starlet Mara Lane from the top of an extending ladder by th...
Lambda
Family Pool, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Mrs A. Watson Armour III (Jean Schweppe) with friends and family enjoying the pool on their estate at...
Lambda
Dance Class, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features children at Mrs William de Rham's Dancing Class held at the River Club, New York. L to r, Arturo Ramos...
Lambda
Dance Class, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features children at Mrs William de Rham's Dancing Class held at the River Club, New York. L to r, Arturo Ramos...
Lambda
School Riding, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features girls of Foxcroft School, near Middleburg, Virginia, waiting at the stables for their horses. Foxcrof...
Lambda
School Riding, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features girls of Foxcroft School, near Middleburg, Virginia, waiting at the stables for their horses. Foxcrof...
Lambda
Early Riders, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former mayor Frank Bogert leading an early-morning ride through Andreas Canyon in Palm Springs, south...
Lambda
Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Antibes, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features an aerial view of the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on the French Riviera. This is an estate-sta...
Lambda
It's A Hard Life, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the photographer Slim Aarons riding a bike along the quayside with cameras slung round his neck during ...
Lambda
$320
Modern fine art photography still-life on premium matte paper "Latte love"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
Title: "Latte love" Medium: Archival pigment print on premium matte photo paper Dimensions: 20 x 27 cm / 7.8 x 10.6 inches (unframed) Limited Edition Each photograph is printed only ...
Photographic Paper
$343
Fine art photography still-life floral "Crystal vase with summer wildflowers"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
Title: "Chrystal vase with summer wildflowers" Medium: Archival pigment print on premium matte photo paper Dimensions: 20 x 27 cm / 7.8 x 10.6 inches (unframed) Limited Edition Each...
Photographic Paper
Che (Che Guevara cutting canes)
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Che (Che Guevara cutting cane) 1962 (printed later) is a gelatin silver print by noted Cuban artist Ernesto Fernandez Nogueras, b.1939. It is signed, titled and dated at the lower margin. The photograph size is 10 x 6.5 inches, framed size is 17.85 x 15.85 inches. Custom framed in a black frame, with white matting. It is in excellent condition. About the artist: Ernesto Fernandez trained under the tutelage of several established photographers during the 1950s in Havana. He is one of the four great photographers of the Revolutionary period of Cuba. As a young man he witnessed both the excesses of Havana as a “playground” of the USA, and the poverty that produced the hotbed of revolutionary thought and action. He was in the Cuban capital as the revolution reached its climax, and his pictures document a time of great hope. They are celebrations of youth’s ability to bring about change and to reinvent a new world. Alongside Korda, Salas and Corrales, Fernandez documented the heady days of the Triumph of the Revolution and continued to photograph Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and other leading lights of the new system, including some wonderfully intimate studies of Alicia Alonso...
Silver Gelatin
Modern fine art beach house photo on matte premium paper "Blue House"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
"Blue House " (2025) Medium: Archival pigment print on premium matte photo paper Dimensions: 20 x 27 cm / 7.8 x 10.6 inches (unframed) Edition: Limited Edition of 50 Signed on the ba...
Photographic Paper
Keep Your Cool, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Carmen Alvarez enjoying a game of backgammon with Frank 'Brandy' Brandstetter in a swimming pool in Ac...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Saint-Tropez Boucherie' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A boucherie on Rue des Commercants in Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera, August 1971. Slim Aarons St-Tropez Boucherie Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. 60 x 40 inches $3950 40 x 30 inches $3350 30 x 20 inches $3000 Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Chromogenic Lambda print from the original transparency 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. 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. 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). Please contact us for additional photographs from Slim Aarons * Undercurrent Projects offers premium quality photographic prints from the Slim Aarons Archive, owned and housed by Getty Images. All photographs are printed and authorized by the Getty Images Gallery, London. Photographs are printed utilizing the original transparency held at the archive source. Internal: Vintage Saint-Tropez, Vintage French Riviera photography...
Lambda
Poolside Poodle, Palm Springs, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art dealer Jose...
Lambda
$3,000
Backgammon In Haiti, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a close-up of a woman playing backgammon in Haiti in January 1975. This is an estate-stamped and hand-...
Lambda
Vane's Villa, Majorca, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1980s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests at Vane Ivanovic's villa in Cap de Formentor, Majorca, Spain. This is an estate-stamped and...
Lambda
Home of Colonel William H. Terrill Roanoke Virginia Original Photograph
Located in Soquel, CA
Home of Colonel William H. Terrill Roanoke Virginia Original Photograph Home of the Colonel William Terrill (CSA) Roanoke Virginia, original period s...
Photographic Paper, Ink, Silver Gelatin
Sports Car Couple, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features John Bryant with his AC sports car in Kinnerton Place, London SW1. His passe...
Lambda
Windsors In Portofino, Italy, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1950s figurative photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the Duke and Duchess of Windsor walking their dog in Portofino in 1951. This is an est...
Lambda
Bettina Graziani, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features French fashion model Bettina Graziani wading in the shallow waters of Costa Smeralda, pulling a small y...
Lambda
Il Canille, Capri Island, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photo
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features sunbathers lounging on the white-painted terrace of Il Canille, built into the rocks of Pizzolungo ov...
Lambda
Palm Beach Party, Florida, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a pool party in Palm Beach, Florida, USA. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered edition of 150 w...
Lambda
$1,800
Dal Lake, India, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Dal Lake in Srinagar, in Jammu and Kashmir, India. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered editi...
Lambda
Skiing In Vail, Colorado, Estate Edition, Winter Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1660s winter landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers pass by a snow covered tree in Vail, Colorado, USA, 1964. This is an esta...
Lambda
$5,400
Dal Lake, India, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Dal Lake in Srinagar, in Jammu and Kashmir, India. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered editi...
Lambda
Ardizzone's House, Portofino, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features an overlooking Ardizzone's House, on the water's edge in Portofino, Italy. This is an estate-stamped a...
Lambda
Poolside Friends, Palm Spring, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art dealer Jose...
Lambda
$1,800
Porto Ercole, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the waterfront at Porto Ercole, Italy. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered edition of 150 with...
Lambda
Private Island, Philippines, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests relaxing on the beach of a private island owned by Philippine Airlines President, Benigno T...
Lambda
Linda Shaw, Singapore, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Linda Shaw emerging from a swimming pool in Singapore, May 1971. This is an estate stamped and ha...
Lambda
Palm Beach Party, Florida, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a pool party in Palm Beach, Florida, USA. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered edition of 150 w...
Lambda
$1,800
Wendy Vanderbilt, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American socialite Wendy Vanderbilt at home in Palm Beach, Florida, USA. This is an estate ...
Lambda
The Family Ford, Michigan, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Mrs. Thomas Bancroft Jnr (Peggy Bancroft) in the foyer of her Manhattan duplex. This is an estate-s...
Lambda
$3,900
Poolside Social, Palm Springs, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a poolside party at a desert house, designed by Richard Neutra for Edgar J. Kaufmann, in Palm Sp...
Lambda
Il Canille, Capri Island, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photo
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features sunbathers lounging on the white-painted terrace of Il Canille, built into the rocks of Pizzolungo ov...
Lambda
Penthouse Pool, Estate Edition, Poolside Landscape with Acropolis, Athens Greece
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons’s Penthouse Pool captures a sunlit moment of casual glamour at the Canellopoulos penthouse pool in Athens, Greece. Taken in July 1961, the photograph shows a group of you...
Lambda
Outdoor Dining, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features diners at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, San Diego, California. This is an estate-stamped and hand-num...
Lambda
Carlton Hotel, Cannes, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the entrance to the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, France. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered editi...
Lambda
$2,400
Porto Ercole, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the waterfront at Porto Ercole, Italy. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered edition of 150 with...
Lambda
$1,800
Saint-Tropez, France, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers on the deck of a yacht in Saint-Tropez, France. This is an estate-stamped and hand-num...
Lambda
Bahamas Speed Week, Nassau, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Gordon Butler's Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray at the Bahamas Speed Week at the Oakes Course, Nassau. ...
Lambda
Cocktail Hour, Palm Springs, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art dealer Jose...
Lambda
$2,400
Palm Beach, Florida, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features two bikini-clad holidaymakers enjoy a glass of wine outside the Carlton Hotel, Cannes. This is an est...
Lambda
$1,800
Palm Beach, Florida, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features two bikini-clad holidaymakers enjoy a glass of wine outside the Carlton Hotel, Cannes. This is an est...
Lambda