Photorealist Art
A direct challenge to Abstract Expressionism’s subjectivity and gestural vigor, Photorealism was informed by the Pop predilection for representational imagery, popular iconography and tools, like projectors and airbrushes, borrowed from the worlds of commercial art and design.
Whether gritty or gleaming, the subject matter favored by Photorealists is instantly, if vaguely, familiar. It’s the stuff of yellowing snapshots and fugitive memories. The bland and the garish alike flicker between crystal-clear reality and dreamy illusion, inviting the viewer to contemplate a single moment rather than igniting a story.
The virtues of the “photo” in Photorealist art — infused as they are with dazzling qualities that are easily blurred in reproduction — are as elusive as they are allusive. “Much Photorealist painting has the vacuity of proportion and intent of an idiot-savant, long on look and short on personal timbre,” John Arthur wrote (rather admiringly) in the catalogue essay for Realism/Photorealism, a 1980 exhibition at the Philbrook Museum of Art, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At its best, Photorealism is a perpetually paused tug-of-war between the sacred and the profane, the general and the specific, the record and the object.
“Robert Bechtle invented Photorealism, in 1963,” says veteran art dealer Louis Meisel. “He took a picture of himself in the mirror with the car outside and then painted it. That was the first one.”
The meaning of the term, which began for Meisel as “a superficial way of defining and promoting a group of painters,” evolved with time, and the core group of Photorealists slowly expanded to include younger artists who traded Rolleiflexes for 60-megapixel cameras, using advanced digital technology to create paintings that transcend the detail of conventional photographs.
On 1stDibs, the collection of Photorealist art includes work by Richard Estes, Ralph Goings, Chuck Close, Audrey Flack, Charles Bell and others.
Late 20th Century Photorealist Art
Silver Gelatin
2010s Photorealist Art
Black and White, Inkjet, Pigment
1970s Photorealist Art
Oil, Board
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1960s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1960s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
Late 20th Century Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Black and White, Inkjet, Pigment
Late 20th Century Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
Late 20th Century Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art
Linen, Oil, Panel
1970s Photorealist Art
Oil, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art
Acrylic, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art
Acrylic, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art
Panel, Acrylic
1990s Photorealist Art
Photographic Paper
Late 20th Century Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
Early 2000s Photorealist Art
Screen
Late 20th Century Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1960s Photorealist Art
Platinum
Late 20th Century Photorealist Art
Platinum
2010s Photorealist Art
Digital Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Black and White, Inkjet, Pigment
Late 20th Century Photorealist Art
C Print
1960s Photorealist Art
Photographic Paper
1980s Photorealist Art
Acrylic, Illustration Board
1970s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
1970s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
1970s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
1970s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
1970s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil
1970s Photorealist Art
Oil, Canvas
1970s Photorealist Art
Oil, Canvas
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Digital, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Black and White, Inkjet, Pigment
Early 2000s Photorealist Art
Etching
Early 2000s Photorealist Art
Etching
Early 2000s Photorealist Art
Etching
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
1950s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
2010s Photorealist Art
Oil
2010s Photorealist Art
Archival Pigment
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Art
Linen, Oil
2010s Photorealist Art
Canvas, Oil