Realist Mixed Media
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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2010s Realist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Acrylic, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Pastel
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
Early 2000s Realist Mixed Media
Cotton, Mixed Media, Screen
Artist Comments
This mixed-media painting captures a stormy seascape with energetic waves and a dramatic sky. The blend of oil paint, ink, and cold wax creates a textured surfa...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Textile, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Glass, Pencil
Artist Comments
This painting depicts crashing waves shimmering on the ocean's surface with the use of palette knives and brushes. Soft clouds, ablaze with warm hues, reflect...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Mixed Media, Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
Early 20th Century Realist Mixed Media
Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Ink, Acrylic
Early 2000s Realist Mixed Media
Plaster, Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Pastel, Ink, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Charcoal, Acrylic
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Ceramic, Glaze, Pencil
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Paper, Giclée
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Ceramic, Glaze, Pencil
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Bronze, Gold Leaf
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Ceramic, Glaze, Pencil
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Paper, Giclée
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Ceramic, Glaze, Pencil
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Paper, Giclée
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Ceramic, Glaze, Pencil
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Paper, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Paper, Giclée
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Charcoal, Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Pastel, Archival Paper, Graphite
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Charcoal, Pastel, Archival Paper, Crayon
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Paper, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Conté, Pastel, Archival Paper
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Mosaic, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Conté, Pastel, Archival Paper, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Conté, Graphite, Pastel, Archival Paper
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Charcoal, Pastel, Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Handmade Paper, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Charcoal, Acrylic
1970s Realist Mixed Media
Gouache, Mixed Media, Felt Pen
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Acrylic, Canvas, Mosaic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Charcoal, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Charcoal, Acrylic
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Mosaic, Oil
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Mosaic, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Charcoal, Acrylic
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Sandstone
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Charcoal, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Charcoal, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Mixed Media
Canvas, Charcoal, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Realist Mixed Media
Mixed Media
1980s Realist Mixed Media
Oil, Board