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Photorealist Paintings

PHOTOREALISM

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.

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Style: Photorealist
Period: 1980s
Three Single Anemones, Lowell Nesbitt - Drawing
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Lowell Nesbitt (1933-1993) Title: Three Single Anemones Year: 1986 Medium: Oil pastel on handmade paper Size: 23.5 x 23 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed & date...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel, Handmade Paper

Green Orchid, Lowell Nesbitt - Drawing
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Lowell Nesbitt (1933-1993) Title: Green Orchid Year: 1986 Medium: Oil pastel on handmade paper Size: 21 x 23 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed & dated LOWELL N...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel, Handmade Paper

Parrot Tulip, Lowell Nesbitt - Drawing
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Lowell Nesbitt (1933-1993) Title: Parrot Tulip Year: 1986 Medium: Oil pastel on handmade paper Size: 23 x 21 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed & dated LOWELL N...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Handmade Paper, Oil Pastel

Pink Poppy, Lowell Nesbitt - Drawing
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Lowell Nesbitt (1933-1993) Title: Pink Poppy Year: 1986 Medium: Oil pastel on handmade paper Size: 23 x 23 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed & dated LOWELL NES...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel, Handmade Paper

Mr. Jefferson’s Garden, Lowell Nesbitt
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Lowell Nesbitt (1933-1993) Title: Mr. Jefferson’s Garden Year: 1986 Medium: Oil on linen Size: 81 x 104 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed, dated, titled by the artist, verso LOWELL NESBITT (1933-1993) One of the most celebrated and most noted for his floral works of art. An artist with a highly personal style, Nesbitt made realistic studies of many themes throughout his career. His most well known series, and perhaps his most beautiful and poetic, are the more than four hundred works he created using the flower as theme. Since his first show in 1957, Nesbitt has had more than eighty one man shows. His painting, drawings and prints...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil, Canvas

Garden Vision (The Greenhouse), Lowell Nesbitt
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Lowell Nesbitt (1933-1993) Title: Garden Vision (The Greenhouse) Year: 1984-87 Medium: Oil on linen Size: 70 x 70 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed, dated, titled by the artist, verso LOWELL NESBITT (1933-1993) One of the most celebrated and most noted for his floral works of art. An artist with a highly personal style, Nesbitt made realistic studies of many themes throughout his career. His most well known series, and perhaps his most beautiful and poetic, are the more than four hundred works he created using the flower as theme. Since his first show in 1957, Nesbitt has had more than eighty one man shows. His painting, drawings and prints...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil, Canvas

Shadow Iris, Lowell Nesbitt
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Lowell Nesbitt (1933-1993) Title: Shadow Iris Year: 1982 Medium: Oil on linen Size: 60 x 90 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed, dated, titled by the artist, verso LOWELL NESBITT (1933-1993) One of the most celebrated and most noted for his floral works of art. An artist with a highly personal style, Nesbitt made realistic studies of many themes throughout his career. His most well known series, and perhaps his most beautiful and poetic, are the more than four hundred works he created using the flower as theme. Since his first show in 1957, Nesbitt has had more than eighty one man shows. His painting, drawings and prints...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Linen, Canvas

Frosted Mountain, Lowell Nesbitt
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Lowell Nesbitt (1933-1993) Title: Frosted Mountain Year: 1982 Medium: Oil on linen Size: 78 x 104 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed, dated, titled by the artist, verso LOWELL NESBITT (1933-1993) One of the most celebrated and most noted for his floral works of art. An artist with a highly personal style, Nesbitt made realistic studies of many themes throughout his career. His most well known series, and perhaps his most beautiful and poetic, are the more than four hundred works he created using the flower as theme. Since his first show in 1957, Nesbitt has had more than eighty one man shows. His painting, drawings and prints...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil, Canvas

China, Lowell Nesbitt
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Lowell Nesbitt (1933-1993) Title: China Year: 1983 Medium: Oil on linen Size: 80 x 110 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed, dated, titled by the artist, verso LOWELL NESBITT (1933-1993) One of the most celebrated and most noted for his floral works of art. An artist with a highly personal style, Nesbitt made realistic studies of many themes throughout his career. His most well known series, and perhaps his most beautiful and poetic, are the more than four hundred works he created using the flower as theme. Since his first show in 1957, Nesbitt has had more than eighty one man shows. His painting, drawings and prints...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil, Canvas

Birds of Paradise, Lowell Nesbitt
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Lowell Nesbitt (1933-1993) Title: Birds of Paradise Year: 1986 Medium: Oil on linen Size: 80 x 73 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed, dated, titled by the artist, verso LOWELL NESBITT (1933-1993) One of the most celebrated and most noted for his floral works of art. An artist with a highly personal style, Nesbitt made realistic studies of many themes throughout his career. His most well known series, and perhaps his most beautiful and poetic, are the more than four hundred works he created using the flower as theme. Since his first show in 1957, Nesbitt has had more than eighty one man shows. His painting, drawings and prints...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Linen, Canvas, Oil

La Entrada (Photorealistic Interior)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Enrique Medina (b.1935). La Entrada, 1986. Acrylic on canvas, measuring 32 x 32 inches; 33 x 33 inches framed. Signed lower right. Signed, dated, titled on verso. Personal Information...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Cotton Canvas

La Puerta (Photorealistic Interior)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Enrique Medina (b.1935). La Puerta, 1985. Acrylic on canvas, measuring 32 x 32 inches; 33 x 33 inches framed. Signed lower right. Signed, dated, titled on verso. Personal Information...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

The Fall of Eden (Garden of Eden)—Untitled
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: The Fall of Eden (Garden of Eden)—Untitled Year: 1985 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Size: 48 x 24 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed, ...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Friedrich‘s Window: Variation # 4 (Water and Mist) 1981, Ian Hornak — Painting
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Original painting on canvas, circa 1981. Size: 36 x 48 inches. Inscription: signed, recto; signed, dated, titled, verso. Provenance: Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY. Notes: An homage...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

(Hudson River Landscape) Untitled, 1985, Ian Hornak — Painting
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Original acrylic painting on illustration board, circa 1985. Size: 12.5 x 10 inches. Provenance: Estate of Ian Hornak, East Hampton, New York. IAN HORNAK (January 9, 1944 – December...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Illustration Board

Flower Piece with Storm, Ian Hornak
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Flower Piece with Storm Year: 1986 Medium: Acrylic on Panel, with Artist Painted Frame Size: 58.5 x 46.5 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Light from the Past, 1st version, 1985, Ian Hornak — Painting
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Original acrylic painting on double layered Masonite, 1985. Size: 21.5 x 18 inches. Inscription: Signed, recto; signed, dated, and titled, verso. Provenance: Armstrong Gallery (57th ...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Untitled (Scottish Pastoral Landscape), circa 1982, Ian Hornak — Painting
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Original acrylic painting on canvas, circa 1982. Size: 16 x 20 inches. Provenance: Estate of Ian Hornak, East Hampton, New York. Notes: From a series of landscape paintings by Ian Ho...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

Primeval Landscape, 1985, Ian Hornak — Painting
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Original acrylic painting on double layered Masonite, 1985. Size: 16 x 19 inches. Inscription: Signed, recto; signed, dated, and titled, verso. Provenance: Armstrong Gallery (57th St...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Yellow Cab Broadway
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Khawam’s first genre of paintings started in 1980 during the heights of the Superrealism movement in New York City where Khawam was the youngest among the group and in his first year...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Waiting for the Barbarians, 1985, Ian Hornak — Painting
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Original acrylic painting on Masonite with artist’s painted wood frame, 1985. Size: 37 x 31 inches. Inscription: Signed, recto; titled, and double signed and dated, verso. Provenance...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Masonite, Panel

Domain of Asmodeus, 1985, Ian Hornak — Painting
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Original acrylic painting on Masonite with artist’s painted wood frame, 1985. Size: 31 x 37 inches. Inscription: Signed, recto; titled, and double signed and dated, verso. Provenance...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Masonite, Panel

Vintage Large American Modernist Trompe L'Oeil Rose Flower Still Life Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American super realist oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Possibly signed verso.
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage American School Signed Super Realist Kitchen Still Life Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist signed still life oil painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed.
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

1980s Vintage American Street Scene Painting, Landscape with Taxi Cabs
By Val Lewton
Located in Surfside, FL
Val Edwin Lewton (May 23, 1937 – April 24, 2015) was a painter and museum exhibition designer. As an artist, he created Realist acrylic paintings and watercolors of urban and suburban scenes, predominantly in the Washington, D.C., area, where he lived and exhibited. Val Lewton was born May 23, 1937, in Santa Monica, California. His father, also named Val Lewton, produced a string of successful and influential B movies for RKO Pictures, including Cat People (1942) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943). His mother, Ruth Knapp, was a painter and teacher of autistic children. He graduated in 1959 from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and earned a master's degree in fine arts from Claremont University in 1962. After moving to Washington, D.C., he served on the staff of the Smithsonian American Art Museum for 32 years, simultaneously maintaining a career as a painter in his own right. Lewton died in 2015s oon afterwards, exhibitions of his paintings were planned for the Katzen Arts Center (June 17 – August 13, 2017) and Addison/Ripley Fine Art (June 3 – July 8, 2017). Chiefly known for his landscapes, Lewton generally depicted cities and suburbs with a detached, impersonal sensibility. Writing about his watercolors in Arts magazine in 1980, Harry Rand observed, “Either by implication or statement, personalities are absent from Lewton’s work; there is hardly a sense of the lives that move through those spaces he describes.” The critic compared the artist to Fairfield Porter, Edward Hopper, and Charles Sheeler. Lewton painted from a young age. On a family trip to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, he discovered the work of Henri Matisse, an encounter that permanently influenced his artistic vision. In the early 1960s, Lewton lived in southern California and taught art classes at the University of California Riverside. During this period, he was inspired by the paintings of Roger Kuntz...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Archival Paper

20th Italian Oil Painting trompe l'oeil Studio Interior Palm Tree Realist Museum
By Andrea Vizzini
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original late 20th Century realist interior scene by Italian artist Andrea Vizzini. This important work was exhibited at The Anderson Gallery an...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Plywood, Oil

Large Photo Realist Pop Art Watercolor Painting Children's Toys Teddy Bear Block
Located in Surfside, FL
Michael Beck (American, b. 1943) Watercolor painting on paper, 1986 "First Fruits", Hand signed, dated and titled along lower margins Gallery label verso, Matted and framed under plexiglass, Dimensions: 38"h x 58"w (sight), 48"h x 67"w (frame) Provenance: Property from a Major Corporate Art Collection; Corporate Art Directions, NYC Michael Beck (b. 1943) ( American Photo Realist artist) was born in San Diego California. In 1971, he attended the California College of Arts and Crafts and was awarded the James D. Phelan Award in the Visual Arts, juried by artists Wayne Thiebaud and June Livingston. In June of 2014, he was awarded a Jackson Pollock- Lee Krasner Foundation award. Michael Beck was part of the early Photo Realist Movement in California among other contemporaries like Robert Bechtle, Charles Bell, Chuck Close, Robert Cottingham and Richard Estes and Audrey Flack. Choosing vintage childrens toys as his subject matter. Michael Beck’s artwork stands out for its distinct subjects of toys and objects from a previous era. These unique items include vintage rocking horses...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Looking Toward Oyster Pond, Montauk, Ian Hornak
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Looking Toward Oyster Pond, Montauk Year: 1983-2001 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Size: 42 x 60 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed rect...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

Marcia’s Meadow (Vermont)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Marcia’s Meadow (Vermont) Year: 1983 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Size: 50 x 72 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed recto; signed, date...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

Diptych Hand Paintings
Located in Washington, DC
Exceptional pair of paintings by Manon Cleary (1942-1911). Paintings are oil on canvas. Dated 1980 and signed in the front lower right corner and on reverse. Manon Cleary's work is ...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

White Horse at the Hampton Classic White Show Jumper with Rider Up
Located in Brookville, NY
Ben Schonzeit is one of the pioneers of the Photorealist movement in Soho NY in the 1970's. He is well known for his large still life of flowers, arresting canvases that explore the artist dream world. The artist has had numerous one man exhibitions and his work can be found in the permanent collections of major museums around the world including: Butler Institute of American Art Delaware Art Museum Denver Art Museum Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco Guggenheim Museum of Art, NYC This work, executed in 1987, appears to be a rider ready to enter the show ring at the Hampton Classic...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Il Camion, Painting by Giuseppe Bartolini
By Giuseppe Bartolini
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Giuseppe Bartolini, Italian (1938 - ) Title: Il Camion Year: 1984 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed l.r. Size: 22.5 x 20.5 in. (57.15 x 52.07 cm) Frame: 31 x 29 inches
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Oil

Lilies & Mushrooms with my Parrot Kouka
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Lilies & Mushrooms with my Parrot Kouka Year: 1985 Medium: Acrylic on Panel, with Artist Painted Frame Size: 65.50 x 52.50 inches Condition: Exc...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Tulips of the Red Stars
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Tulips of the Red Stars Year: 1988 Medium: Acrylic on Panel Size: 52 x 42 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed recto; signed, dated,...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Wood Panel, Acrylic

Very Baroque Flowerpiece with Red Birds of Paradise and Shining Parrot
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Very Baroque Flowerpiece with Red Birds of Paradise and Shining Parrot Year: 1989 Medium: Acrylic on Panel, with Artist Painted Frame Size: 58.5...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

"The Brass Ring", Bob Byerley, Original Oil on Canvas, 24x12 in., Realism
Located in Dallas, TX
"The Brass Ring" by Bob Byerley is a realistic original oil painting measuring 24x12 in. The artist’s photographic memory of his boyhood adventures combin...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Quarry (Scotland)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: The Quarry (Scotland) Year: 1983 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Size: 50 x 72 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed recto; signed, dated, a...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

The Banyan Tree: Variation VI (Jamaica)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: The Banyan Tree: Variation VI (Jamaica) Year: 1981 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Size: 42 x 60 inches Condition: Excellen...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Primeval Landscape
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Primeval Landscape Year: 1985 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Size: 59 1/2 x 43 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed by the artist Provenan...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Last Song: Im Abendrot—In Evening‘s Glow (homage to Richard Strauss)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Last Song: Im Abendrot (In Evening’s Glow) Year: 1985-2001 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, with Artist Painted Frame Size: 47 x 59 inches Condition: ...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Ancient Flowers Beneath a Black Sun
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Ancient Flowers Beneath A Black Sun Year: 1987 Medium: Acrylic on Panel Size: 52 x 42 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed recto; sig...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Wood Panel, Acrylic

(Connecticut Landscape) Untitled, Ian Hornak
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Untitled (Connecticut Landscape) Year: 1983 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Size: 60 x 43 inches Condition: Excel...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

The Winter Iris, Large Flower Painting by Lowell Nesbitt
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lowell Blair Nesbitt, American (1933 - 1993) Title: The Winter Iris Year: 1986 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed and dated verso Size: 54 in. x 54 in. (137.16 cm x 137.16 cm) Fra...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Last Song: Beim Schlafengehen—Going to Sleep (homage to Richard Strauss)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Last Song: Beim Schlafengehen (Going to Sleep) Year: 1985 Year: 1985-2001 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, with Artist Painted Frame Size: 47 x 59 i...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Gardenia, Realist Flower Painting by Lowell Nesbitt
Located in Long Island City, NY
This painting was created by American artist Lowell Blair Nesbitt. His most well known series, and perhaps his most beautiful and poetic, are the more than four hundred works he crea...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Martin Heade’s Window, Ian Hornak
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Martin Heade’s Window Year: 1980 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Size: 48 x 36 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed recto; signed, dated, and titled by the artist, verso. Provenance: Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY; Private Collection, MI Notes: A seminal example of Hornak’s Photorealist multiple exposure landscape...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

Childhood of Hephaestus, Variation V
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Childhood of Hephaestus, Variation V Year: 1985 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, with Artist Painted Frame Size: 47 x 59 in...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Lowell Nesbitt, "Five Anemones, " Oil on Canvas, 1988
Located in Long Island City, NY
This painting was created by American artist Lowell Blair Nesbitt. His most well known series, and perhaps his most beautiful and poetic, are the more than four hundred works he crea...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Lemons and Limes on Quilt
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lowell Blair Nesbitt Title: Lemons and Limes on Quilt Year: 1988 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed and dated verso Size: 39 in. x 48 in. (99.06 cm x 121.92 cm) Frame Size: 40.25 ...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Pink Ball & Hook (Photorealist Oil Painting of Industrial Equipment on Blue)
Located in Hudson, NY
Vertical photo-realist painting on canvas of pale pink ball with steel colored hook on a bright sky blue background 72 x 36 x 1.5 inches oil on canvas, thin wood stripping signed "Richards" on bottom right corner in yellow paint wire is installed on the back for easy hanging This precisely detailed photo-realist painting was made by Joseph E. Richards in 1981. The artist painted this piece when he was 60 years old during a successful career painting trains, cargo ships, and industrial machinery. Richards served in the US Navy during WWII and went on to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia before showing with Ivan Karp of O.K. Harris Gallery in NYC. The artist moved upstate to Hillsdale, NY for the later years of his life. This painting captures one of Richards' most beloved subjects, close up views of industrial equipment against a vivid blue sky. With a photo-realist approach to the subject, Richard was able to capture detailed changes in light and shadow, shape and form. The pale pink colored ball and steel colored hook, down to each screw and bolt, is completed with extreme focus and precision. One could easily confuse this painting with a photograph since it was completed with a very smooth application of paint, with no texture built upon the surface. It is not until you examine the painting up close, do you realize the artist's calculated brushwork. The painting is framed with natural wood stripping. The work is lightweight and easy to hang with wire installed on the back.The artist's signature is located on the front and back of the canvas. About the artist: Joseph Richards’ precisely painted canvases of giant cranes, cargo booms, propellers and train engines are fueled with a fascination like that of a six-year old boy. Working directly from photographs, Richards unites light and color together as one element, evident in the reflective surfaces of steel. The otherwise mundane signs of corrosive wear are magnified; rust stains glow on the canvas and yellow painted pulleys radiate like beacons against a bright, blue sky. Richards finds beauty in their dramatic color, resilient texture, definitive form and functionality. Richards paints sections of these objects in grand scale, with canvases up to 6 feet long and eye-popping color, calling attention to their massive proportions and exceptional strength. Richards had solo exhibits in New York City, Scottsdale AZ, and Washington DC, and his work is found in private and corporate collections here and abroad, e.g., the Tucson Museum of Fine Arts, Mobil Oil, Lankenau Hospital in Philadelphia, and E. Jean Belloni in Geneva, Switzerland. Resume: Born in 1921 in Des Moines, Iowa, Joseph Richards left for Chicago after high school to pursue a career in art. After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1942 – 1945, he went on to study at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He eventually settled with his wife, Betty, in New York City. In 1969, longtime dealer Ivan Karp opened The OK Harris Gallery on West Broadway in Manhattan’s SoHo. Karp was at the forefront of the Photorealism movement, showing artists such as Duane Hanson and Manny Farber...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Crane: Large Photo-Realist Painting of Industrial Red Ball & Grey Crane on Blue
Located in Hudson, NY
Large, vertical photo-realist painting on canvas of industrial red ball and steel grey crane on a sky blue background by Joseph Richards oil on canvas,...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Ma... I Want to Swim!, Photorealist Painting by Wai Ming
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Wai Ming, Chinese/American (1938 - ) Title: I Want to Swim Year: 1985 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed and titled verso Size: 30 x 22 inches (76.2 x 55.88 cm) Frame Size: 35 x 2...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Georgetown Movie Theatre, Photorealist Painting by Charles Ford
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Charles Ford, American (1941 - ) Title: Georgetown Movie Theatre Year: 1985 Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, signed and dated l.l. Size: 40 x 30 inches...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic Polymer

No. 11 (White Industrial Machinery in Modern Photo Realist Style on Bright Blue)
By Joe Richards
Located in Hudson, NY
contemporary hyper realist painting of industrial white pulley against a bright sky blue background still life painting, oil on canvas Neve...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Victory Corset shop, acrylic on canvas, 36x30 Vintage New York City image
Located in Southampton, NY
Charles Ford's work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of the City of New York. A wonderful rare early painting (1982) by Charles Ford of the classic "Victory Corset" shop in New York City...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Canvas

Attributes of Art
By Dana Loomis
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Dana Loomis Title: Attributes of Art Year: 1984 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed and titled in marker Size: 40 in. x 46 in. (101.6 cm x 116.84 cm) Frame Size: 41 x 47 inches
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Lowell Nesbitt, "The Stream, " Oil on Canvas, 1982
Located in Long Island City, NY
This painting was created by American artist Lowell Blair Nesbitt. His most well known series, and perhaps his most beautiful and poetic, are the more than four hundred works he crea...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Photorealist Eagle Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Stunning Photorealist painting of an eagle on a branch against a blue sky. Grey painted wooden frame. The work is signed by the artist Rena Fennessy who ...
Category

1980s Photorealist Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Photorealist paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Photorealist paintings 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 paintings 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, green, pink and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Gregory Block, James Zamora, Ian Hornak, and Kathleen Keifer. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Photorealist paintings, so small editions measuring 3.5 inches across are also available. Prices for paintings 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 $125 and tops out at $585,000, while the average work sells for $3,772.

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