Dan Witz - Big Mosh Pit 2007 - Oil and Mixed Media On Canvas 46 in. x 70 in.
Photorealism emerged from the 1960’s and 1970’s as a movement that countered both minimalism and abstract expressionism. In a photorealist painting, the artist paints from a photograph with a level of detail so fine that they can easily be mistaken for photographs. While the movement waned in the 1980’s it’s coming back in a big way. In 2009, the ArtPrize award was awarded to Ran Ortner’s immense canvas, Open Water No. 24, beating out 9 other finalists (Ortner won after receiving a majority of the 37,264 registered votes cast). His work was the only painting out of the final 10 candidates. (You can read about that here.) With artists’ like Dan Witz (above) using the techniques in a more contemporary setting, the movement is not only coming back, but coming back in a big way.
Here are 10 photorealistic painters (and 21 photorealistic paintings) that are at the height of their game. Remember, they are all oil paintings.
ED NOTE: Each photo links directly to the artists’ website and portfolio in a new window.
Dan Witz
Dan Witz
Yigal Ozeri
Yigal Ozeri
Ran Ortner
Ran Ortner
Alyssa Monks
Alyssa Monks
Alyssa Monks
Richard Estes
Richard Estes
Steven Albert
Steven Albert
Eric Zenner
Eric Zenner
Diego Gravinese
Glennray Tutor
Glennray Tutor
Ralph Goings
Ralph Goings
52 Responses to “10 Photorealistic Painters That Rule”
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Recent Comments:
- wize: Nice selection… very appreciate. w
- Phil Townsley: Simply amazing!!
- Brad: So where’s Comic Sans?
- Heeshassi: My favs are “lochness” and Horror films
pure brilliance. - mckayla: Raph Goings is the only one that really tricks me into thinking its real. But all of these are pretty...
- Kathy: I haven’t seen anything like these, beautiful! Thanks!
- Eldon Doty: Sorry I don’t get. The talent and skill of the artists are beyond dispute but what’s the...
- sean: i thought these were photographs the first time i looked at them, then was like, these photographs arent that...
- Anna Anjos: Thanks for the post! Cheers from Brazil !
- AikeArt: Genial! The vintage art is awesome!
Saundra Kinzie
May 9th, 2010 at 11:11 am
Beautiful images! I love the post so much! xoxo
Natascha
May 10th, 2010 at 5:37 am
These are great! Insanely realistic.
bilal
May 10th, 2010 at 5:50 am
really so so nice pics,
CSSReX
May 10th, 2010 at 9:24 am
Kewl
Looking for more n more n more.. Enjoyed!
Paul Baines
May 10th, 2010 at 11:07 am
Great post. I’ve written a few posts about hyperreal and photorealistic painters and there are some new ones here to me too!
anne
May 10th, 2010 at 12:23 pm
How about the dutch painter Tjalf Sparnaay? You can see some of his work here: http://www.tjalfsparnaay.nl/overv_highl_01.html
Erik
May 10th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
The only one I don’t believe is the baby. By the way, s/he’s totally doing the “live long and prosper” sign.
Ron
May 10th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
Check this guy out, Otto Duecker, he’s soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!
Otto Duecker
Tom Kirby
May 10th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Why?
Eric Saev
May 10th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
These are a real treat i thought that the marbles on comic books by Glennray Tutor are truly amazing , thanx much for the share !!!
Tabitha
May 10th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
What, no Chuck Close?
unstage
May 10th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
I know, I know. Chuck Close is truly amazing in his own right; however, the object of this post was to try to expose painters of the same school that haven’t gained the popularity that Close has. I totally agree, though, his work is pretty amazeballs.
Anthony Pittarelli
May 11th, 2010 at 3:06 am
Cool paintings but I some just look like someone traced over a photo.
Anthony Pittarelli
Edwin
May 11th, 2010 at 9:06 am
There is Glennray Tutor, but I dont see Charles Bell.
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May 13th, 2010 at 9:20 am
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spacefantasy
May 13th, 2010 at 10:05 am
good work. Eric Zenner liked
Roth
May 13th, 2010 at 10:21 am
@edwin I think Glennray Tutor has advanced what Charles Bell did to a completely new level!
darkvaider
May 13th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Ralph Goings had brilliant picture realism
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May 13th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
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Terry O
May 14th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Realism is not my cuppa usually but all credit to the artists; these are stunnning.
To the compiler of this little collectio, nicely done, as it should be
HAha, the comment on the baby’s “live long and prosper” sign made me laugh; it’s quite appropriate too.
Great post
Bernhard
May 14th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Really amazing pictures!
There is an austrian guy as well: Gottfried Helnwein
He is totally brilliant!
unstage
May 14th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Wow, yeah. Thanks for the tip!
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May 20th, 2010 at 4:27 am
[...] click Emneord:Dan Witz, Eric Zenner, foto, maleri, painting, photo, unstage, Yigal [...]
airplane
May 25th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
I got to see Ran Ortner’s ArtPrize piece in person– truly impressive. The photo does not do justice to the luminosity of the colors– or to the scale of the piece.
Nice collection here, I learned some new names to check out!
Huseyin Kafkas
May 25th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
Looks like real. Great work!
Michal Plazinski
May 26th, 2010 at 7:30 am
Wow, hard to believe some of these are paintings!
Ida
May 26th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
That’s AMAZING! I love it!
Rio
May 28th, 2010 at 2:55 am
They are just incredible! I can’t believe all the details that go in to these artworks. They look real in very unsettling way. Thanks for sharing the collection.
cleawalford
June 1st, 2010 at 1:02 am
Thanks a lot. I realy like Dan Witz, Steven Albert, Ralph Goings and Glennray Tutor.
laura
June 1st, 2010 at 3:19 pm
OMG really are paintings?? i never see.. really cool
Kate
June 12th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Suzanne Falk
http://www.suzannefalk.com/gallery.php?year=past%20lives
Bob
June 13th, 2010 at 12:32 am
I think you left out Gottfried Helnwein, his stuff is amazing. Google him
Calgary Graphic Design
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Gorgeous stuff. It’s great to see that trompe l’oeil isn’t dead.
AnaliseElaine
June 25th, 2010 at 3:19 am
I had the great opportunity to see the Alyssa Monks face in the water painting at Artropolis in Chicago and was absolutely captivated. It was even more stunning and realistic in person.
fardan
June 25th, 2010 at 6:21 am
awesome!
Wilhelm
June 25th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Btw the last one is a watercolor
Katelyn
June 25th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
I’ve never really seen the point in painting/ drawing anything in photorealistic style. Don’t get me wrong – the amount of talent there is stunning. But when it feels like I’m just looking at a photo, it loses its fun after one or two paintings. But, that’s just my opinion!
Rafael
July 8th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
By paintings you mean that they were made with canvas and ink, and not in a computer? OMG that’s so AWESOME!
kitty
July 8th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
I don’t really get the point of photorealism to this extent. Once you get to the point where you are rendering an image that is indistinguishable from a photograph, you might as well just take a photograph and present that. The paintings certainly took a lot of skill and time, but I can’t see what they’re telling me except that the artists like painstakingly copying cool photos at large scale. They just seem like a lot of work for an emotional and aesthetic result that is the same as a well-taken photograph. In fact, knowing that they’re paintings distracts me.
I’d like to see a comparison between the original photo and final painting. I really want to know if these are straight copies of photos or if the artists added anything to them.
Charis
July 8th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
I can’t believe it but I have to. This is really amazing. It requires a lot, I mean a lot of skill to do this – from color to shading and achieving the realistic feel. The level of difficulty is way beyond skill.
I think it’s not just looking at a photo – it is looking at a photo once you do not consider how the final output has been made. But if you do consider how it was done, then you’d really appreciate what it is.
Eileen
July 8th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
I am completely stunned right now. Wonderful work.
sammy
July 9th, 2010 at 12:50 am
hahah, the baby picture caption should be ”WESTSIDE!!!!”
MATTY(F)WAYNE
July 9th, 2010 at 5:55 am
Those are awesome! Thanks! Where’s Chuck Close though?
Mutiara
July 9th, 2010 at 6:26 am
omygod whether all this authentic?
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July 16th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
[...] 10 Photorealistic Painters That Rule- unstage [...]
Rachel
July 24th, 2010 at 1:50 am
You totally forgot about one of the first: Audrey Flack!!!
sir jorge
July 27th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
wow, i never knew, those are awesome
sean
September 18th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
i thought these were photographs the first time i looked at them, then was like, these photographs arent that cool…then i read they are paintings! holy shit.
Eldon Doty
October 5th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Sorry I don’t get. The talent and skill of the artists are beyond dispute but what’s the point? It’s like there only message is “look how much this looks like a REAL photograph!.” Okaaaaaay, but if I want my artwork to look LIKE a photograph why don’t I just buy a photograph (which, no doubt the artist used for reference)? It’s a lot cheaper and at least the photographer is not trying to imitate a painter…those, at least, who don’t use photoshop.
mckayla
December 6th, 2010 at 12:55 am
Raph Goings is the only one that really tricks me into thinking its real. But all of these are pretty amazing. Photorealism is just so awesome, it astounds me that people can do it.