By casual observance, it is difficult to distinguish between works of art exhibiting realism and those exhibiting idealism. A realistic art work captures a scene as the artist viewed it.
Realistic works are more like photographs in sense.
In contrast, idealist works of are look realistic, but they depict things in ways that they did not actually appear before the artist. The artist creates the seen to suit his or her liking, knowledge, and imagination in order to create an art work better than the reality. Abstract works of art, on the other hand, are quite different than those of a realistic style. They could not be accidentally mistaken for realistic art works, because they do not depict things as they appear in reality. Abstract works of art may resemble real objects, and can thus be symbolic for real object.