First of all, people like Picasso did something different, not because they couldn't achieve something close to realism, but because they had something different they wanted to do. But the truly great artists have generally had a very good sense of how to depict things realistically. And that sensibility probably lends itself more to their greatness than the casual observer remotely suspects.

Second, so what if certain artists and genres don't aim for realism? Realism has been the aim of many great artists throughout history. Personally, I prefer their work to the abstract stuff.

Third, as pointed out earlier, there is realism and then there is realism. Depicting what doesn't actually exist in a way that is convincing is very powerful.

Fourth, saying that realism is not art is bunk. Many photographers are genuinely artists, not simply technicians. Much more so those who can create something that looks real but as a way of realizing their own artistic concepts.

______________

Hardware: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X/MSI MAG570 Tomahawk X570/Zotac Geforce GTX 1650 Super 4GB/32GB OLOy RAM

Software: Windows 10 Professional/Poser Pro 11/Photoshop/Postworkshop 3