Who says realism in particular details has to be contrary to the purposes of fantasy? You can still combine realistically expressed nuances in imaginative ways,

Who says realism in particular details has to be contrary to the purposes of fantasy? You can still combine realistically expressed nuances in imaginative ways, or use the methods of realism to make "realistic" expressions of things that never existed before. If anything this elevates fantasy, opening up more possibilities to execute fantasy in a visually compelling way. If you still want to do fantasy that's deliberately less detailed than reality, you can still do that. But it ought to be a conscious choice of individual creators. The degree of detail can be an aesthetic preference selected from a range of available options, rather than something you have to default to because we refused on principle to develop alternative methods.