What is Realism?

(From Artcyclopedia)
Realism is an approach to art in which subjects are portrayed in as straightforward manner as possible, without idealizing them and without following the rules of formal theory.
 
The earliest Realist work began to appear in the 18th century, as a reaction against the excesses of Romanticism and Neoclassicism. This is evident in John Singleton Copley's paintings, and some of the works of Goya. But the great Realist era was the mid-19th century, as artists became disillusioned with the Salon system and the influence of the Academies.

Realism came closest to being an organized movement in France, inspiring artists such as Corot and Millet, and engendering the Barbizon School of landscape painting.
 
Besides Copley, American Realists included Thomas Eakins, and Henry Ossawa Tanner, both of whom also received formal training in France.

French Realism was a guiding influence on the philosophy of the Impressionists.
 
The Ashcan School, the American Scene Painters, and, much later, on the Contemporary Realist movement are all following the American Realist tradition.

Generally speaking, Realism is an intent to portray ordinary contemporary life, with attention to individual and regional eccentricities.

Modern painters use a direct visual language of current iconography and symbols, inspired by photographic forms - a language easily understood by almost everyone in our culture.

Realism is coming back?

Actually, it never went away, but after 50 years on the periphery, more and more artists are reinvigorating the genre. Today, painters are seeing it as a way to address the experience of living in our complex world, and they are challenging the viewer to consider the forces that are shaping this world, as well as pointing to its beauty.

San Francisco Realism

...has its roots in West Coast Realism, the Bay Area Figurative Movement, and Mural Art. It makes liberal use of humor and frequently employs saturated colors and elements of Pop culture. Its relaxed boundaries encompass the extremes of photographic realism and almost-abstract painterly realism.

"Realism is the foundation of Western Art.
It'll never go away.
That's why I went back to it."
-- Dale Erickson

Some More Quotes about Realism:

"But to return to the question of the challenge posed by the concept of modernity, for contemporary artists (as it has been across time) it seems not to lie exclusively in the search for new tools and materials, but in the search for expression and idea. At this moment in time a virtually endless range of materials is available to select from to suit the gamut of expressive language, but in the realm of Realism those simple, uncontrived materials which have faithfully served the ineffables of illusionism still stand."
--Virginia Anne Bonito, revised “Get Real introduction”, April 10, 2000, http://www.artregister.com/seavest.html

"Since the middle of the twentieth century, American abstract expressionism has been celebrated as the art form of the Western world. Some critics have considered such works as the pinnacle of artistic production, calling it "the end of art." While abstract expressionism has been labeled a uniquely American form, some have re-interpreted it as the culmination of intense European influence over American artists. On the other side of the debate, realism has been called the American artform. Benjamin West, Eakins, and the Ash Can School are seen as the real fathers of American art. In the 1970's, realism re-emerged in America, but in a manner that paid homage to abstraction. "
- from the American Abstraction / American Realism: the Great Debate Exhibit at The Susquehanna Art Museum' http://www.sqart.org/exhibits.html

Even a part of an object has value. A whole new realism resides in the way one envisages an object or one of its parts. (Fernand Leger)

Some people are still unaware that reality contains unparalleled beauties. The fantastic and unexpected, the ever-changing and renewing is nowhere so exemplified as in real life itself. (Berenice Abbott)

What I want to show in my work is the idea which hides itself behind so-called reality. I am seeking for the bridge which leans from the visible to the invisible through reality. It may sound paradoxical, but it is in fact reality which forms the mystery of our existence. (Max Beckmann)

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. (Philip K. Dick)

The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity. (Alberto Giacometti)

A painting is a proposal about what is real. (Harriet Shorr)

-previous six quotes are from Robert Glen's Painter's Keys

May 3, 2007
Today is First Thursday in San Francisco and a lot of the downtown galleries are open late. My favorite pick for this month is the artist talk at Hackett-Freedman. Guy Diehl and Marc Trujillo will be talking about their new work. What a great pairing - both careful, controlled painters, one looking at private space, one at public space - I can't wait to see it.

** I've obviously been ignoring this page, since I started my blog, so why don't you head on over there? I'll leave this page up as an archive, but I won't be updating it any more.**

October, 2005
From ARTnews Online, by Deidre Stein Greben: The first retrospective in 30 years devoted to Andrew Wyeth is a sign of increasing interest in the artist on the part of critics and curators. And it may help answer a perennial question: how good a painter is he? While one critic has dubbed Andrew Wyeth “the greatest living kitschmeister,” others compare him with such 20th-century masters as Edward Hopper or the Abstract Expressionists. Some think he is a hopelessly sentimental painter of rural scenes and people, while others admire the “artfulness” with which he manipulates his seemingly familiar subjects. One critic says that Wyeth avoids reality, while another asserts that he deals with the most profound themes... more here.

June 30, 2005
Guy Diehl kindly sent me a copy of Lawrence Weschler's recent article about David Hockney. It appeared in the June issue of Harper's magazine, and was titled "Vanishing Point, David Hockney's Long and Winding Road." He covered the whole projection controversy, of course. But Hockney has moved on. Most people missed his point anyway, which is that "pictures influence pictures." Or, seeing images with a particular perspective influences the viewer's perception of future images. Anyway, he's back to painting and sketching from life. More HERE.

May 2005
Why paint realism in a world of Photography? San Francisco painters Anna Conti and Pam Heyda visit SFMOMA to see an exhibit of Marilyn Minter's photos and photorealist paintings. Their thoughts about it are here. Then Aaron M. Brown, a professor of painting at Emporia State University in Kansas, weighs in on the argument - he says it's about time.

March 25, 2005
From the "Painter's Keys" by Robert Genn:
"Retro work, on the other hand, is about dedicated private individuals developing time-honoured and often difficult skills. With craft these folks go after an elusive idea known as "quality." Retro challenges the very hubs of human sensitivity and capability. The processes and techniques of retro give unprecedented joys of accomplishment and personal satisfaction. Surprisingly, retro is not so much concerned with fashion. But the result can be fine-tuned individuality and style. Retro, when excellent, is widely admired and naturally collected. But like a lot of noble activities there's not much to talk about, so it's often overlooked by the media."

February 28, 2005
From the New York Post, about Jane Lund: -
It is hard to believe that "Jane Lund: My Work," is the first retrospective ever consecrated to this gifted 65-year-old Queens native. These 20-odd paintings, some requiring 18 months to complete, exhibit a realism rivaling that of Hans Holbein the Younger. Lund works in three modes: portraits (mostly of herself) that are merciless in what they expose; richly realized still lifes of pots and pans that seem transfigured by some internal light; and auto mythologies, more relaxed in texture, in which the artist herself appears in various garb. These works, produced over a period of 35 years, make it imperative that we start giving this artist her due.
Through March 5 at the Forum Gallery, 745 Fifth Ave. at 57th Street; (212) 355-4545.

and about Janet Fish: -
Like Lund, the far-better-known Janet Fish was devoted to realist painting long before it was fashionable, and like her, she has an affinity for still lifes. But even though her paint is more obviously textured than that of Lund (who almost wants to abolish any sense of surface), Fish's textures are ultimately less satisfying than Lund's. Furthermore, her plates and colanders, her flowers and nut bowls, have a frantic fullness to them that is quite different from the monumental simplicity of what Lund has accomplished. Fish is way too eager to please the viewer, and the result, though charming at first, quickly becomes cloying.
Through March 5 at the D.C. Moore Gallery, 724 Fifth Ave. at 57th Street; (212) 247-2111.

February 18, 2005
The Boca Raton Museum of Art is exhibiting "Andrew Wyeth: American Master" through April 17. Art Blogger Franklin Einspruch wrote an excellent review of the show:
"Essayists have spilled copious puddles of ink regarding Andrew Wyeth's relationship, or lack thereof, to art history. But bottom line -- he is his own man. Now an octogenarian and as committed to his métier as ever, he continues to work prolifically at a high level of skill and artistic resonance. ... For one, this show has some historical importance insofar as it may now be impossible to have a career like Wyeth's in the contemporary art world. These days it's difficult to imagine that an artist might receive acclaim for documenting his rural surroundings and fellow denizens, however inspired his treatment of them." (Rest of the Story HERE)

February 11, 2005
There are three Robert Bechtle shows opening in San Francisco this month, and since he's had some influence on my work, I thought I'd write a few more words than I usually do. The SFMOMA retrospective, the first full-scale survey of Bechtle's work, covers his career from the 1960s to his most recent work, with 91 paintings and works on paper. A couple of San Francisco galleries also opened Bechtle shows, and I saw them last week. Gallery Paule Anglim has a new exhibition of Bechtle's charcoal drawings, and Crown Point Press is showing a large group of etchings, color lithos, wood cuts and gravure/aquatint prints. Both shows are terrific.
(Rest of the story HERE)

January 28, 2005
"American Photorealism," by John Zeaman of the North Jersey Media Group :
"Photorealism occupies a funny place in the annals of contemporary American art. When it first burst on the scene in the late '60s, the public immediately loved it. Here, after all that weighty abstract art, was something that was fun to look at. Not since the Flemish masters first unveiled their meticulous depictions was there so much head-scratching over detail. How did they do it? And hardly a brushstroke in sight...
Meanwhile, the critics hated it. The whole thing looked like retrograde pandering. It violated the modernist decree that paintings could not be illusionistic copies of the real world. They should be flat, reductionistic and devoid of anecdote.

But wait, said the artists. We're not copying the real world. We're doing something conceptual. We're making an image of an image. And what could be flatter than a photograph? We can't help it if people like looking at all that stuff.

Hmm, said the critics, who were still skeptical, but had to concede that these theories were ... intriguing. And why shouldn't art be a little fun?

So photorealism passed muster. And today, no self-respecting museum of contemporary art can be without a work by Richard Estes or Chuck Close or Robert Bechtle."

November 30, 2004
"Committed abstractionists are finding themselves irresistibly drawn to the figure," by Deidre Stein Greben at ARTnews Online :
"In today’s anything-goes atmosphere, switching camps—from abstraction to representation or vice versa—is not considered exceptionally radical, or even brave, but it still gives us pause...
Philip Guston began by working in his rough, cartoonish style in the evenings, while continuing in his abstract mode by day, according to art historian Martin Hentschel. ...
Less known is that Dan Flavin, who never actually abandoned abstraction, indulged a passion for the Hudson River School, painting and drawing landscapes and sailing pictures while making his neon sculptures. ...
Why painters decide to change course often has as much to do with their reactions to prevailing modes of expression as with their personal circumstances. ...
Whatever the impetus, the transition, according to many of these artists, is often as surprising to them as it is to their audiences. ...
Today, deciding to paint figuratively or abstractly, artists and curators agree, is no longer considered a problem. 'My own sense is that it is now a false distinction,' says Robert Rosenblum, a professor at New York University and a curator at the Guggenheim. Rosenblum singles out Gerhard Richter, an artist who has oscillated between realism and abstraction since the mid-1980s, as having made that abundantly clear. 'The issue is why paint at all versus whether what you paint is representational or not,' adds Ferguson. 'If you are going to paint, paint what you want.' "

September 14, 2004
Essay by Lenny at DC Art News, about art critics who use John Currin and Lisa Yuskavage as examples of contemporary realism: "I don't like Currin's work either - but his sappy, vulgar work is not to be generalized to cover all of contemporary realism"

August 9, 2004
Kenneth Baker on Gottfried Helnwein: "Helnwein found that realism was one of the most rebellious directions he could take as an artist in the early '70s. "Vienna was always into expressionism," he said. "Schiele was still a big influence there and, of course, Arnulf Rainer and Actionism."

"The vehemence and range of people's responses to Helnwein's work surprises him partly because "although I'm using the media of painting and photography mainly, the way I approach themes and techniques is that of a conceptual artist."

The Child: Works by Gottfried Helnwein. Paintings and works on paper. Through Nov. 28. at the Palace of the Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park, San Francisco.

July 17, 2004
Paula Rego talks about her work in "Secret histories" by Maya Jaggi
Rego rejects received hierarchies that scorn illustration, since "pictures have always been about stories, like Christian mythology", and admires English social satirists from Hogarth to Posy Simmonds. Besides, as she wrote in 1985: "My paintings tell stories; they do not illustrate stories... they are not narratives... everything happens in the present."

July 17, 2004
ArtNet Magazine article,"Old School" - Ana Finel Honigman's interview with realist painter David Nicholson

AFH: "Seeing David Nicholson’s oil paintings in reproduction is like reading the Cliff Notes version of Shakespeare -- the themes are lurid enough to be entertaining, but without the extraordinary language the bawdiness and blood can be mistaken for pulp. "

DN: " I don't think the power of art has changed at all, but I think our ability to recognize and slowly contemplate art's value has diminished. The aura is still there and I am often struck by how powerfully people are moved by different kinds of art. But part of art’s power is that ultimately looking at a painting is as isolated and private an experience as reading a book."
- - -

Thanks to Franklin at Artblog.net for the link to this story about Stephen Bauman and Steve Forster, two young art students going to Florence to study life drawing:

SF: "The school is what I would call a boot camp for realist painters. You're working from life or a model 40 or so hours a week, and because you're in Florence -- Michelangelo's David, the Uffizi, there's a lot of opportunity to study from master works."

SB: Professional artists are always talking about what it is to be a painter. To bring it all down to one central thing, I guess, it's a work ethic. It's not like your wildly flung soul is forcing you to create. No. You get up in the morning, you get some breakfast, you get to work.

July 10, 2004
From the SFgate: San Francisco photorealist, David Holmes, gave up painting for almost 20 years. "At first it was slow going, trying to get back into the rhythm of paint and find my personal style,'' Holmes writes, "but I quickly picked up where I'd left off nearly 20 years before. I love the look of San Francisco. Everywhere you turn your head is a beautiful snapshot."

Some contemporary
S.F. Area
Realist painters:

John Arbuckle
his web site

Chester Arnold
at the Linda Hodges Gallery

Robert Bechtle
Bechtle fan page here at BigCrow
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa510.htm
at the Hunter Museum

Lenore Chin
her web site

Anna L. Conti -
her web site

Guy Diehl -
his own website
at the Hackett Freedman Gallery

Dale Erickson -
his web site

Diane Rollins Feissel
her web site

James Gleeson
his web site

Stanley Goldstein
his web site

Judi Gorski
her web site

David Hardy
his web site

Anthony Holdsworth
his web site

David Holmes
his web site

Timothy Horn
his web site

Eric Joyner
his web site

Chung Ae Kim
at Fourth Street Studio

Brian Grant Paterson
his web site

Mary Proenza
her web site

Ocean Quigley
his web site

Bern Rauch
his web site

Randall C. Sexton
at The Plein Air Scene

Stevan Shapona
Interview here on BigCrow

David Steinhardt
his web site

Shannon Stevenson
personal web site

John Paul Turnage
his web site

Do you know any
active San Francisco
realist painters?
Send me their link!

Some Realist
Art Links:

ArtCyclopedia definition of Contemporary Realism
with links to many artists and their work

Monograph of painter Don Eddy, by Virginia Anne Boitano - complete internet publication!

Galleries Specializing in Contemporary Realism

Edith Caldwell Gallery - Sausalito, CA

Forum Gallery - LA and NY

Gandy Gallery - McDonough, GA

Hackett-Freedman - San Francisco

Hespe Gallery - San Francisco

John Pence Gallery - San Francisco

Jenkins Johnson - San Francisco

Koplin Del Rio - West Hollywood, CA

Louis K. Meisel - New York

Modernism - San Francisco

Sherry French Gallery - New York

Thomas Reynolds - San Francisco

William Lester Gallery - Pt. Reyes Station, CA

Collections

The Seavest Collection of Contemporary American Realism

Currier Gallery - American Realism of the Twentieth Century

Oglethorpe University Museum - Spirit and Flesh