Classical Realism
Classical Realism is a twentieth-century revival of the studio-based training and naturalistic aims of the European academies, pursued against the dominance of modernist abstraction. Its modern form grew from ateliers revived in the United States from mid-century: students progress from drawing plaster casts to painting the figure, studying anatomy, proportion and sight-size measurement so that observation and craft - not personal style - govern the image. The label was popularized by the Minneapolis painter Richard Lack, who founded Atelier Lack there, drawing on the artistic anatomy teaching of Robert Beverly Hale at the Art Students League of New York. Later schools, from Jacob Collins's Grand Central Atelier onward, carried the revival into a new generation of figurative painters.
Defining characteristics
- Atelier training: cast drawing, sight-size measurement, artistic anatomy
- Naturalistic representation with controlled, largely invisible brushwork
- Emphasis on proportion, value and edge over coloristic display
- Traditional subjects: portrait, figure, still life, landscape
- Revival of academic craft standards rather than avant-garde novelty
Key figures
- Richard Lack (1929-2009) — Minneapolis painter who named and taught Classical Realism through Atelier Lack
- Robert Beverly Hale (1901-1985) — Artistic anatomy teacher at the Art Students League whose teaching shaped the revival
- Nelson Shanks (1937-2015) — Portraitist who founded the atelier-style school Studio Incamminati
- Jacob Collins (b. 1964) — Painter who founded the Grand Central Atelier in New York
Sources
- Classical Realism - Wikipedia encyclopedia