Photorealism

movement genre late 1960s-present United States Europe

Photorealism is painting built from photographs. Working from slides, artists project or grid the image onto the canvas and rebuild it with such precision that the finished surface reads as photographic - yet, unlike trompe-l'oeil, it never pretends to be the thing itself. The movement crystallized in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a cool answer to Abstract Expressionism and a cousin of Pop Art, and the dealer and critic Louis K. Meisel coined the name in 1969; it first appeared in print in the Whitney Museum's 1970 'Twenty-two Realists' catalogue. Its signature subjects are the least 'artistic' ones: diner facades, chrome bumpers, storefronts and gadgets, frozen mid-glance. First-generation painters Richard Estes, Chuck Close, Ralph Goings and Audrey Flack set the standard of technical prowess that a second generation, from John Baeder onward, then took international.

John's Diner with John's Chevelle , oil on canvas, 30×48 inches.
John's Diner with John's Chevelle , oil on canvas, 30×48 inches.CC BY-SA 3.0 (credit: John Baeder) · source

Defining characteristics

  • Direct use of the camera and photograph as the source image
  • Mechanical transfer to the canvas by projection or grid, then meticulous rendering
  • A slick, tight, brushstroke-free surface that reads as photographic
  • Emphasis on hard reflections - chrome, glass, neon - and other specular surfaces
  • Mundane modern subjects frozen mid-glance: diners, cars, storefronts, gadgets
  • Canvas enlarged well beyond the source photograph or slide

Key figures

  • Richard Estes (b. 1932) — Urban storefronts multiplied in glass and chrome, the movement's purest technician
  • Chuck Close (1940-2021) — Monumental grid-transferred photographic portraits
  • Ralph Goings (1928-2016) — Chrome-trimmed diners, pickup trucks and small-town America
  • Audrey Flack (1931-2024) — Glossy, saturated vanitas still lifes
  • John Baeder (b. 1938) — Second-generation painter of American roadside diners

Example works

  • John's Diner with John's Chevelle — John Baeder (2007)
  • Big Self-Portrait — Chuck Close (1967-68)
  • Dream of Love — Glennray Tutor (2005)

Sources

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