Gerhard Richter

Photo realism is, simply put, a genre of art where a painting is created by copying a photograph. Sound familiar? Photo realism is the school of art that gave respect to painting realistic pieces from a photograph. Yet there was also lots of criticism for it, even though this genre started in the 1960's, and artists had been using the help of photography for centuries.

The photo-realists of this time saw themselves as just as different from realists as they were from abstract expressionists. What photo realism was more closely linked with was pop-art. Does the image of Any Warhol's Monroe come to mind? Think about it, that piece was a comment on the over saturation of images and photos in the media. Photo-realism is another take on the many images we see in any given day.

Photo realism is not to be confused with Trompe-lœil, a french term meaning to trick the eye and genre of art where paintings appear to be part of the surroundings, or to be an actual photograph. In photo-realism the viewer is always aware the piece of art is a painting, there is no trick of the eyes creating three dimensions.

The photo-realist painting is different from other forms of realism, because photo-realism truly cannot exist without the photograph. The energy of the painting is always a moment captured in time, un-posed. The image is projected from the slide onto the canvas, resulting in an image much larger than the original photograph.

There were quite a few artists doing the original photo-realism thing in the 70's. Estes might be the name most commonly associated with the genre. He typically paints city-scapes , but much of his early work focuses not not he geometric shaped structures, but everyday city-dwellers going about their tasks. He is really known for perfecting mirror and glass in painting.

Chuck Close, another big name in the movement painted not people in motion or city buildings, but massive, meticulously detailed portraits of people. Close painted close friends, family members and other artists. He suffered a spinal artery collapse in 1988 which left him paralyzed, and is no longer able to paint in the same style, but his work is still much sought-after by galleries and museums the world-over.

Photo-realism isn't an art-scene anymore, and most of the old masters of this school of art have moved on to new realms. Yet this style still continues to be popular today, as artists continue in the same fashion

Inspired by photo-realism? Have a beloved photo of yours turned into a work of art (one of our strong suits) or get commission a painting inspired by your favorite photo realist. It will surely be a work to treasure!

Telephone Booths, Photograph by Richard Estes