Photorealism

Photorealism or super-realism is a genre of art that that began in the late 1960s and early 1970s, encompassing painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium.

Learning Objective

Evaluate Superrealism within its contemporary art movements of the time.

Key Points

Pop art and photorealism were both reactionary movements stemming from the ever-increasing and overwhelming abundance of photographic media, which by the mid 20th century had grown into such a massive phenomenon that it was threatening to lessen the value of imagery in art.
Photorealism uses cameras and photographs, which are then transferred to canvas in paint with tight and precise compositions.
Superrealist painters chose highly difficult subject matter that emphasized the high level of technical prowess and virtuosity required to simulate, such as reflective surfaces or embellished environments.

Terms

abstract expressionism
An American genre of modern art that used improvised techniques to generate highly abstract forms.
Pop art
An art movement that emerged in the 1950s, that presented a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popular culture such as advertising, news, etc.

Full Text

Photorealism

Photorealism, also known as super-realism or hyper-realism, is a genre of art that makes use of photography in order to create a highly realistic art work in another medium. The term was first applied in America during the late 1960s and 1970s. Similar to Pop Art, Photorealism was also a reactionary movement that stemmed from the ever increasing and overwhelming abundance of photographic media, which by the mid 20^th century had grown into such a massive phenomenon that it was threatening to lessen the value of imagery in art. While pop artists were primarily pointing out the absurdity of the imagery that dominated mass culture—such as advertising, comic books, and mass-produced cultural objects—photorealists aimed to reclaim and exalt the value of the image.

Process

Photorealist painters gather imagery and visual information through the use of the photograph, which is then transferred onto the canvas either by projecting a slide of the image onto the canvas, or by the traditional technique of the grid. The resulting images are often direct copies of the photograph, though usually on an increased scale. Stylistically, this results in painted compositions that are tight and precise, often with an emphasis on imagery that requires a high level of technical prowess and virtuosity to simulate; for example, reflections in surfaces and embellished, man-made environments .

Ralph Goings, Ralph's Diner, 1981-82, oil on canvas.

This painting by Ralph Goings displays the artists technical prowess in the realistic depiction of many reflective, textured surfaces.

Richard Estes, Telephone Booths, 1968, oil on canvas

Richard Estes reproduces in a paint the complex image of a reflected urban environment on a telephone booth.

The first generation of American photorealists comprising the art historical movement included such painters as Richard Estes, Ralph Goings, Chuck Close, Charles Bell, Audrey Flack, Don Eddy, Robert Bechte, and Tom Blackwell.

Chuck Close, Mark (1978–1979), acrylic on canvas, left; detail of eye, right

Chuck Close is known for his intensely detailed paintings which are essentially indistinguishable from photographic images.

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