Assignment on the Art Movement of Photorealism

The time and culture the movement existed

The history of art is a field with so many art movements, and each art movement had its own dynamics to make an impact on society. One such renowned art movement is Photorealism. It was the era of the 1960s, when this movement began in the United States. The other name or title given to this art movement is super-realism. The essence of this art movement was linked with photography, taking it to a new level of inspiration. The artists associated with this art movement were involved in making paintings, which came up with illusionistic images of a high level. However, before moving into the work style and patterns of this art movement, it is important to get more insights about its history. The artists of this movement came up with an idea to paint or draw an image, which already exists in the shape of a photo. So, their purpose was to make an attempt to recreating the photos with the help of a range of artistic mediums such as charcoal, painting, pastels, as well as, drawing. So, they were actually trying to come up with a creation, which is capturing the real essence of a photo, which is recreated on canvas. This art movement took its inspiration from the movements of Minimalism and Pop. They were influenced by the essence of the modern culture of pop, and they also wanted to show commercialism through the canvas (Wainwright)

The pillars of the movement

            Every art movement has certain principles and characteristics to follow, and these elements were the ones, which distinguished them from each other. So, it was important for the photorealism movement to define its certain principles and characteristics so that when movement is analyzed, it can be reviewed with its relevant beliefs and principles. Whitney Museum was one of the artists, who were involved with this art movement. He came up with the initiative to determine and define some principles for their art movement. So, he came up with five basic characteristics or principles. The first principle in this regard was using the camera so that a photo is taken, which later can be recreated. So, a photorealist used to gather the information with the help of the camera to get the image of a desired scene or object. The second major principle of photorealism is to use some kind of mechanical, as well as, semi-mechanical tools or resources so that information presented in the photo is painted on the canvas. The third principle of this art movement is related to the technical capacity and ability of photorealist to finish their work to make it as photographic as possible. The fourth principle of photorealism is for artists. Only those artists were considered photorealist, whom work of art was exhibited until the year 1972. One last principle of this art movement is that its artists to become real photorealist, they must have served the movement for a period of five years (Lebensztejn and Cooper)

            The other important thing to look for this art movement is its influential artists, who played a vital role in developing this art as a movement. There are so many names to discuss in this regard. The first influential name is Charles Bell. He was an American artist, who showed the art of photorealism in the era of the 1970s. His majority of work was relevant to childhood toys and gumball machines. The other renowned artist was Robert Cottingham. When it comes to art of photorealism to show the urban landscapes and beauty of America, his work was influential. His artwork was primarily focused on the essence of storefronts, movie marquees, neon signage, as well as, building facades. Richard Estes was another famous American artist, who was known for his photorealism. His work was focused on the streets of New York City, showing the aesthetics of urban culture. He also included car windows and storefronts’ surfaces in his artwork (Carbon, 2017). One of the other influential photorealists was Audrey Flack. When it comes to tracing back the pioneers of this particular art movement, the name of Audrey Flack shines amongst those artists. He was one of the pioneer painters of photorealism. His work for photorealism was amazing in its quality that New York’s Museum of Modern Art bought a variety of his work. The other significant thing to mention is that the Museum not only purchased his work, but they also included it in their permanent collection. She was master of recoloring, tracing, and projecting to recreate beautiful images on the canvas. One more leading and renowned member of this movement was Ralph Goings. His artwork was focused on the everyday life of American people. So, these were some of the famous names in this art movement (Gilman)

The impact of the movement on society

            The art movements have shown their contribution in making a variety of progress throughout history, and they continued to do so. The same is the case with photorealism movement. It made a great impact on developing the modern essence of society, where contemporary art was made more modern and attractive for the public. This art movement really helped pop culture to progress more and gain more recognition in the American public. The conceptual art was also positively impacted by the beauty of photorealism. One of the contemporary artists of this art movement is Ben Weiner, who is also an American artist. The drawings and paintings made in this art movement captured great attention of people, and created more buzz and love for the art work (Estes)

            A long-lasting effect was created by photo-realism with its great modern elements to make great progress for American society. When major art movements of the past are analyzed, it happens to be one of them has a great influence on pop culture and modern values of American society. It was time, when American life was getting more modern and it was progressing so quickly. The landscape of America was filled with strip malls, billboards, as well as, highways. So, this is how America was getting modernized with the pop culture. The art field also needed some modern elements to capture the attention of people. The art movement of photorealism did the job in this regard as the idea was so impressive and modern in nature. The real photos of American life looked more beautiful on the canvas. The still lives along with portraiture were two primary genres of this art movement. It is justified to say that many art movements were progressive in nature, and they made a viable impact on society, and when this list is compiled, and then one cannot keep Photorealism out of this list because it came up with so many elements, which were not observed or experienced with other past art movements (Schwendener)

Works Cited of The Art Movement of Photorealism

Carbon, Claus-Christian . "Art Perception in the Museum: How We Spend Time and Space in Art Exhibitions." i-Perception 8.1 (2017).

Estes, Richard . Photorealism and Its Impact on Contemporary Art. 2018. 23 April 2020 <https://www.invaluable.com/blog/photorealism/>.

Gilman, Bridget Elizabeth . "Re-envisioning Everyday Spaces: Photorealism in the San Francisco Bay Area." PhD Thesis. The University of Michigan, 2013.

Lebensztejn, Jean-Claude and Kate Cooper. "Photorealism, Kitsch and Venturi." American Objects 10.2 (1981): 75-104.

Schwendener, Martha . Photorealism’s Lasting Influence. 2014. 23 April 2020 <https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/nyregion/photorealisms-lasting-influence.html>.

Wainwright, Lisa S. . Photo-realism. 2019. 23 April 2020 <https://www.britannica.com/art/Photo-realism>.