JANUARY 24 - APRIL 21, 2013
RESOURCE GUIDE
The exhibition is produced by International Arts.®
Hubert DeLartigue (French, b.1963). OMG!, 2009.
Acrylic on canvas, 38 in. diameter (96.5 cm).
Courtesy of Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery © Courtesy International Arts®
OKLAHOMA CITY MUSEUM OF ART
415 Couch Drive | Oklahoma City, OK 73102 | (405) 236-3100 | okcmoa.com
JANUARY 24 - APRIL 21, 2013
Photorealism—the first modern
movement to assert reliance on
photography as a crucial part of
the artistic process—has been an
influential force on the art scene
since the late 1960s. Though the
original Photorealists were initially
denounced for using photography,
their work eventually gained
recognition, becoming part of a
resurgent interest in both painting
and realism that flourished in the
1970s and has continued into the
post-millennium years. Photorealism
Revisited explores the historical
roots of this quintessentially
American style and its evolution on
the international stage.
EXHIBITION DETAILS
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Organized by International Arts ®
63 works, including paintings and prints
35 artists
Works created between 1970 and 2012
BEFORE VIEWING
• Review realism in the visual arts
• How does photorealism compare and contrast to previous
tendencies towards realism in the visual arts?
• Define and discuss illusionism in the visual arts
Robert Bechtle (American, b.1932) '68 Cadillac, 1970
Oil on canvas, 22 x 24 in.
Private Collection, Louis K. Meisel Gallery,
New York. © Courtesy International Arts®
Considered one of the first Photorealist
painters, Robert Bechtle combined
familiar American icons with his
own personal style, resulting in the
poetic sensibility seen in ’68 Cadillac.
Bechtle’s use of a subdued color
palette was inspired by the soft light
of California’s Bay Area and highlights
an American car parked outside of a
California stucco building. For Bechtle,
automobiles represented a friendly,
commonplace element of middle-class
American life.
RESOURCE GUIDE
1
Audrey Flack (American, b.1931)
Marilyn: Golden Girl 1978, 1978
Oil and acrylic on canvas, 48 x 62 in.
Private Collection, Louis K. Meisel Gallery,
New York. © Courtesy International Arts®
The only female artist associated with
Photorealism in the mid 1960s, Audrey
Flack began her career in the world
of abstract expressionism and later
decided to abandon abstraction for
realism. Flack is known for her stilllife paintings containing emotional,
social, and political themes. Many
of Flack’s photographs originated
from documentary news and often
contained public figures. In Marilyn:
Golden Girl 1978, Flack chose Marilyn
Monroe as her subject and combined
identifiable symbols of her life to
create a still-life painting of her fleeting
beauty. Executed with an airbrush,
Flack introduces bright colors while
emphasizing detail in some parts of the
canvas whereas other areas appear less
refined.
BEFORE VIEWING
REVIEW THE FOLLOWING VOCABULARY
• Objective (or Representational) art
• Non-objective (or Non-Representational) art
• Abstract Expressionism
• Pop Art
DEFINE Photorealism
Characterized by the extraordinary detail and precision with which
subjects were depectied, Photorealism (also known as super-realism
and sometimes hyper-realism, which is largely considered a movement
based on high-resolution photography), was a style of painting (and
sometimes sculpture), which emerged principally in the USA in the late
1960s.
RESOURCE GUIDE
2
The term “Photorealism” was
coined by gallery owner Louis
K. Meisel in 1968 to describe a
group of American artists who
began favoring a new type of
photographic realism in the 1960s.
This aesthetic came about after the
height of non-objective and abstract
expressionist art of the mid-20th
century and the consumer-based
imagery associated with Pop art.
Enticed by the creative possibilities
of photography, Photorealists used
one or more photographs – taken
from a variety of sources – as
inspiration for their paintings.
BEFORE VIEWING
DEFINE CAMERA OBSCURA
Meisel’s definition of Photorealism
included not only the necessity of
a camera to capture the image or
scene, but also identified that the
image from the photo must be
transferred to the work surface
via mechanical or semi-mechanical
means (i.e., through the use of a
projector, grid method, or transfer
paper), a technique that had been
used by artists for centuries. After
the photo is transferred to the work
surface, the artist then meticulously
proceeds to recreate in pigment
the details of the photograph.
The evolution of technology has
brought forth photorealistic works
that exceed what was thought
possible with paintings. With
the ever-changing technology of
cameras and digital equipment,
artists are now able to be far
more precision-oriented in their
processes.
RESEARCH Mechanical and semi-mechanical image transfers
(i.e. Grid method, projection)
WHILE VIEWING
Identify the mediums of objects in the exhibition
(in the visual arts, it’s okay to say “mediums” instead of the
standard plural “media”)
Identify a work that is made with
• Watercolor
• Acrylic
• Oil
• CROMAX
• Canvas
• Linen
• Aluminum
Peter Maier (American, b.1945)
Chick, 2012
DuPont Cromax-AT on fabricated
black aluminum panel,
60 x 80 in.
Eileen S. Kaminsky. © Courtesy
International Arts®
Having worked at General Motors
for 15 years, artist Peter Maier uses
specialized materials – industrial
automotive paint and aluminum panel –
to create the extremely smooth surface
of his painting, Chick. Maier applied
experimental waterborne CROMAXWBC automotive paint formulated
exclusively for him by DuPont. He
has developed a unique technique
and layering process that combines
industrial paint technology with
traditional brushwork.
RESOURCE GUIDE
3
Many of the works in the exhibition
depict representations of everyday
environments. Subject matter
includes elements of urban and
suburban landscapes, including
trucks, motorcycles, cars, and
roadside eateries. Other themes
include portraiture and still-life
paintings inspired by popular
culture. This diverse imagery
highlights the versatility of the
Photorealist style and its continued
presence in contemporary art.
WHILE VIEWING
Painterly practice
Note the evidence or lack of evidence of brushstroke. Describe
the differences in painterly and formal qualities between the
paintings in the exhibition.
AFTER VIEWING
Three Dimensional relations
The term photorealism has been used to describe Sculpture, as
well as paintings. Identify and research three-dimensional works
that are considered to be photorealistic.
Ralph Goings (American, b.1928)
Two Leaning, 2010
Oil on canvas, 6 x 6 in.
Courtesy of O.K. Harris Works of
Art, New York, NY. © Courtesy International Arts®
Early in his career in the 1960s,
Ralph Goings relied on photographs
from magazines as subject matter
much like the Pop artists who drew
inspiration from the mass media.
Goings eventually began to take
photographs himself and to paint
scenes of everyday life in California.
Subject matter included pickup trucks,
diners, supermarkets, and fast food
restaurants. In the 1980s, inspired by
his paintings of diner interiors, Goings
began creating still-life compositions
of generic objects such as donuts and
coffee. Goings’s artistic process begins
by choosing an image he prefers,
creating a detailed pencil drawing, and
then enlarging the image as reference.
Goings stated, “what intrigued me was
that I found this visual interest in such
mundane, everyday things – things
we normally dismiss and don’t even
consider as visual experiences.”
RESOURCE GUIDE
4
Charles Bell (American, 1935-1995)
Kandy Kane Rainbow, 1994
Oil on canvas, 40 x 60 in.
Private Collection, Louis K. Meisel
Gallery, New York. © Courtesy
International Arts®
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Charles
Bell created large-scale Photorealist
still-life paintings in his New York loft
studio on West Broadway. Bell often
painted vintage toys, pinball machines,
gumball machines, dolls, and action
figures, capturing the pictorial majesty
and wonder of these small objects
on a grand scale. Bell became known
for his toy paintings, particularly the
Marble Series, which originated in the
1980s. The artist utilized photography
and computers to create images from
which to paint. These modern tools
helped him achieve a glass-like surface
of the marbles with color, texture,
transparency, translucency, and focus.
SUGGESTED READING
Consey, Kevin E., Naumer, Helmuth
J. Real, Really Real, Super Real.
Austin: University of Texas in
association with The San Antonio
Museum Association, 1981.
Bishop, Janet, et al. Robert Bechtle:
a retrospective. London: Butler and
Tanner, 2005.
Kuspit, Donald. Don Eddy: The Art
of Paradox. New York: Hudson Hill
Press, 2002.
BEFORE VIEWING
• Discuss the characteristics of and differences between
painting a setting and a photograph of the same setting.
WHILE VIEWING
• Compare and contrast the depth of focus and sharpness
amongst the paintings in the exhibtion.
AFTER VIEWING
• Research how advances in photographic technology could
have affected the paintings in the exhibition.
Meisel, Louis K. Photorealism. New
York: Harry N. Abrams, 1980.
Meisel, Louis K. Photorealism since
1980. New York: Harry N. Abrams,
1993.
Meisel, Louis K. Photorealism at
the Millenium. New York: Harry N.
Abrams, 2002.
RESOURCE GUIDE
5
LESSON PLAN
Complete-the-Image
Colored Pencil Drawings
THIS LESSON...
• is appropriate for grades K - 12.
• will take approximately two 45-minute sessions.
• introduces the process of working from a
photograph, as well as shading, highlighting,
value, and detail.
MATERIALS
• Drawing paper
(cut to same size as color
photograph)
• Color prints of subject
(photographs, magazine
images, or images printed
from internet)
• Pencils
• Erasers
• Colored pencils
(Prismacolor pencils are
especially helpful for blending
and shading)
• Scissors
• Glue sticks
RESOURCE GUIDE
6
The definition of Photorealism requires an artist to use a camera and
photograph to gather the information for his or her painting. In this
lesson, students will fill in the blanks of a photograph in an attempt to
make their image resemble the original.
First, begin with a photographed image. For younger students, images
of food and toys would not only be fun but also simple and similar to
images used by some of the artists featured in Photorealism Revisited. The
younger the student, the less detailed the original image should be. Older
students may also want to try other themes included in the exhibition
such as store fronts, street scenes, the human figure, and automobiles.
Students may choose to bring in magazine images or photographs. Or, the
instructor may choose to search for images online that are appropriate
in subject matter, size, and amount of detail. Each student will need one
color image.
Once the image has been chosen, use a pencil to draw several lines on
the image. The lines may be organic or straight. Students should be
drawing lines around areas of the photograph that they will be interested
in drawing. Then, carefully cut along those lines, saving all pieces of the
photograph. In the example, three lines were drawn, resulting in four
pieces of paper when cut. Carefully glue one or more of the pieces to the
drawing paper. In the example, the largest piece was glued down so that
edges could be lined up. Be sure the placement of the photograph is exact
so that all lines will match up in the final drawing.
Next, complete the image by connecting lines. First, use a pencil to sketch
the image. Fill in the colors with colored pencils. Use the cut pieces of
photograph as reference. Pay special attention to shadows and highlights.
Pressing harder with a colored pencil will make the color appear darker.
Also, be sure to leave white space when needed. Discuss methods of
changing values of certain colors such as adding white to make a lighter
value or adding black or indigo to make a darker shade. The more detail
that is added, the more realistic the image will appear.