Contemporary Realism
By: Neal McLaughlin

America, with all of her charm and beauty is a continuously evolving country. Time does not stand still for these United States. We are constantly seeking and applying new and modern ways to express what lies deep within our hearts and souls.

Whether it be through the invention of modern machinery, the publishing of new ideas or through the form of art, the message is loud and clear: America is forever expanding her horizons.

During the early and mid 1960's, as America was experiencing military, political and social change, the art community, was itself, undergoing a metamorphism. Starting in 1965, just as the abstract expressionism movement was dwindling in popularity, the art community sought to challenge and hopefully to displace the newer Modernism movement that was currently the trend in paintings, sculptures and other forms of media.

To do so, many of the practicing abstract artists revived the older Greek movement of Classical Realism. By applying an up-to-date twist on this classic Greek movement, artist like Peter Hunt (1908-1984) and Andrew Wyeth (1917-) helped to establish what has become known as Contemporary Realism.

Even though this movement was established in America many years after the original Greek movement the artist were still to be bound by the concepts and high traditions set forth in the Classical Realism.

This would not be a problem for these artists as many had gained their initial art education through institutions that taught the principles of art through line drawing techniques, balance, harmony, composition and color.

With these traditional concepts and principles as the foundation of the revised movement, painters Neil Welliver (1929-), Mary Pratt (1935-) and painter/sculptor Eric Fischl (1948-) helped to re-define the Realism movement.

Although the artisans of the Contemporary Realism movement were free to portray their subject matter as seen though their individual eyes, they were required to maintain the high standards of the Classical Realism. It is important that each subject, regardless of medium, must be represented in a way so that it is immediately recognizable by anyone who viewed the work.

The Realist, found that they could express their true emotions in loose and interpretive portrayals or in a very precise and accurate, almost photographic depiction. Regardless of their chosen technique, the common thread of bond was that each of these creators sought to adhere to ideology established many years before. In summation, they are intending to portray our ordinary, present-day lives with special attention to representing individual and regional eccentricities with a twist for the New World.

After 50 years of being practiced in the wings of the artistic community, Contemporary Realism is making a reappearance. The artists of today see this as a way to express our complex world and challenging Americans to look at how our world is being shaped in addition to the beauty that it beholds.