2. New Realism
• New Realism is also known as Super-Realism, Photo-
Realism, and Hyper-Realism.
• Artists used commercial art techniques such as the grid,
airbrush, photography, or anything that would help
produce a realistic image.
• It was based on the pop of the 50's & 60's and
astounded the viewer with incredible illusions of reality.
• Artists strive for a synthesis of reality.
• Often the look of the finished product is determined by
the source (photo or cast of an actual person).
• Artists return to the notion that there is a world worth
looking at and recording on canvas.
3. New Realism
• Photo-Realism evolved from two longstanding art-
historical traditions: trompe l'oeil ("to fool the eye")
painting and the meticulous technique and highly
finished surfaces of seventeenth-century Dutch painting.
• Painters such as Vermeer greatly influenced Estes with
their detailed observation of reality and their use of
technical devices, such as the camera obscura.
4.
5. Chuck Close
• Began as Abstract Expressionist
• Begins working with a system: a) grids
photo b) Grids canvas to scale c) Paints
each square with attention of individual
painting
• Process is as important as image
7. • Subject is self-portrait but
like I.D. photo
• Uses airbrush,
impersonal like silk-
screen in Pop
• Black & White
• Large scale - the subject
is both heroic & exploited
• Very objective rendering
of subject - translates
photo info into paint info
8. • Portraits in no way reflect
the inner qualities of the
subject
• From distance - giant
blow-ups of photo's
• Up close - Abstract fields
of dots & marks
• Info exposes every detail
including the unflattering -
pores, hairs, wrinkles,
blemishes
• Not idealized
9. John 1971-72
• Artist’s friend
• Reproduces limited
depth of field of the
photographic source
10.
11.
12. • Collapse of vein in
1988 leaves him in
near total paralysis
(legs, arms, even
hands)
• Now paints with brush
strapped to wrist in a
wheelchair
13. Roy II
Chuck Close
Photo- Realism
1994
• Part of a series of
fellow artists – this
one depicts Roy
Lichtenstein
14.
15. • His new circumstances librated his
process.
• Having no fine motor skills forced a new
system involving concentric circles of
sumptuous colour, and expressive
handling of paint.
• Grids are much larger, so the resolving
distance increases
16.
17. Richard Estes
• Master of the urban scene, he paints directly
from photo's and slides
• An Estes painting is a composite of several
photographic views of the same subject (often
up to 75 exposures combined in photomontage.)
• He is not concerned with recreating exact copies
of photographs, but rather in manipulating and
reconstructing them to create a view that
appears more truthful to the eye than reality.
• Scenes of New York City that focus on the built
environment rather than the natural one.
18. Richard Estes
• They are usually obscure locations rather than well-
known landmarks.
• Compositions are typically devoid of people and
therefore convey a sense of somber isolation without
narrative.
• Some content is derived from Pop (commercial signage),
but technique and style are more sophisticated.
• The image is built up in layers of acrylic paint. Estes then
overpaints the entire canvas in oil, to enhance luminosity
and rich saturation of color.
19. Central Savings, 1975
• The subjects reveal
the prominence of
commercialism in the
urban landscape.
• The camera makes
available a vast
amount of info, frozen
in time.
• The mood is non-
judgmental/neutral.
21. Central Savings, 1975
• Reflections on glass & chrome animate the scene.
• Colours, shadows, & every subtly of perspective is
painstakingly reproduced and enhanced.
22. Double Self-Portrait, 1976
• Demonstrates his
attention to detail, and
convincing depiction of
reflection.
• Reflections dissolve/fuse
the barrier between
background &
foreground.
• Multiple layers of visual
information, alert the
viewer to things they
have not noticed before.
24. Double Self-Portrait, 1976
• Reflection adds depth
• The location is out of context and the open composition is nearly
abstract because of the emphasis on rectilinear shapes.
25. Duane Hanson
• Work contains tension between artificial &
realistic qualities
• Based on direct cast of parts of human figures,
then reassembles them cast in polyester resin &
fiberglass, with real clothes, wigs, & objects.
• Uses cast in the way Estes uses photos
• Figures mix/ blend in to the environment
• Subjects are everyday people
• Satires, and criticizes social circumstances
28. • Virtual Reality
• Subject suggests physical
bloating & Intellectual
starvation
• Paradox - detached
viewers are subjects of
observation
• Social observation of
retired tourists in NY
• Bizarre quality - very real,
but don't move or breath
