A common compliment given to artists is that their paintings look like photographs. Many artists, myself included, find this offensive in some way. Should a painting exist if its function is simply to reproduce in the most realistic way the effects of a camera lens?

Realism and realist art has long suffered from criticisms that it is outdated and inefficient in comparison to photos. Traditionalist realist art has suffered under the tight grip of modern art for the past century, and while this has broadened art in unforeseeable directions, the traditions and practices of the past have almost been lost.

What separates a photo from a realistic painting?


Jacon Collins : Candace Profile 2004

Realism can be separated into many movements and styles
Below is a list of some fields of realism which will be discussed in my study
• Realism (arts), the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life
• Realism (visual arts), a style of painting that depicts what the eye can see
• Classical Realism, an artistic movement in late 20th Century that valued beauty and artistic skill
• Hyperrealism (painting), a genre of painting that resembles high resolution photography
• Photorealism, a genre of painting that resembles photography
• Social realism, an artistic movement which depicts working class activities



In his criticism of abstraction Fred Ross writes “ As ARC Founder Brian Yoder has put it elsewhere, art fictionalizes reality. The artist takes elements of reality and rearranges them in such a way that he makes perceivable an idea, a concept, an impression of the world. In other words, it is the artist, a human being, who is doing the selecting - not nature and not chance.”

The nature of reality and its representation is a broad topic with many conflicting answers. During the following months I wish to discuss some of these facets of realism using figure painting as the vehicle with which to analyze.