Photorealismus

Photorealismus is an art movement that began in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States. Artists associated with this movement aimed to reproduce artworks that appeared as close to a photograph as possible. This often involved meticulous detail and a precise rendering of reality.

Photorealist painters typically worked from photographs, projecting them onto their canvases and then painstakingly recreating the image with paint. They focused on everyday subjects like urban landscapes, portraits, cars, and still lifes, often depicting them with a detached, objective perspective. The emphasis was on the technical skill of the artist in achieving a photographic likeness, rather than on emotional expression or subjective interpretation.

Key figures in Photorealism include Chuck Close, Richard Estes, and Ralph Goings. Their works are characterized by sharp focus, smooth surfaces, and a deliberate avoidance of visible brushstrokes, which further enhances the illusion of a photographic reproduction. The movement gained traction as a reaction against Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism, offering a return to representational art but with a distinctly modern, mechanical influence. While distinct from earlier forms of realism, Photorealism embraced the mechanical reproduction of images, using photography as its primary source material and inspiration.