The beautiful and life affirming art of the late 19th century has been
despised for 100 years as sentimental and superfluous and hidden in museum
basements. Young artists desiring to pursue representational art are discouraged
and either submit to modern styles, go into a commercial art field, restrict
their creative endeavors to hobby, or abandon art entirely. Meanwhile,
twentieth century "art" has moved beyond painting and sculpture
to junk assemblage, manipulated re-creations and alterations of utilitarian
objects, performance art, video experiments, etc. Much of it is creative,
but is it art? perhaps. But it certainly does not take the place of a masterfully
created painting.
With the old world ateliers long gone, and art determined by the creator
or viewer or whoever decides to slap on the label, representational painting
has become overrun by the self-taught weekend hobbyist, retiree, or grade
school child. And each of them is hungering for instruction in a lost art.
Which brings us back to Mr. R.H. Ives Gammell, student of William M.
Paxton, student of Jean Leon Gerome. Gammell decided with the onslaught
of modernism to preserve the art of painting by teaching others the age
old craft. He taught as a master out of his own studio an intense and well
rounded program of picture making based upon both the academic study of
form and impressionist study of light and color. His students and their
students now run their own ateliers around this country and in Italy.
One student of Gammell's, Richard Lack, has stated, "There will
always be young people who will have the burning desire to express their
feelings about the visible world, their fantasies, their emotions, and
their love of color and form, in the language of paint." and "There
will be more and more talk about the end of painting in our era; but if
this tragic occurrence does take place, it will be because the potential
Michelangelo and budding Rembrandt of tomorrow were denied their birthright."
And again he has said, "If painting is to survive, the young student
must be given the best available training while there are still people
qualified to train him." For indeed the basic knowledge of how painters
of the past worked and with what tools is already becoming lost to us."
As we prepare to enter a new millennium, the saying "you can't
paint that way in the twentieth century" is losing its hold. People
everywhere are disgusted with the direction of art on a national level,
sickened by the use of tax money for perversions supported by the National
Endowment for the Arts, and concerned with the societal byproducts of a
century of rebelliousness. Academic painters are being rediscovered, admired,
rehung in museums, featured in shows, and collected in posters, prints,
and greeting cards. And slowly, very slowly, those who have withstood a
lifetime of criticism and rejection to preserve the art of painting are
finding acceptance and a new respect.
So what's this new movement all about? Some are calling it Contemporary
Traditionalism or Classical Realism. Groups around the country and on the
internet are talking about it and promoting it: a return to academic training
and methods of painting. And more than that, it is a return to naturalism
and life affirming values. The students of Gammell were publishing a magazine
to discuss the painters of the past and their great heritage. It was known
as the Classical Realism Journal, a biannual publication of the American
Society of Classical Realism. Both "are dedicated to the belief
that only creativity grounded in discipline and years of intensive training,
built on a rigorous and comprehensive knowledge of the past, can produce
genius and the masterpieces of tomorrow. Are rooted to the conviction that
fine art is, first and foremost, about life: and most specifically about
the dignity, beauty, comedy, tragedy, romance, fantasy, pride, and nobility
of the human spirit; and all those precious and powerful emotions that
form and define the human experience. And believe that the core of great
art is the emotional thrust, but that art only achieves greatness when
the elements of the craft -- drawing, composition, modeling, perspective,
design and color -- are brought together to support, enhance and intensify
that emotion."
In New York, writer Alexandra York has created an organization to identify
such work and bring it to the public. The mission of American
Renaissance for the Twenty-First Century is "To promote and
advance established Western art forms: representationalism in painting
and sculpture; melody and harmony in music; grace in dance; structure,
coherence and meaning in drama, poetry and literature and the expression
of beauty in all."
The Art Renewal Center
has also been developed as the web's largest online gallery and promoter
of objective standards in art. A promoter of classical realism and its
proponents among contemporary artists and groups, the site features essays,
demonstrations, and a gallery of fine art.
The pendulum is swinging back again, and artists who have desired to
pursue realism are now being challenged to make their art relevant and
fresh while returning to methods and styles of the past. We are challenged
to create artwork depicting the classical universality of beauty and reason
that passionately expresses the ideals of moral virtue.
If you are an artist, young or old, who would like training in representational
oil painting, contact the schools listed HERE
to find out about curriculum and tuition. If you would like to know more
about the history and heritage of oil painting, and to support organizations
that promote it, please contact the groups listed.
Last of all, it should be noted that our culture has become an ecclectic
one. Surely with advancements in technology and communication, "the
global village" is affecting art as well. The return to Classical
Realism is not an attempt to dominate the politics of art and prevent other
forms of creative expression. Rather, it is a desire to revive and preserve
the art of painting for future generations, so that the "potential
Michelangelo and budding Rembrandt of tomorrow" will have the
tools to express their unique and positive vision for mankind.
In conclusion, it should be noted that much about traditional drawing
and painting was preserved through the 20th century in America through
the field of commercial illustration. As a result, galleries which are
now interested in representing realist painters often prefer those who
come from an illustration background and who have learned anatomy, perspective,
foreshortening, design, composition, color and value patterning. Galleries
also comment on the discipline that commercial illustrators have learned
in dealing with clients and meeting deadlines.
Many schools have taught illustrators, but two have produced more famous
names than any others: the Art Students League in New York and the Art
Center School of design in Los Angeles. A third program seems to be affecting
the art world as well: The American Academy in Chicago.
For the student wanting to attend a traditional college or university
to receive a broader liberal arts degree, these institutions are worth
looking into.