Rod's Art: February 2021

Since the 1970s there has been a renewed interest in a return to realism in painting. The Art Renewal Center is the leading institution in providing resources for maintaining the realist tradition. The art academies below, from around world, provide a home and training ground for the next generation of artists.

Academy of Classical Design, North Carolina
Academy of Realist Art, Toronto
The Angel Academy of Art, Florence
Atelier Canova, Rome
Bridgeview School of Fine Art, New York
Charles H. Cecil Studios, Florence
Florence Academy of Art, Italy
Gage Academy of Art, Seattle
Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, Los Angeles
Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Connecticut
School of Representational Art, Chicago
Studio Escalier, Argenton-Chateau, France
Studio Incamminati, Philadelphia

A sample of successful realist artists:
Allan R. Banks, USA
Andrea J. Smith, Rome
Adrian Gottlieb, USA
Cyd Wicker, USA
Jacob Collins, USA
Kirk Richards, USA
Linda Mann, USA
Stephen Gjertson, USA
Steven J. Levin, USA

One of the most influential realist artists of the 20th century was Richard F. Lack (1928-2009). As noted in a tribute by Emilio Longo, "Mr. Lack was largely responsible for the dissemination and preservation of pre-twentieth century drawing and painting processes and ideologies in the West."
Richard Lack was taught by decedents of a continuous line of artists from the classical realist period. He was trained by R. H. Ives Gammell (1893-1981) who carried on the realist tradition in painting through the rise of modernism in the 20th century. (He wrote a criticism of modern art in Twilight of Painting.) Gammell apprenticed under painter and teacher William McGregor Paxton (1869-1941), a follower of the Boston School of painting. Paxton had trained under one of the premier artists of the 19th century — Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904).
Stephen Gjertson is continuing the realist tradition. He trained under Lack and has a tribute to him at the Art Renewal Center. From Gjertson's tribute: "Lack coined the term "Classical Realism" in 1982 and it has since been used throughout the art world in reference to living painters working within the Western artistic tradition." Gjertson is also the author of Lack's biography: Richard F. Lack: An American Master.