Is "Realism" Passé?

"Night Work" by Brooke Denton, oil, oil stick, soft pastel, colored pencil on canvas, 24" x 36"

"Try as one may to depict the things of this world accurately, an artist fails in the effort. The attempted achievement is impossible – because of the interference of the artist's own interpretive faculty." – James Mann, Ph.D. (Poet, Art Theorist, Curator)

The quote above is from an essay in the brochure for the 12th Annual New Mexico Painters Exhibition at the NMHU Kennedy Gallery, and the painting above is one they feature for show promotions. My painting, "Open and Flow," was selected for the exhibition, and after reading this statement from someone who helped curate the show, I am surprised my artwork was chosen.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, I attended the opening reception for the Pastel Society of New Mexico's 2025 Signature Members Show at Legends of the West Fine Art gallery in Santa Fe. There was a wide variety of pastel art showcased, but all featured Southwest landscape and/or culture. The curator was Andrew Connors, Director of the Albuquerque Museum. During the awards ceremony, he talked about why he chose the artworks for 3rd, 2nd, 1st, and Best in Show. Listening to him talk about the art he preferred was very interesting. He said many positive and supportive things to the artists in attendance, calling them brave for not only making a mark on the page but also for showing the artwork in public.

His reasoning for the artwork he chose to give awards was also very interesting. Mostly, it came down to the mark making and how a line of color on a painting can perfectly suggest a shape or object. He was drawn to abstraction and the energy of the mark-making, finding it exciting and interesting. He also commented on how it is not possible to capture everything in nature, and so the artist must instead focus on capturing how they felt as they were experiencing nature in that moment.

The painting below was his selection for "Best in Show," and he was particularly drawn to how many views, seasons, days, and feelings were captured all at once.

"Chama River Sessions" by Rachel Pearson, pastel, 19.5" x 27.5"

Dear reader, when I was walking around the exhibition at Legends of the West Fine Art, I walked right past this painting! To me, it felt confusing and disorienting. It wasn't until Mr. Connors talked about what he saw that I could make sense of the painting. He saw:

Multiple easels,

A highway guardrail,

Spring, Summer, and Fall,

Sun and rain

After he pointed out those things, I could easily see them, and the painting made sense. But, for me, at first glance, it looked like a jumble of random lines and colors.

I am sharing all of this with you because these two experiences have somewhat dampened my enthusiasm.

Why?

Because when I apply these comments to my latest SENSORY-SCAPE "Colorado," I can hear their critique in my head, and it's not encouraging.

At the Masters' Atelier of Drawing and Painting under Nancy Lucas-Williams, the goal was to make your drawing or painting look as much like the object being observed as possible. She encouraged me to be truthful about what I saw, not to exaggerate or distort, but instead to look at the world as it is and embrace the beauty and the darkness, which is the heart of the realism movement in art.

Realism arose in France in the mid-19th century as a deliberate rejection of the exaggerated emotionalism, dramatic scenes, and exotic subjects of the preceding Romantic art movement. At that time, the goal was the accurate and truthful representation of contemporary life and the world, without artificiality, idealization, or exaggeration, focusing instead on everyday people and situations, including the unglamorous or sordid aspects of life, and serving a purpose in shedding light on social issues.  

And that, dear reader, excited me.

Whereas I agree that an artist can't capture every blade of grass or leaf on a tree exactly as it is in nature, I applaud the desire to try. Just because something is impossible doesn't mean it's not worth attempting. After all, "If you shoot for the moon and miss, you end up among the stars"!

And no matter what, you are guaranteed to learn a lot along the way.

I certainly have.

Circling back to the question at the start of this, is realism in art passé? It seems to me that it is for the two men mentioned above. But for me, it is alive and well. However, the truth is that realism is not currently in vogue in the art world. Contemporary art galleries primarily show abstract art and figurative art.

FYI: According to Google AI, "Figurative art refers to any artwork depicting recognizable subjects from the real world, while realism is a specific style within figurative art that strives for the most accurate and unembellished depiction of reality possible." By that definition, both the artworks shown in this post are figurative.

The preference of the contemporary art world doesn't negate the value of realism. It just means it's harder to sell realism paintings right now. But trends and styles go in cycles, and if I'm lucky, realism just may experience a comeback sometime before I die. 😉