PHOTOREALISM: THE SYDNEY AND WALDA BESTHOFF COLLECTION
Reflective surfaces of chrome, glass and water; views of diners, theaters and storefronts, still lives of
flowers and produce; mundane and majestic landscapes, and detailed portraits of the famous and
obscure, these are some of the many subjects for the artists known as the Photorealists. Arising in the
late 1960s, this genre’s first practitioners were primarily Americans who depicted the complexities and
banalities of mid-century American life. In subsequent decades the movement has become
international, and the subject matter global.
The name “Photorealism,” was coined by gallerist Louis Meisel in 1969: “photo” indicating that
photography is the visual source material, and “realism” to indicate that this emulation is precise and
representational. Photographs –whether informal snapshots, composite images, or high-resolution
digital renderings-are transferred to the painting surface through a variety of methods, including
projection, a grid system, and most recently, computer-generated vinyl stencils. The compositions are
painstakingly executed with brushes (or airguns) and paint. The completed compositions, with their
highly finished surfaces, exact renderings of detail, visual distortions and altered sense of scale produce
a new and particular visual reality, related and yet distinct from their photographic sources. As a whole,
the movement poses questions about representation, asking how the world we see is different from
photographic vision and calling attention to visual phenomena that often escape human sight.
This exhibition is drawn from the collection of New Orleanians Sydney and Walda Besthoff. Built over
the course of 35 years, the collection continues to grow; their latest acquisition, Ben Johnson’s
Connecting Space hangs near the exit of the exhibition.
REFLECTIONS OF AMERICA
Photorealism and Pop Art both emerged out of the 1960s, and shared a common interest in depicting
objects and scenes found in everyday life. Whereas Pop artists such as Andy Warhol approached
elements of pop culture like Campbell’s soup cans and movie stars as icons of advertising and celebrity
status, Photorealism instead focused on the visual and formal aspects of American commercial objects.
Reflective shop windows, storefront displays of items for purchase, attractive business signs, and the
glistening, chrome surfaces of cars, trains, and motorcycles were popular subjects for depicting rich
colors, and a layering of images as seen through mirrored surfaces or glass. Often these paintings are
derived from not one, but a number of photographs.
AMERICAN LANDSCAPE
In the 1970s, Photorealism was regarded internationally as a quintessentially American genre. It
captured the types of scenes associated with the suburbs, roadsides, and great outdoor expanses found
in the United States. Artist Robert Bechtle depicted the tract housing and cars seen in his Bay Area
neighborhood, John Baeder focused on American diners, Davis Cone devoted his practice to movie
theaters, and Randy Dudley focused on semi-industrial spaces, highlighting the impact of humans on
the landscape. For some artists, including Baeder and Cone, this practice was way of preserving aspects
of American life that they perceived as disappearing. Even during its early decades, however,
Photorealism was not an exclusively American practice. Englishman John Salt, for example, studied in
the United States, but has worked in England since 1978.
IDYLLIC LANDSCAPES
The types of landscapes and interiors depicted by the Photorealists vary widely; yet the emphasis on
detail allows for a clear and distinct sense of place. Earlier artists such as Richard McLean focused on
scenes of the American West, often using horses as a type of protagonist in his pictures. Don Eddy
began creating paradisiacal landscapes in the early 1990s, also adopting a trademark style of dividing
his artworks into multiple canvases. Jack Mendenhall cultivated a sense of idealized place through his
luxurious interiors and hotels. More recent photorealist paintings have portrayed an array of
international cities and locales. In these works we see Venice, Italy through the eyes of Raphaella
Spence, Paris, France by Bertrand Meniel, Padua, Italy by Anthony Brunelli, and streamlined museum
spaces and modern interiors by the English artist Ben Johnson.
THE HUMAN FIGURE
The human figure has been an important subject for Photorealists. In the late 1960s Chuck Close began
his well-known series of “heads,” or portraits of faces, including his own and those of his friends. Close
superimposed a grid system onto his photographs, using this as the basis for his enlarged portraits.
Over the decades he has worked in a variety of media, including airbrushed paint, aquatint, watercolor,
and later, jacquard tapestry. More recent works by artists such as Hyung Jin Park and Yigal Ozeri,
exhibit an uncanny sharpness, made possible with the help of digital photography.
LABEL COPY
Claire Khalil
American, born 1944
Le jeu de billes et de beaux anges pour Walda, 1999
Watercolor on vintage linen Whatman paper with gold and silver powders
This whimsical portrayal of the Photorealist paintings hanging in the Besthoff’s former Uptown
residence includes a scattering of colorful marbles from Charles Bell’s painting Cat’s Eyes and Best of
‘Em (on the wall behind you).
John Baeder
American, born 1938
John’s Diner, 2007
Oil on canvas
Throughout his career, John Baeder has created portraits of the American diners that were once
common to every American city. The “Lease” sign in the building nearby alludes to the fading vitality of
this commercial area.
Robert Bechtle
American, born 1932
Sunset Street, 1974
Oil on canvas
Bechtle began using his own photographs as the basis for his paintings in the mid 1960s. The
burgeoning suburbs of California cities with vast expanses of tract housing, patches of green lawn, and
the pervasive car culture have been the primary subjects of his work. The artist records daily life,
capturing what he calls the “sunlit sameness” of his environment.
Charles Bell
American, 1935–1995
Bunny Cycle, 1972
Oil on canvas
Charles Bell photographed old tin toys, pinball machines and other playthings, dramatically enlarging
them before projecting them onto canvas, using oils to capture the bright colors, reflective surfaces and
construction details of his subjects. The radical magnification of these lighthearted objects can be
unexpectedly unsettling.
Chuck Close
American, born 1940
Self-Portrait / White Ink, 1978
Etching and aquatint
Since 1967, Chuck Close has explored multiple painting and printmaking techniques using the format of
large-scale, closely-cropped portraits of his friends and himself. Close divides the photograph and his
canvas into “bite size” areas, often a grid, and translates the image block-by-block. To produce SelfPortrait / White Ink (1978) he used stamp pads, fingerprints, and aquatint resulting in a pixilated
effect; whereas the screenprint Self Portrait (2000) is more abstract as it is divided into blocks of bright
pigment that are built up in layers.
Chuck Close
American, born 1940
Lucas, 2011
Jaquard tapestry
In 2005, Close began collaborating with the Magnolia Tapestry Project on a series of jacquard
tapestries, including Lucas, 2011. This portrait of the artist Lucas Samaras began with a daguerreotype
produced in the mid-1990s, which was converted into a digital image and then translated into a textile
via an electronic jacquard loom using 17,800 Italian dyed cotton warp threads woven at 75 shots per
cm.
Davis Cone
American, born 1950
Happy Hour, 1984
Acrylic on canvas
The Happy Hour Theater, at Magazine and St. Andrews Streets in New Orleans operated from 19101983. The traditional movie house—with its Art Deco facade, or as seen here, a large marquee—are
Cone's favored subjects. In this work, the artist's signature appears as an emblem on the fender of the
blue pickup truck in the foreground.
John DeAndrea
American, born 1941
Seated Blonde, 1982
Polychromed bronze
As one of the only sculptors regularly linked to the Photorealists, John DeAndrea’s process is different
than his colleagues. Instead of working from photographs, DeAndrea casts directly from live models.
He then undergoes a rigorous process of adding detail through oil paints and elements such as hair,
moles, and fingernails. His intent is to make his sculptures appear so real that they appear to “breathe.”
Richard Estes
American, born 1932
Thomas Drugs, 1969
Oil on masonite
A renowned member of the early Photorealist movement, Estes paints clearly structured urban
landscapes based upon his own composite photographs. The consistently sharp focus throughout his
paintings creates a cold and polished finish; close examination reveals the artist's fine brushwork.
Richard Estes
American, born 1932
Citarella Fish Company, 1991
Oil on canvas
Estes explores the interplay of transparency and reflection in this later work, which takes as its subject
the storefront of a well known New York City gourmet market. Numerous photographs combined to
form a single composition allow for an impossible level of detail and a wider angle than can be captured
in a single photograph or would be visible to the naked eye.
Audrey Flack
American, born 1931
Roman Beauties, 1983
Oil on canvas
In the 1970s Flack began painting still lifes based on her own photographs. These works refer to both
the history of art and the practice of art-making. This still life recalls the centuries-long tradition of
vanitas painting, wherein fruit and flickering flame symbolize transience and mortality. Flack
references the historic “hand” of the artist through the watercolor set and small painting; her modern
rendition is created using both spray gun and brush. Further playing with the viewer's perceptions is
the apple that appears to fall out of the painting onto the gray “frame.”
Don Eddy
American, born 1944
Oracle Bones, 1996
Acrylic on canvas
Eddy’s multi-panel shaped canvases recall ancient architecture; the discrete landscape and man-made
elements provide opportunities for reflection and contemplation. The artist employs a complex process
of layering transparent color in both under- and over-painting. Working from digitally manipulated
photographs, Eddy maps out the canvas and, with an airbrush, applies a layer of tiny (1/16th”) green
circles to establish the color value. A second layer of burnt sienna separates the warm and cool colors,
and the last layer of the under-painting, in purple, further subdivides the color structure. He then adds
10 to 20 layers of transparent color over this ground to achieve the final effect.
Don Eddy
American, born 1944
M. Raphael Silver, 1975
Acrylic on canvas
The youngest member of the first wave of Photorealists, Eddy painted shop displays with reflective and
optically engaging surfaces during the 1970s. He mastered the use of the airbrush at a young age (while
working in his father’s automotive repair shop), and throughout his career has used this modern tool to
create new and unexpected effects.
Richard McLean
American, born 1934
Dixie Coast, 1974
Oil on canvas
McLean’s subjects are associated with the culture and mythology of the American West. The artist
believes that viewers will “perceive the horse in terms of its romantic past and connotations, and see an
irony between that and this machine environment…” His earliest paintings were based upon preexisting photographs (often from horse breeding magazines); later he used his own photographs, such
as this image where the horse is displayed next to its handler. In 1984, he began painting panoramic
landscapes with the horse as a detail within the scene, such as Mendocino Marine, at left.
Ben Johnson
British, born 1946
Through Marble Halls, 1996
Acrylic on linen
Employing clean lines and a relatively minimalist aesthetic, Johnson has painted reflective windows,
corridors, doorways, railings, tiled pools, and long vistas in Renaissance to postmodern buildings since
the 1970s. This painting depicts the Great Hall of Syon House in London, a building that belongs to the
Duke of Northumberland; it is part of a series exploring museums and the display of art in private
spaces.
Ben Johnson
British, born 1946
Connecting Space, 2010
Acrylic on linen
When asked about his artistic process, the artist said that he considers “his camera as a sketch book.”
Until ten years ago Johnson created drawings for his paintings with ink on paper; now he uses a
computer. Using masking tape, or in recent years, vinyl stencils, he sections off parts of the work to be
painted using either a spray gun or a sponge. Any one section of the painting may have between ten to
several hundred stencils, precisely arrayed, with the color applied sequentially to each area.
Peter Maier
American, born 1945
Straps, 2007
DuPont Cromax on fabricated aluminum
Maier worked at the General Motors Company for many years, leaving in 1980 to pursue a full-time
career in art. In the 1990s Maier developed a unique technique of applying transparent layers of
DuPont’s automotive paint to sheets of aluminum. Instead of pre-mixing his colors, Maier adds pure
color over pure color, accumulating twenty-five or more layers on the aluminum, which is then clearcoated. The resulting image is a rich rendition of a car’s highly reflective surface.
Ben Schonzeit
American, born 1942
Honey Tangerines, 1974
Acrylic on canvas
Almost twenty years separate Honey Tangerines from Aubergines at the right. An early practitioner of
Photorealism, by the late 1970s Schonzeit had tired of the airbrush, and over the course of the next 20
years worked in a number of styles. His return to Photorealism in recent years occurred because he
came across a photograph “that could not be painted in any other way…” According to Schonzeit, “The
photograph is my subject—not oranges or apples, but the photographs themselves…”
Hyung Jin Park
South Korean, born 1970
So Yeon, 2012
Oil on canvas
Representing the latest wave of Photorealist painters, Hyung Jin Park paints idealized Korean women,
on a monumental scale. Often using his students from Hansung University in Seoul, South Korea as
models, as in So Yeon, Park enlarges the eyes, and diminishes the size of the mouth and chin, making
his women appear as though they are live versions of animated characters. Park’s women look directly
at the viewer, allowing us to peer into their dark, unsettlingly-real eyes set in blank and emotionless
faces.