Documenting Photorealism

Citarella Fish Company, 1992, oil on canvas, 36 x 72 inches, Louis Meisel Gallery

Gallery dealer and art historian Louis K. Meisel has accomplished something extraordinary by documenting nearly every work of an entire art movement.

Many art movements are plagued with copycats and forgeries. But by illustrating or listing each major painting by each artist, he has created a public visual record of the whole field.

His first book was published in 1980, called simply Photorealism, and it contained all the major artists of the field such as Chuck Close, Tom Blackwell, and Richard Estes.

Photorealism Since 1980 continues in the same format. It's an oversize book, nearly two inches thick, well illustrated in color, and jammed-full of work.

Photorealism At the Millennium contains many of the same artists, plus some new ones such as Rod Penner.

His most recent volume is called Photorealism in the Digital Age.