photorealism

photorealism, international art movement of the late 1960s and 70s that stressed the precise rendering of subject matter, often taken from actual photographs or painted with the aid of slides. Also known as superrealism, the style stressed objectivity and technical proficiency in producing images of photographic clarity, often street scenes or portraits. Well-known American photorealists include the painters Chuck Close and Richard Estes and the sculptor Duane Hanson.

See also contemporary art.

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