Contemporary-Traditional Art refers to an art produced at the present period of time that reflects the current culture by utilizing classical techniques in drawing, painting, and sculpting. Practicing artists are mainly concerned with the preservation of time-honored skills in creating works of figurative and representational forms of fine art as a means to express human emotions and experiences. Subjects are based on the aesthetics of balancing external reality with the intuitive, internal conscience driven by emotion, philosophical thought, or the spirit. The term is used broadly to encompass all styles and practices of representational art, such as

Classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

Realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

, and Plein Air (

En plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...

) painting. Technical skills are founded in the teachings of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Academic Art Academic art, or academicism or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie d ...

, and

American Impressionism American Impressionism was a style of painting related to European Impressionism and practiced by American artists in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth. The style is characterized by loose b ...

Organizations

Organized groups of practicing artists and institutions dedicated to furthering classical techniques include the Grand Central Atelier,

Art Renewal Center The Art Renewal Center (ARC) is a non-profit, educational organization, which hosts an online museum dedicated to realist art. The ARC was founded by New Jersey businessman, author, and art collector Fred Ross. Particular emphasis is given to ...

California Art Club The California Art Club (CAC) is one of the oldest and most active arts organizations in California. Founded in December 1909, it celebrated its centennial in 2009 and into the spring of 2010. The California Art Club originally evolved out of The ...

Florence Academy of Art The Florence Academy of Art is an American art school in Florence, in Tuscany in central Italy. It was started by Daniel Graves, an American painter, in 1991. Teaching is in the traditional style of the old masters. The school is a branch of t ...

, the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...

in St. Petersburg, Russia,

Laguna College of Art and Design Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) is a private college in Laguna Beach, California. With an enrollment of more than 700 students, the college offers Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in 11 majors and three Master of Fine Arts degree programs as w ...

, Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art,

New York Academy of Art The New York Academy of Art is a private art school in Tribeca, New York City. The academy offers a Master of Fine Arts degree with a focus on technical training and critical discourse as well as a Post-baccalaureate Certificate of Fine Art. The ...

, and

Portrait Society of America Portrait Society of America is an art organization based in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. Established in 1998, the Portrait Society of America is a 501(C)3 registered charity was set to serve the purpose of an art education organization to ...

Publications

Publications referencing the term, Contemporary-Traditional or living artists working in traditional styles: * ''Empathy For Beauty,'' Carnegie Art Museum, essay by museum director Suzanne Bellah, 2014 * ''California Light, A Century of Landscapes - Paintings of the

'' by Jean Stern and Molly Siple, foreword by

Elaine Adams Elaine may refer to: * Elaine (legend), name shared by several different female characters in Arthurian legend, especially: ** Elaine of Astolat ** Elaine of Corbenic * Elaine (short story), "Elaine" (short story), 1945 short story by J. D. Salinge ...

, 2011 * ''Land of Sunlight; Contemporary Paintings of San Diego County'' (2007) by James Lightner * ''On Location in Malibu'' (1999, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015) Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, curated by museum director

Michael Zakian Michael Zakian (April 7, 1957-January 14, 2020) was an American art historian and museum curator. He was the director of the Frederick R. Weisman Museum in Malibu, California for 25 years until his death in 2020. His academic research focused on ...

, PhD. Essay, ''Painting in Malibu'', 1999 * ''Selections From the Permanent Collection, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art,'' essay by Michael Tomar, PhD., 1996

Notable artists

Peter Seitz Adams Peter Seitz Adams (born August 27, 1950, Los Angeles) is an American artist. His body of work focuses on landscapes and seascapes created en plein air in oil or pastel as well as enigmatic figure and still-life paintings. He is noted for his colo ...

(b. 1950)

Ned Bittinger Edmund Stuart Bittinger (born July 4, 1951), better known by Ned Bittinger, is an American portrait painter and illustrator whose work includes the official Congressional portraits of Abraham Lincoln and Lindy Boggs for the US Capitol, as well a ...

(b. 1951)

Jacob Collins Jacob Collins (born 1964) is an American realist painter working in New York City. He is a leading figure of the contemporary Classical Realism, classical art revival. He has founded several schools of art including the Water Street Atelier, th ...

(b. 1964)

Karl Dempwolf Karl Dempwolf is a contemporary California Plein-Air Painter who is known for his California Landscapes. He is a Signature Member of the California Art Club (f. 1909), and serves in its Advisory Board of Directors. Youth and Training Karl Dempwo ...

(b. 1939) Frederick Hart (1943-1999, Sculptor)

Everett Raymond Kinstler Everett Raymond Kinstler (August 5, 1926 – May 26, 2019) was an American artist, whose official portraits include Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.Jeremy Lipking Jeremy Lipking is an American realist painter, born in Santa Monica, California on 2 November 1975.http://www.americanlegacyfinearts.com/artists/jeremy-lipking/biography/ American legacy Fine Arts Lipking was inspired by the figurative tradit ...

(b. 1974)

Richard Schmid Richard Schmid (October 5, 1934—April 18, 2021) was an American realist artist. Early career Richard Schmid's maternal grandfather, Julian Oates, was an architectural sculptor. Richard's initial studies in landscape painting, figure drawing, ...

(b. 1934)

Nelson Shanks John Nelson Shanks (December 23, 1937 – August 28, 2015) was an American artist and painter. His best known works include his portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales, first shown at Hirschl & Adler Gallery in New York City, April 24 to June 2 ...

(1937-2015) Tim Solliday (b. 1952)

Alexey Steele Alexey Steele (born 1967 in Kyiv, Soviet Ukraine) is an American painter of the Russian Representational School and a Soviet Art scholar. He moved to Los Angeles in 1990. Steele gained recognition for his unusual multi-figure compositions of an exce ...

(b. 1967) Patricia Watwood (b. 1971)

Bruce Wolfe Bruce Wolfe (born 1941 in Santa Monica, California), is a sculptor, artist, illustrator, and designer, known for producing sculptures of and for many notable figures. The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' described him as "the top sculptor for hire in th ...

(b. 1941, Sculptor)

References

{{Reflist Contemporary art