ichard Estes is regarded as one of the founders of the international Photo-Realist movement of the late 1960s and 70s, together with painters like Malcolm Morley, Chuck Close and Duane Hanson. Their work exhibits a high finish, fine details and an almost photographic fidelity to reality. This type of painting stands in the traditional of: trompe l'oeil (a style of painting dating from the Renaissance, which developed in response to the discovery of perspective in 15th century Italy and advances in optics in 17th century Holland) and 17th century Dutch painting (Vermeer, Van Dyke, Franz Hals, Jan Steen, Rembrandt) with its exacting technique and highly finished surfaces.

Most of Estes' paintings from the early 60's are of New Yorkers engaged in everyday activities. It was around 1967 that a shift occurred in his city scenes: he began to paint storefronts and buildings with glass windows partially reflecting images of the street scene in front of the building. These paintings were based on color photographs he would make of his object, which trapped the evanescent nature of the reflections, which would change in part with the lighting and the time of day. While some amount of alteration was done for the sake of aesthetic composition, it was important to Estes that the central and the main reflected objects be recognizable, but also that the evanescent quality of the reflections be retained. Estes had his first of many one-man shows in 1968, at the Allan Stone Gallery in New York.

Estes has exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. In 1971, he was granted a National Council for the Arts Fellowship.

Art Interview: Richard, where were you born and when did you start painting?

Richard Estes: I was born in Kewanee, Illinois, population of four or five thousand. That was the major town, but wasn't where we really lived. That's only where the hospital was located. We actually lived in Sheffield, 20 miles from there. These towns are about 120 miles from Chicago.

Art Interview: How did you start painting?

Richard Estes: I don't even remember. I always liked to draw. I was not much more than eight or nine years old when I got a Christmas present of an oil painting set. I guess they encouraged me to draw a little bit. If you go into the other room on the shelf you'll see a little thing I did when I must have been about four years old about so big, signed "Dick Estes."

Richard Estes Michigan Avenue with view of the Art Institute, 1984 oil on canvas 91.4 x 121.9cm

Richard Estes: I went to the Chicago Art Institute. I never really thought I'd end up as a painter, rather, I thought I would probably do commercial art or design or something like that. I didn't think I'd be successful as a painter although I always wanted to do it. In school I concentrated on painting but I figured I'd have to face the music and do illustration when I got out, which I did for about ten years.

Art Interview: How did you cross over to fine art?

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About the Interviewer: Gregory J. Peterson is an avid collector of realist art. As a teenager he attended the High School of Music and Art in New York City. Peterson went on to study English at Columbia University, graduating in 1973. He wrote plays for television for a decade before entering Columbia University School of Law. Peterson currently lives in New York and works as a corporate attorney for the Mitsubishi company. His art collection may be visited online at www.petersoncollection.org. Art Interview Online Magazine is proud to have Mr. Peterson as a contributing author.