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 aesthe ...

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

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: *American Realism *Classical Realism *Liter ...

, and Plein Air (

En plein air ''En plein air'' (; French language, 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 ai ...

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

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

Academic Art Academic art, academicism, or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. This method extended its influence throughout the Western world over several centuries, from its origins i ...

, 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 ...

Organizations

Organized groups of practicing artists and institutions dedicated to furthering classical techniques include the

Grand Central Atelier Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), s ...

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 ...

, the

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

in St. Petersburg, Russia,

Laguna College of Art and Design Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD) is a Private university, 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 Ar ...

, Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art,

New York Academy of Art The New York Academy of Art is a private art university in the Tribeca neighborhood of 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 Cer ...

, 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 t ...

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, 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, 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 (b. 1950)

Ned Bittinger Edmund Stuart Bittinger (born July 4, 1951), better known by Ned Bittinger, is an American Portrait painting, portrait painter and illustrator who is known for his paintings of prominent American figures. His notable works include the congression ...

(b. 1951) Jacob Collins (b. 1964) Karl Dempwolf (b. 1939) Frederick Hart (1943-1999, Sculptor)

Everett Raymond Kinstler Everett Raymond Kinstler (August 5, 1926 – May 26, 2019) was an important American artist, whose official portraits include Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan both of which hang in The White House.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 (b. 1941, Sculptor)

References

{{Reflist Contemporary art