THE REALITY OF

IMAGINATIVE REALISM

PATRICK WILSHIRE

Imaginative Realism is the vanguard of contemporary

realist painting and sculpture, bringing complex—and
popular—narratives to the world of representational art.
But what is it, really?

Imaginative realism combines classical painting technique with postmodern narrative

subjects, focusing on the unreal, the unseen, and the impossible, offering visions of hu-
manity’s mythic past, its unexplored future and, in some cases, the terrifying present. As
a genre, it is rapidly increasing in popularity as more and more artists are beginning to
explore imaginative subjects in their work, taking part in the rebirth of the imaginative
movement.

This exploration is being noted at the institutional level as well. In the most recent ARC
Salon, a work in the imaginative realism category by Tenaya Sims (Semillas) won the
coveted Best in Show award.

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Tenaya Sims, Semillas, 2013, Oil on panel, 101 x 72 inches, (c) Tenaya Sims 2017 96
Individual shows have been mounted at a variety of museums across the country over the past
few years, including the Canton Museum of Art, the Allentown Art Museum, the Riverside
Art Museum, and others. IX Arts—the premier organization dedicated to the promotion of the
genre—has begun an ongoing partnership with the Delaware Art Museum to showcase con-
temporary imaginative realist artists. Even the Tate Britain, for its 2012 exhibition of the work
of Romantic painter John Martin, turned to imaginative realist painter John Harris to provide a
quote and reference for the show’s catalog.

Imaginative realism is a growing genre that is rapidly becoming a significant part of the con-
temporary realism movement. But what IS imaginative realism? Is it, as artist James Gurney has
suggested in Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist (2009), simply the process
of painting what cannot be seen, including history paintings, religious imagery, etc.? Is it just a
fancy name for fantasy and science fiction art, a way to make dragons and aliens more palatable
to an upscale audience? Or is it the modern expression of a movement that is, at the same time,
both narrower and broader than any of these would suggest? And, most importantly, what does
that mean and what opportunities does it present for the broader swath of realist artists?

John Harris, The Search, 2010, Oil on canvas, 42 x 60 inches, (c) John Harris 2017

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Rebecca Leville-Guay, Time and Chance, 2013, Oil and gold leaf on linen, 24 x 48 inches, (c) Leville-Guay 2017

Let’s start off with a definition. To put it as simply as possible, imaginative realism is the real-
istic depiction of the unreal. Imaginative realism strives to produce an emotional response from
the viewer by telling him or her a story, in snapshot form, that—to the best of our knowledge—
could not ever have occurred, or could only occur in the theoretical future (in the case of futur-
istic imagery). It allows artists the opportunity to bring depth and impact to their realist works
through the use of subjects that transcend reality, where the subject itself informs the work as
much as does the technical approach.

In keeping with its exploration of those things that could never have occurred or may only occur
in the distant future, the school of imaginative realism does not describe a technical approach,
but rather a philosophical one. So, while Gurney’s “imaginative realism” is completely appro-
priate as a technical term—an instructional approach showing how an artist paints what they
can’t see—it does not translate into the genre of imaginative realism, which covers not just what
an artist can’t see, but subjects that no one has ever seen, or ever will see. It’s not rendering
from imagination, it’s the rendering of imagination. It can be a small step from the first to the
second, but it is a step nonetheless—one that is key in understanding the roots and essence of
imaginative realism as a movement.

A further common misconception about the genre is that it corresponds directly to “fantasy and
science fiction art,” which is imagery directly tied to the literary genres of fantasy and science
fiction. Certainly, the category of “fantasy and science fiction art” falls under the banner of
imaginative realism, and, in fact, comprised the bulk of the genre for nearly eighty years (from
the 1920s through almost the end of the twentieth century), as realistically painted imaginative
subjects were almost completely banished from the gallery/fine art market. Many of today’s
imaginative realists worked as illustrators for large portions of their careers, and many collec-
tors of imaginative realism started out collecting fantasy and science fiction illustration.
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Stephen Hickman, Ymirschemeh, 2015, Oil on canvas, 32 x 53 inches, (c) Stephen Hickman 2017

However, in recent years, many artists have begun producing imaginative works as pure
easel paintings, with no illustrative connections. Artists who have no background in illus-
tration have built successful careers producing work that, 30 years ago, would have been
shunned outside of the illustration world. Even many successful illustrators have turned
increasingly to personal works and private commissions over the past decade.

Collectors have helped to drive this transition, as they have moved beyond collecting
product-related imagery to collecting work based purely on concept and execution. This
sort of populist uprising is not unlike that behind the contemporary reassessment of main-
stream illustrators such as Norman Rockwell, whose burgeoning critical acceptance fol-
lowed directly on the heels of ever-increasing auction prices driven by passionate collec-
tors of his work. (Multimillion-dollar sales prices become increasingly difficult for critics
and academics to ignore.)

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Linda Adair, Adolescence, 2015, Oil on panel, 24 x 36 inches, (c) Linda Adair 2017

At the same time—paradoxically enough—the increased penetration of fantastic concepts

into mainstream media, including movies, video games, books, etc., has driven a corre-
sponding acceptance of imaginative imagery as “proper art” among galleries, museums,
and collectors of contemporary realism.

With these changes has also come a broadening in the visual lexicon of the genre, produc-
ing works that are far outside the bounds of traditional “fantasy art” or “science fiction
art” and more in keeping with the historical tradition of the Victorian or Symbolist paint-
ers, or the great Golden Age artists, than mid- to late-twentieth-century illustration. Con-
temporary imaginative realists pick up where artists like Waterhouse, Draper, Doré and
Moreau left off, bringing their own narratives of the fantastic to their work.

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 David Palumbo, Unknowable, 2012, Oil on panel, 36 x 48 inches, (c) David Palumbo 2017

These changes makes contemporary imaginative realism an exciting and growing genre,
as more and more artists push the boundaries of imaginative imagery and put their work
in front of an increasingly receptive audience. The incredibly broad range of themes and
approaches stemming from the imagination provide opportunities for nearly any artist
to experiment with incorporating the imaginative into their work. Although many artists
work exclusively in the imaginative realist genre, many others have included it as part of
their oeuvre, creating imaginative works alongside more traditional genres such as por-
traiture, landscapes, or mainstream figurative work.

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This presents realist painters and sculptors with a chance to move beyond the constraints
of “traditional” realist subjects and into a world of their own creation, where their classi-
cal technique can illuminate new and different narratives, or put a contemporary spin on a
classical theme while still finding an appreciative audience—and buyers—for their work.
Interest in imaginative realism shows no signs of abating as more and more artists, galler-
ists, curators and collectors see their love of imaginative subjects and their appreciation
for classical realism dovetail in a contemporary, yet very familiar way.

ABOUT PATRICK WILSHIRE

Patrick Wilshire is Co-Director of IX Arts, dedicat-

ed to the promotion, recognition and elevation of
the art of imaginative realism. This genre includes
works that were heavily influenced by the storytell-
ing paintings of the nineteenth century; artists such
as Burne-Jones and John William Waterhouse. It
is the organization behind the groundbreaking IX
symposium started in 2008, and the IX Exchange,
the online nexus for collectors of original paintings,
drawings and sculpture from this style of realist art.

In addition, he is the author of Visions of Never: The

Collection of Fantastic Art (2009), The Art of the
Dragon: The Definitive Collection of Contemporary
Dragon Paintings (2012), and the forthcoming His-
tory of Imaginative Realism. He was also honored
to be a guest curator for AT THE EDGE: Art of the
Fantastic, mounted at the Allentown Art Museum,
PA, in June of 2012.

Website: http://www.illuxcon.com

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