Classical Realism:
"In 1982 Richard Frederick Lack coined the term "Classical Realism" to characterize the artistic tradition represented by R. H. Ives Gammell, himself, and their students--heirs of the Boston school, begun by such painters as William McGregor Paxton, with whom Gammell had studied, and to differentiate it from other types of realism. The term was first used that year in the title of an exhibition of work by Lack, his students, and other like-minded painters: Classical Realism: The Other Twentieth Century. In the exhibition's catalogue, Lack explained why it was needed:
'Any 20th century painting that suggests a recognizable object, however crudely or childishly rendered, qualifies as "realistic." Obviously, the simple word 'realism,' when applied to painting, has become so broad in its sweep and general in its application that it is no longer meaningful.'
Stephen Gjertson notes, 'Lack envisioned Classical Realism as
'a broad artistic point of view characterized by a love for the visible world and the great traditions of Western art, including classicism, realism and impressionism. . . . It is classical because it exhibits a preference for order, beauty, harmony and completeness; it is realist because its basic vocabulary comes from the representation of nature.'"
From: The Legacy of Richard Lack by Louis Torres, Aristos, December 2006
Not all traditonally trained contemporary realist painters today choose to classify themselves as Classical Realists.