The Painters of Poetic Realism

https://artutrecht.com/agenda/galerie-quintessens-de-schilders-van-het-poetisch-realisme/

The eight young French artists, who would later regularly exhibit together under the name "The Painters of Poetic Realism," wanted to leave the recent struggles, ugliness, and sickness as far behind them as possible. The horrors of the First World War had to be forgotten: never again. The celebration of life, through delicate painting intended to be a "feast for the eyes," took the place of the expressions of the radical avant-garde. The group of eight had nothing in common with the previous generation of artists, who, in their view, had remained in a "permanent state of revolution" for too long. A return to the representation of the visible world began.

The ambition of these eight, all born around 1900, to return to tradition was not an isolated event. There was a broader movement called the "Return to Order" (Retour à l'ordre). This movement drew inspiration from classical values in the visual arts. Attention shifted toward Classicism and the Renaissance, with careful study of the paintings of Goya, Manet, and Vuillard. They greatly admired the painters Bonnard and Matisse.

Even older artists like Picasso and André Derain made the transition. They said goodbye to the stormy, hectic years. From 1920 to approximately 1925, Picasso painted in a classicist style. Despite what the French term suggests, the "Return to Order" movement was not limited to France, nor to a single direction. It was a shared pursuit across the European arts. In Italy, this new path was forged by the Neoclassicism of De Chirico and Carrà. In Germany, artists turned to various forms of realism after the end of WWI; "Neue Sachlichkeit" (New Objectivity) is part of this "Return to Order." In the Netherlands, Magic Realism gained momentum in the late 1920s.

The painters of Poetic Realism had no rigid theoretical principles. It was about a spiritual climate and an atmosphere of artistic activity. Some of these "Painters of Happiness" (Peintres du bonheur) knew each other from the academy, shared close friendships, or found one another later in their common goal to create "visual music." It was an ambition they remained loyal to. They were well-versed in the historical development of painting and held quality and craftsmanship in high regard. Observation and attention to atmosphere, color palette, and—not least—composition were the essential elements in their new portrayal of the poetry of everyday life.