http://www.artrenewal.org/
I stumbled upon ARC Int’l quite on accident, and I’m glad I did. Many classes and books on art history skip over the European Academic and related periods with perhaps a painting of nymphs and a satyr by Bouguereau, dismissing it as the irrelevant grandfather of impressionism and other more modern arts. But that’s a grave shame. This online museum of ultra-realistic art is a phenomenal asset both in itself and to people hunting down a particular print or poster, or the history behind a given piece.
Admittedly, I’m still exploring their conceptual underpinnings. I didn’t know who David Hockney was before I saw their site, and I don’t know if I’d proselytize people on the all-conquering value of this method of painting over any other. But in an age when “modern art” has become things that look like they have been slapped together in under ten minutes and really don’t do much for one except to reiterate in nonverbal form tired dogmas of the current Zeitgeist (from which there is no escape in everything down to advertising, anyway), this is a refreshing change.
Here’s what they have to say for themselves (taken from the main site):
ARC is the Eye of the Storm, at the core, hub and center of a major cultural shift in the art world. With a growing body of experts, we are setting standards of ARC Approval for artists, art schools, systems of training, museum exhibitions and historical scholarship, to bring guidance, direction, goals and reality to an art establishment that has been sailing rudderless for nearly a hundred years.
Additionally, the Art Renewal Center is a non-profit educational organization committed to reviving standards of craftsmanship and excellence. Only by gaining a full command of the skills of the past Masters can we create the Masters of tomorrow. This is a step forward for our culture. Experimentation and creativity can only succeed and prosper when built on a solid foundation of past accomplishments, with the tools which empower artists to realize their visions.
Nothing has been more restricting and debilitating than the theories of modernism, which eliminated these tools, along with the skills to employ them. We are providing a forum for artists, scholars, collectors and the public to appreciate great art, and to recognize that they’re not alone in their suspicions about the emptiness of modern and postmodern art. These suspicions are fully justified by the overwhelming body of evidence and historical facts.
