Realist painters concern themselves with the depiction of the world as it is without a great deal of idealization. Contemporary Realists concentrate on subjects drawn from daily life or those that the artist feels will resonate with modern viewers. The term "Realism" was first used to desribe the works of Gustave Courbet, who painted his subjects unflinchingly from everyday life. America's first great movement of realists was "The Eight," an influential school of socially aware New York painters who were derisively known as the "Ashcan School." Some of the younger Contemporary Realists paint the avant-garde people that they live and socialize with - tattooed, pierced young people with contemporary adornments. Others prefer to use more timeless models, but pose them in contemporary settings.
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