Estes For Real

While reading Chapter 37, I came across the painting "Double Self Portrait" by Richard Estes. When I first saw this, I thought that it was a photography, not a painting. The painting looks so real! The glare of the light on the glass window, the metallic sheen on the bar stools, the debris littered on the sidewalk, Richard Estes in the reflection of the window, looking like he is taking the picture. All of it is so realistic that I had to look at the painting closer in order to notice that it is not really a photograph.





Apparently he takes photographs of scenes in Manhattan, he goes to his home and rearranges the structure of what he originally sees and records through photographs, which form the basis of the final easel-size paintings, to reconstruct reality. He adds depth and intensity to his paintings, expanding the viewers' sensory field, going beyond the naked eye. In one painting he shows the window, what's beyond the window, what's reflected by the window, and what is behind the reflection on the other side of the street.


Notice the lack of people in the photo, even though the setting is in New York City. It is as if Estes is trying to disguise the city and make it unrecognizable to the viewer because he didn't want to people and landmarks to detract from his art.


Many of his other paintings are created in the same style. Clean, reflective, geometric landscapes and the details that he adds are very meticulous: metallic sheens and backwards stickers and signs in the background in a reflection. He gives us a very realistic "Sunday morning" feel to all of his paintings.


Telephone Booth





Paris Street Scene