by Richard Estes was a pioneer in the school of photorealism: highly realistic paintings, designed to resemble photographs.
This article is part of a series featuring works from the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). Estes’ ‘Ticket Window’ is on display at the NGV International, click here for the full series or articles.
When photography was invented in the 1830s, it created something of a crisis for visual art.
Painting and sculpture had existed for many thousands of years. Going back into pre-history, early humans had observed the world around them, and tried to depict it visually.
The earliest known cave paintings are from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, and date to around 46 000 years ago. They show a pig, and two human figures.
From this basic beginning until the 19th century, the craft of the artist was to capture what they saw as accurately as possible. To reflect reality, like a mirror.
Photography changed that in an instant.
With a device that could now capture an actual image, rather than a recreation, many artists despaired for their future. Painters especially felt supplanted; on seeing his first photograph, French painter Paul Delaroche famously declared, ‘From today, painting is dead.’
How could they compete with camera operators, who could capture reality with a click?
What happened was the Modern Art revolution of the later 19th century. Instead of being overtaken by photographs, visual art moved beyond them; embracing nonfigurative representation to create strange, thrilling works designed to engage the viewers emotions.
Painting and photography found a way to live alongside one another.
The mediums would intersect regularly. One such overlap was ‘Photorealism’, which first appeared in the 1960s.
Its foremost exponent was Richard Estes.
Estes was born in Kewanee, Illinois, in May 1932.
As a child, his family relocated to Chicago. Estes would grow up there and develop an interest in photography and drawing; later he would study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
He was particularly interested in realist paintings, and would be influenced by Edgar Degas and Edward Hopper, works of whose were in the institute’s collection.
After graduating in 1956, Estes moved to New York. He went there looking for commercial opportunities, but life in the Big Apple would prove more broadly freeing.
Part of the city’s appeal to Estes as a young gay man was the relative freedom it offered, allowing him to visit gay bars and afford his own apartment.
‘Art Minute: Richard Estes’, Toledo Museum
Estes initially found work as an illustrator and graphic artist in the advertising and publishing fields. In his spare time, after work, he continued to work on his painting.
While working as a commercial artist, Estes developed the techniques that would serve him for the rest of his career.
He noted that his colleagues often took photographs of what they were illustrating, and worked from those, rather than real life. Estes adopted this approach for work, then began to use it in his painting.
Working in the evenings, Estes had found it hard to source life models. Instead, he began to paint from photographs he had taken.
Estes spent some time in Spain, returning to New York in 1966. With money saved from work, he was able to turn to painting full time.
Looking for material, he roamed New York at night taking photos. Like Edward Hopper, he found himself drawn to everyday scenes: storefronts, diners, commercial buildings and bus stations.
By night, many of these locations were deserted, or close to; this allowed the places themselves to come into focus, rather than the people that usually used them. The locations became his subjects.
Their emptiness would lend his paintings a natural melancholy, which was compelling.
Estes painted in a literal, highly detailed fashion. But his objective was not to replicate his photographs.
I think of the photograph as a sketch to be used, not a goal to be reached.
Richard Estes
He would usually take multiple photographs of a place, his painting combining different elements of different images. This approach answered the question: why not just take a photograph?
Estes’ work was more complex. Despite the illusion of reality, he depicted locations as they did not literally exist.
In 1967, Estes would create some of his best known works, including ‘Telephone Booths’ and ‘Bus with Reflection of the Flatiron Building’.
The following year he held his first solo exhibition, at the Allan Stone Gallery. His paintings were unusual, distinctive, and drew a strong reaction.
The exhibition helped establish Estes’ name.
By 1969, other artists had emerged who utilised a similar style, including Chuck Close, Audrey Flack, and Robert Bechtle. New York art dealer Louis K. Meisel coined the term ‘Photorealism’, to describe this new style of art.
The NGV’s ‘Ticket Window’, dates from this fertile period in the artist’s life.
The painting shows many classic elements of Estes’ work. It depicts a ticket booth in New York, at night; the counter is empty and appears unattended, it is lit from a harsh neon strip in the ceiling.
Slatted glass panes reflect the lighting at different angles, a favourite fixation of the artist.
A second counter to the right is shuttered, a darkened room to the rear provides significant negative space. The tone is quiet, and subdued; it suggests everyday activities suspended, a hiatus in the normal flow of events.
This pause allows the viewer to fully consider what they are looking at. The simple seeming scene is actually alive with details, usually unnoticed.
The design of all of the objects on display has been carefully considered. Even the colour scheme of this functional space is aesthetically thought through.
Estes invites you to consider this, and then the constructed environments you move through daily. This reconsideration was one of his objectives, although he was not angling to force people to find beauty.
In one interview he quipped, most of the places he photographed should be ‘torn down’.
But there was value in the pause, he thought. To give a second look to something that usually didn’t get it.
Photorealism would stir up controversy in the 1960s and 70s. Some critics simply could not see the point, in a painting so closely resembling a photograph.
Many would dismiss the school as a technical exercise, or even a stunt.
Estes would defend his work by saying that photographs were limiting. As an artist working off photographs, he was still free to use his judgement to alter the final image.
The style itself is a niche in art history, although it’s influence was considerable. Prior to the 1960s, visual artists did not usually work off photographs; this has become commonplace, even if the final artwork would not be considered ‘photorealist’.
Estes would have a successful career, spanning decades. In later years he would expand into other art styles, notably some acclaimed landscape paintings.
94 years at time of writing, he is now retired and lives in Maine. His works are held in public and private collections around the world.
‘Ticket Window’ is a new acquisition by the NGV, purchased in 2025. On first encounter, I find it absolutely enchanting.
