Fifty-six artists are represented with sixty-five paintings from the United States, Canada, The Netherlands, Korea, Russia, France, Iceland, Romania, Norway and Finland.
The images are produced in a wide variety of media, giving audiences a survey of how these artists are approaching representational art today. Additionally each artist was asked to identify one historical painting to compare and contrast their work with the pioneers of Realism. The contributors cited such predecessors as Ingres, Da Vinci, Durer, Vermeer, Harnett, Constable, Memling and Dali as starting points for their own personal exploration into still life, landscape, figurative and narrative themes. In some cases, the contrast between the old and the new creative approach is startling; in other cases, one can spot the heavy influence of the Old Master upon the modern “apprentice.”