ACTUALLY, ICONIC: Richard Estes
Film poster for "Actually, Iconic: Richard Estes" with man sitting in chair
Richard Estes painting a picture
photo by Richard Estes. diner
photo by Richard Estes. couple lying on rock.
ACTUALLY, ICONIC: Richard Estes
Film poster for "Actually, Iconic: Richard Estes" with man sitting in chair
Richard Estes painting a picture
photo by Richard Estes. diner
photo by Richard Estes. couple lying on rock.
Unprecedented look at the king of photorealism

ACTUALLY, ICONIC: Richard Estes

Regular price $349.00
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WATCH ON DOCUSEEK

OFFICIAL SELECTION - Fine Arts Film Festival | OFFICIAL SELECTION - River Run Film Festival | OFFICIAL SELECTION - Maine International Film Festival

Art • Art History • Photography • Painting • Photorealism • New York Studies • Biography • LGBTQ+

Date of Completion: 2019 | Run Time: 68 minutes​​ | Language: English | Captions: Yes | Director & Producer: Olympia Stone

Richard Estes has been called the “father of photorealism” but has humbly avoided media attention over his long career. ACTUALLY, ICONIC: Richard Estes invites viewers into Estes’ world with unprecedented access to the artist and his masterpieces. Through conversations about his technique and inspirations, and interviews with leading curators and critics this intimate portrait does more than just explore Estes’ pioneering genius; it humanizes it.

Official Selection | Le FIFA
Official Selection | Fine Arts Film Festival
Official Selection | Salem Film Festival
Official Selection | Maine International Film Festival
Official Selection | Newport Beach Film Festival
Official Selection | American Documentary Film Festival
Official Selection | DOCUTAH

Educational Media Reviews Online Alessandra Otero, Arts and Humanities Librarian, SUNY Geneseo
Highly Recommended “Floating Stone Productions did a great job presenting the creative process of Richard Estes. This makes this film a great addition to Art and History collections.”

Booklist
"Scholars and art dealers talk about his contributions to photorealism and his unique approach to painting. They compare his art to that of other pioneers including Salvador Dali. In Estes’ work lies the evolution of New York City from the crowded streets in the mid-century to the sleek lines of the 21st century. Viewers will be fascinated both by Estes’ vision and by the artist himself."

National Review
"I recommend the one-hour film for many reasons — it’s good art history, jargon-free, both jazzy and smooth — but most of all because it demystifies the making of art and the class of humans we call artists.

"Actually, Iconic lets the artist speak. It’s refreshing and conversational.

"It’s a film for scholars, too. ... It’s art history’s first take on a movement. Estes, Philip Pearlstein, William Bailey, Robert Bechtle, and Close and Flack are well known today, Jack Beal and Arthur Leslie less so, but I didn’t know Richard Joseph and Maxwell Hendler. Sidney Tillim was an iconoclast painter, but I know him mostly for art criticism. Personally, and I’m not school-manic, I see Estes and Pearlstein as part of a heritage that also embraces Fairfield Porter, John Koch, Rackstraw Downes, and even artists such as Yvonne Jacquette and Lois Dodds. They start with subjects we know and surprise us from there."