The International Guild of Realism

The International Guild of Realism
For the advancement of Realism in Fine Art

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Welcome to the International Guild of Realism. It is our mission to advance realism in fine art and to promote the careers of representational artists. Our members enjoy access to the international fine art scene through Guild sanctioned gallery exhibitions, workshops and seminars conducted by fellow members, personalized marketing and career support by email, publicity and advertising, and of course visual Internet exposure on our website.

The International Guild of Realism was founded by a group of leading professional realism artists in 2002. These award-winning artists have had tremendous success in the major art markets using their extensive background in advertising, marketing and art instruction. Combining their successful business backgrounds with their artistic accomplishments, they offer a unique ability to aid fine artists in taking their art careers to an international level.

We have four goals:

• Recognizing the best realists working today
• Creating exhibition opportunities in the top art galleries and museums
• Providing marketing and technical assistance to our members
• To offer a bridge between art collectors and the highest quality realist art, created by our members

It's all based upon the proven belief that the more the art lovers of the world have access to high-quality realism, the greater the value these paintings will have. Value not just in monetary terms, but in appreciation, understanding and international attention.

Standards

We're not a democratic group that's for anyone with a paint brush. The membership selection process is a cautious process designed to favor those meeting our high standards of technique, talent, and creativity. We would rather refrain from defining realism in words and let the images of our members’ art speak for themselves. Realism continues to develop and surprise us in a delightful way. It is a work in progress. It requires skills drawn from deep within the tradition of fine art, its roots going back to the Greeks, the Renaissance, the Flemish Masters, just to name a few. We hope to nourish the continuous stream of talent in the field of realism: Artists that stay close to the traditional form of realism, Artists that have ventured into new territories, as well as waiting in anticipation for new visions yet to materialize in the realm of realism. Although there are many respected forms of fine art, and innovative advancements in technology are offering new and exciting methods for creating art, we want to point out that in the Guild’s view there’s no room for distinction in semantics and variations on the meaning of the word “original” when indicating a work of fine art.

Even though submissions for Membership and calls for art are accomplished by sending in digital images, the Guild only accepts these depictions assuming in good faith that they accurately and truthfully represent the Artist’s original artwork. It is imperative that all the art be original, and created by hand.

The International Guild of Realism does not allow techniques using any form of collage or printing for membership submissions or in our sanctioned shows. The International Guild of Realism expects each artwork to be accompanied by unambiguous and correct information on the exact type of medium or media used.

We expect our Members, whether they are emerging or seasoned Artists, to follow our guidelines and rules, and always conduct themselves (whether in person or by electronic correspondence) in an appropriate, professional, and well-mannered way. If the International Guild of Realism deems that any of the regulations regarding general Membership and/or exhibitions have been ignored or boundaries have been overstepped by a Member, it retains the right to revoke Membership without refund(s) of any kind, at any time, or elect to not renew Membership.

Support

We back up our exhibitions with the full force of comprehensive marketing support, both individually and as a group. We provide regular assistance in mastering the needs for better advertising, publicity, feature articles and public displays. Collectively, we believe there's "strength in numbers" to negotiate better ad rates, to pool our resources, and to provide a greater selection to the museum curators and gallery directors that determine the exhibition opportunities. It's all based upon one simple premise: The more our members succeed in the competitive art world, the greater the benefit to the art lovers of the world.

About Membership

The Guild offers special benefits to its members that are not available to the general public:

• Members-only nationally advertised gallery exhibitions held in prestigious galleries and museums in the major art market.
• Visual presentation on the Guild website and optional personalized member pages offering additional art images and information.
• Marketing support and career guidance for member artists through our marketing staff by direct e-mail.
• Members-only seminars and workshops on traditional and contemporary realist painting styles and techniques with our educational staff.

Membership in the International Guild of Realism is by invitation. There are currently two levels of membership, Charter Member and Member.

Charter Membership is reserved for the founders of the Guild. These artists have demonstrated superior skill and craftsmanship in their work and have already participated in national gallery shows and museum exhibitions. Charter Members, having already established themselves at the highest level of their particular style, are involved in decision making, organization, and jury selection of upcoming shows.

Membership is based on juried selection of submitted works. The artists must demonstrate a high level of technique and style within the realm of Realism in order to be considered.

Artists working in media such as oils, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, graphite, charcoal, pastel, and egg tempera are eligible for Membership. However, media such as photography, collage, sculpture, assemblages, and computer-generated images are not eligible.

Submissions

When considering membership into the Realism Guild, please be aware that we expect our Artist Members to have an email address which they access regularly. We also expect our Artist Members to be articulate in handling email in the English language, as well as confident in obtaining and handling digital images.

Since The International Guild of Realism uses electronic correspondence as its only communication method, we ask applicants to submit their application via email.

To be considered for Membership:

Send us an email:

Attaching a minimum of three digital images of your recent artwork
Digital images should be at least 180 dpi in resolution so that the details of the artwork can be seen up close
Please include title, size, and medium of each artwork

Written inside the text of the email please include:

Your name (and your Artist name, if different)
Mailing address
Phone number
Email address
If you have a personal website or your artwork is featured on a website, please include the URL

Send jpeg images attached via email to: info@realismguild.com

Please do not send emails with attachments of more than 4 MB. If attachments exceed 4 MB then simply send them in separate emails.

Important: Please send us your specific Artist’s name, exactly as you want to be known as an Artist! And if you have a double name or a middle name, please specify under which alphabetical ranking you should be placed, if invited for Membership. Once a new member has been added to our website, we cannot afford to continually change names, middle initials, and other small details without charging for our web designer’s time. Thank you!

The Selection Process

Our selection process is not necessarily slanted to those with the longest track record or most galleries. Rather, we're looking for those artists whose painting style embodies the best qualities of realism.

Customarily the selection process takes between 4 and 6 weeks, unless we are in the midst of receiving art entries for an exhibition. Please do not apply for Membership right on the threshold of a published deadline, we very much appreciate receiving submissions during the calmer periods between exhibitions.

Important: Please note that the International Guild of Realism has a rule which does not allow Charter Members to evaluate the membership applications submitted by personal friends, family, or colleagues. This regulation was put in place to avoid any possible conflicts of interest or favoritism. Therefore, the selection process will never be slanted towards artists acquainted with Charter Members. Guild Membership will be based exclusively on quality of art work, skill, talent, and creativity.

Dues

Membership is $100.00 per year upon successful completion of our selection process.

Members can pay by check, money order, or by credit card via PayPal.

PayPal adds a $5 surcharge to each payment to cover costs, but we trust that the convenience will outweigh the extra fee.

Checks or money orders should be in US funds, drawn on a US bank, only. No surcharge will be added.

• Membership Dues should be received within 30 days of acceptance to ensure admission.
• Annual Dues are for 12 full calendar months of Membership.
• Membership Dues are not refundable under any circumstances.
• The International Guild of Realism retains the right to revoke Membership without refund(s) at any time, or elect to not renew Membership, if the Member has broken a rule, ignored regulations, overstepped or disregarded boundaries, or for any other behavior or attitude that doesn’t comply with what the Realism Guild believes is appropriate, professional, and well-mannered behavior.

Only members in good standing will be considered for our Museum Exhibitions and Gallery Shows. In addition to the Annual Juried Exhibition which the International Guild of Realism announces on this website, we endeavor to offer our Artist Members exclusive opportunities to participate in invitational and theme exhibitions held in prominent art galleries and museums throughout the year. The number of members who will be able to exhibit will be directly related to the size of the gallery or museum where the show will be presented. If there are more members' paintings submitted than there is room, a jury will narrow the list.

Important: Members who take a sabbitical can only re-apply for membership after 12 months.

Contact us via email at:
info@realismguild.com

International Guild of Realism
Scottsdale, Arizona