June 12, 2026 – February 28, 2027
D. Jeffrey Mims, Self Portrait, 1993, Oil on canvas, Purchased from the Artist, Collection of Oglethorpe University Museum of Art
This exhibition includes paintings and works on paper by artists representing a variety of realist movements including European Realism, American Realism, Hyper Realism, and Social Realism. Selected from the OUMA collection, we harken back to some of the major exhibitions of the museum’s past including The Spirit and the Flesh: Contemporary American Realists of 1995, and Slow Painting: A Deliberate Renaissance of 2007 both organized by OUMA founding director Lloyd Nick. We combine some of these early acquisitions with our most recent gifts of the Social Realist prints of artist Minna Wright Citron. In 2025, Citron’s family generously gifted OUMA with 10 works of art representing every stage of the artist’s career and stylistic evolution.
Melvin Toledo, Dreams of a Soccer Player, 21st century, Oil on canvas, Courtesy of the Artist
This installation of the OUMA permanent collection also features a selected of three paintings on loan from Contemporary Realist Melvin Toledo, an artist in metro Atlanta. Taken together these various portraits and still life give a window into the artistic practice of realist representation in its myriad forms.
Artists in the Exhibition
Minna Wright Citron
Herman Jacob van der Voort
Henri Matisse
Richard Maury
D. Jeffrey Mims
Henry-Bonaventure Monnier
Roberta Remy
Francisco Roa
Hattie Saussy
Raphael Soyer
Melvin Toledo
Gail Wegodsky
Curated by Elizabeth Peterson Jennings, OUMA Director