Resurgence of Painting in the 1970s and '80s

Proponents of the return of figure painting in the 1970s and 80s felt they were, like Lucian Freud, painting like the Old Masters, or, like Georg Baselitz, taking the figure to places it hadn't previously been. Minimalists and conceptualist artists generally thought this resurgence of easel painting was bourgeois and reflected the conservative culture of the late 70s and 80s.

Lucian Freud:

















Georg Baselitz: