Richard Estes: My Camera Is My Sketchbook

Menconi + Schoelkopf, 22 E 80th St, 10075, New York City

July 15, 2026 – August 21, 2026

*Richard Estes: My Camera Is My Sketchbook* at Schoelkopf Gallery offers a focused look at the practice of a leading photorealist artist, centered on New York City and Maine, two places that have shaped his work for decades. The exhibition is notable for presenting Estes’s photographs as finished artworks for the first time, even though he has long used photography as source material for his paintings. At 94, Estes continues to build striking, carefully constructed images rather than striving for literal accuracy. He often combines multiple photographs into a single composition before translating them into paint, creating scenes that feel intensely real while remaining highly composed. His career has been shaped by early work in magazines and advertising, his studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a lifelong interest in travel. Over the years, he has depicted places across Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, Antarctica, and especially New York, where he has lived since 1958. The exhibition includes recognizable city landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Penn Station, and Lincoln Center, reinforcing the artist’s deep connection to urban experience and visual memory.