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Richard F. Lack(1928-2009) was one of the most important and distinguished artists of the last half of the twentieth century. Over the span of sixty-three years he completed more than 1,300 paintings, drawings, sketches, studies, etchings, woodcuts, and watercolors. Early on in his career he received thirty-four Gold Medals, Best of Show, People's Choice awards, and several scholarships for his atelier. During the twenty-four years he ran Atelier Lack he taught ninety-nine students, many of them now with successful careers. He wrote more than thirty articles about painting, was the editor of Realism in Revolution: The Art of the Boston School, and the author of On The Training of Painters, which has been reprinted in eight editions. He participated in over eighty-seven exhibitions throughout the United States, and eighty-eight articles have been written about him in fine arts publications, magazines, and newspapers. While the prolific number of works he completed in all genres places him in the upper echelons of twentieth century artists, his research and preservation of the atelier method of training aspiring painters underscores his historical significance and sets him apart. Today there are countless numbers of ateliers in the United States and around the world. One can make a case that this would not be so if Atelier Lack had never existed. In 1982 Lack focused on the term Classical Realism to differentiate this traditional manner of painting from all of the other isms of our time: Photo Realism, Modernism, Surrealism, etc. Today the term Classical Realism has been successfully absorbed into the American art culture. Lack's contributions to the reemergence of traditional painting and its current public appeal is without question. The Richard F. Lack Catalogue Raisonne? documents his achievements in the best way possible, by showcasing his work and his views about painting its past, its future, and the training of painters. - Publisher.