Walter Henry “Jack” Beal: A Painter of American Realism Born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1931, Walter Henry “Jack” Beal’s artistic journey was one marked by a deliberate rejection of prevailing trends and a passionate return to the fundamental tenets of figurative painting. Initially influenced by the Abstract Expressionists of the late 1940s and early 1950s – particularly Arshile Gorky – Beal quickly recognized the limitations of this movement, finding himself disillusioned with its emphasis on process over representation. This pivotal shift led him to a groundbreaking embrace of “New Realis…