Short answers, pulled from the story.
Louis K. Meisel coined the term Photorealism in 1969. The movement began as a quiet rebellion against the dominant Abstract Expressionism of the late 1960s without a manifesto or gallery opening.
Photorealists used photographs developed onto slides and projected them onto canvas or used grid systems to transfer the image. This method allowed them to achieve a level of detail previously impossible with traditional painting techniques.
The first generation included painters like Richard Estes, Ralph Goings, Chuck Close, Charles Bell, Audrey Flack, Don Eddy, Denis Peterson, Robert Bechtle, Ron Kleemann, Richard McLean, John Salt, and Tom Blackwell. These artists worked independently yet shared a common goal to paint mundane subjects.
Duane Hanson and John DeAndrea created lifelike sculptures known as Verists that used photographs as source material. These works were so realistic that viewers often mistook them for real people until they moved.
European artists like Franz Gertsch, Clive Head, Raphaella Spence, Bertrand Meniel, and Roberto Bernardi began to emerge in the 1980s and 1990s. This internationalization was seen in events like The Prague Project where artists traveled to locations including Prague, Zurich, Monaco, and New York.
As of September 2020, Richard Estes was the only remaining original Photorealist actively working in the Photorealist style. Other artists like Robert Bechtle, Charles Bell, Tom Blackwell, Ralph Goings, John Kacere, Ron Kleemann, Audrey Flack, and Chuck Close had died.