
I grew up in Ohio near Cincinnati and after college moved to New York City, where I first attended an Aesthetic Realism seminar. The honesty and scholarship of the speakers, what they said about art and their lives, thrilled me. On this site is some of what I’ve learned that changed my life.
What Is Aesthetic Realism?
Aesthetic Realism was founded in 1941 by the great American poet and critic Eli Siegel. It is education, logical and kind, about the world and the human self, our hopes and possibilities. Aesthetic Realism answers, as never before, the questions every person has by being alive—about ourselves, love, work, people, about our hopes and worries, and more.
The Aesthetic Realism Foundation provides many exciting classes in the arts, education, anthropology, and marriage by video conference; and also individual consultations.
The Principles of Aesthetic Realism
These principles stated by Eli Siegel are the basis of the philosophy Aesthetic Realism. It is my careful opinion they are true, and urgently needed by humanity for the world to be safe, kind, truly civilized:
1. The deepest desire of every person is to like the world on an honest or accurate basis.
2. The greatest danger for a person is to have contempt for the world and what is in it….Contempt can be defined as the lessening of what is different from oneself as a means of self-increase as one sees it.
3. All beauty is a making one of opposites, and the making one of opposites is what we are going after in ourselves.
It was through studying these principles in Aesthetic Realism consultations and classes, and later having the honor to study with Eli Siegel, that I became wider, deeper, happier, and a much kinder and more useful person. And I continue to study now in thrilling professional classes taught by Ellen Reiss, the Chair of Education. My best possibilities were brought forth, encouraged, strengthened. I believe everyone deserves to know and study Aesthetic Realism, and that the world urgently needs this universally true education. I recommend Self and World: An Explanation of Aesthetic Realism, and many other works about Aesthetic Realism in the Online Library.
Many of the articles I’ve written and presented publicly in Aesthetic Realism seminars are published here. They’re about my life, questions I heard and things I learned that enabled me to change, as well as about notable, courageous women and how their lives show the immense universal value of Aesthetic Realism.
A Major New Website!

The Chaim and Dorothy Koppelman Foundation website presents many art works by Chaim Koppelman (1920-2009) and painter and founding director of the Terrain Gallery, Dorothy Koppelman (1920-2017); and a selection of their writings on Van Gogh, Picasso, Pollock, Matisse, Magritte, Munch, Velazquez, and more—based on their study with the great American poet, critic, and philosopher Eli Siegel.
The Two Powers
The groundbreaking international journal The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known (TRO) is published every two weeks. TRO #2118 prints part of How Effective Are We?, from the series of lectures by Eli Siegel titled Goodbye Profit System. “The lecture is great,” writes Ellen Reiss in her commentary—”great in its comprehension of life, economics, the self of everyone, and literature. How Effective Are We? is about power—and the fact, described by Aesthetic Realism, that there are two kinds of power, one good and one bad.” read more