Identifying with a Camp.

This is an 8" X 10" on oil primed linen that I sent to the North Light Gallery in Kennebunkport, Maine.  As I look at all my pieces that I sent, I was drawn to this one more than any of the others.  Why?  It's the combination of both realism of the fruit and yet a soft, almost (but not quite) impressionistic brush work in some places.  Up until today, I didn't really know what to call this marriage of two camps.  I've always been aware of the different styles and movements in the history of art but didn't know what to call the striving for academic accuracy combined with soft brushwork.  Yesterday I was clicking through Gurney Journey's blog on painting techniques and came across some information that told me I had found my "camp."  It's call The Juste Milieu artist.  The words translate as "the right mean," or the "happy medium."  These artists aimed for a middle ground between the Impressionist and Academic camps.   It is both a philosophy of painting and a movement of painters.   Carolus-Duran was a member (Sargent's instructor).  In the late 1880's, the group separated from the Academy, forming under the name Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts.  According to Gurney's research, Joaquin Sorolla traveled to Paris, not to see Monet but Bastien-Lepage, a juste milieu painter.  Their palette seems earthier in color, closer to a Zorn palette.  Sir George Clausen was another member.  I guess we still can learn something new each day!