Which drawing materials produced the best results? Why?
The gouache produced good results because of the mode in which it was used i.e three brushes and three colours of different tonal values starting with a large decorators paintbrush. This resulted in bold shapes and lines and discouraged overworking. I produced a lively drawing using this which I like very much but it wasn't the use accurate of the best likeness.
For likeness and accuracy, charcoal produced the best results. The reason for this was that it is very versatile and can be added and subtracted multiple times (within reason). By using a putty rubber in some areas and adding darker areas in others I could keep adjusting my drawing until it was accurate.
Does your self portrait look like you? Show it to a couple of friends or family members and note down their comments.
I posted my favourite gouache self portrait on my Facebook page but didn't mention that it was a self portrait. There were a couple of comments about how miserable the model looked such as "she looks how I feel!" but no-one really picked up on it being me. My husband was vehement in saying it didn't look like me and that it looked miserable - so I guess it was effective in communicating emotion but not likeness - but I'll settle for that at this stage.
The final charcoal self portrait was a better likeness. My husband and son both said that it looked like me as did a friend at work. My husband was still concerned that I looked miserable. My explanation is that I tend to frown when concentrating, also trying to hold a smile while drawing without looking like a rictus grin would be virtually impossible so my face is relaxed (and my relaxed face tends to look a bit grim).
Did you find it easy to convert your sketches into a portrait?
I did a lot of preliminary sketches but I wouldn't say I converted any of these sketches into a portrait. I used the sketching process to explore my face from different angles and to try to pare the features down to the basics, By making mistakes in the sketches it helped me to lear what to avoid in the final drawings (for example elongating the chin or exaggerating the size of the eyes.
Were your preliminary drawings adequate?
Yes, I think I did sufficient preliminary sketches to be really quite familiar with my own face by the time I came to draw a larger portrait. Despite this, my attempt with intense and coloured pencils was not very accurate.
Thursday, 22 May 2014
Research Point: Self Portrait - Part Four
There are numerous artists today who use their bodies or faces or aspects of their lives either as the subject if their art or as the medium for creating art.
Ana Mendieta
The work of this artist who died tragically young is interesting. She used her body and face in may ways in performance art and in making silhouettes of her body in the earth. Many of her works address issues such as female beauty and sexuality and male sexual violence. It is a tragic irony that she fell 34 floors to her death leaving an imprint of her body where she fell and that her partner at the time was suspected of pushing her to her death.
Click here to link to an article in the Observer from 2013 about Ana Mendieta also click on the link "In pictures to see several examples of her work"
Dieter Roth
I first encountered the work of Dieter Roth at the Biennale di Venezia in 2013. Roth is well known for producing many self portraits in a variety of media including multiple chocolate busts of himself and self portraits with titles such as "self portrait as a flowerpot' and 'self portrait as a pile of dog dirt". Click here to link to examples of his work on the Tate website. A lot of his work involves self reflection and self questioning as well as questioning of his work as an artist and the value of an art object.
The work I saw at the biennale was "solo scenes" (1997-98). This consists of 131 TV monitors and VCRs all showing scenes from the artist's everyday life. The camera is fixed and Roth wanders in and out of the frame going about his daily business and doing nothing in particular. He has a shower, eats his dinner and tinkers with work in the studio. If he wanders out of the frame nothing happens. The number of the screens containing activity means that it is difficult to concentrate on one particular screen - your eye is drawn away to check out other screens in case something more interesting is happening. I found this installation quite poignant given the knowledge that Roth is no longer alive and was quite ill when he made this. To it chimes with the thought of our own mortality and the fact that simple everyday activities assume a greater significance when there is a limited time left and the end is near. This was most likely nothing to do with the artist's intention but was my own personal response to the work. I found it quite moving. (despite the continuous very distracting and very annoying hum of Bruce Nauman at the other end of the room - click to link to video Raw Material With Continuous Shift - MMM an artwork which succeeds in its aim to be a sensory onslaught and a grating encounter).
Back to Dieter Roth though - here is and excerpt from the catalogue of the biennale which goes some way to explaining the scope of the work. " This enormous catalog of moving images shares some of the qualities of a memoir: its surveillance-like archive hints at an impossible interiority , perhaps fictionalising the notion of a private self beneath the realm of surfaces. Presenting the artist's activities all at once , the frenetic display begs to be navigated, making it impossible to rest on any single monitor. Ultimately the work denies both narrative and the intimacy of a self portrait: Roth shows us instead how one can wrest some sense of self from the stuff of one's daily life"
The Oxford History of Art "Portraiture" by Shearer West (Oxford University Press 2004)
"Il Palazzo Enciclopedico - The Encyclopedic Palace - Short Guide" La Biennale di Venezia 55th Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte ( Marsilio 2013)
"Ana Mendieta: Death of an Artist Foretold in Blood" Sean O'Hagan Observer Sunday 22nd September 2013
Tracey Emin
Although not known for her self portraits, Tracey has become a sort of celebrity/artist. Everyone knows about her life history, abusive childhood, sexual assault, abortions and so on. In effect her art and her life story are difficult to separate and many of her pieces are autobiographical (such as her tent embroidered with the names of everyone she had ever slept with and her unmade bed). So you could almost say a large portion of her body of work amounts to an extended self portrait.
Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman uses her face as a medium to create art. However, her works couldn't be described as self portraits (although they are photographs of her face). In these images she becomes someone else. She is an actress or a chameleon. In the pictures she is difficult to recognise. She portrays various stereotypes and also creates film stills from imaginary movies which seem very familiar. You can read the narrative into them even though there is no narrative only a construct.
Click here for one of her film stills
Although not known for her self portraits, Tracey has become a sort of celebrity/artist. Everyone knows about her life history, abusive childhood, sexual assault, abortions and so on. In effect her art and her life story are difficult to separate and many of her pieces are autobiographical (such as her tent embroidered with the names of everyone she had ever slept with and her unmade bed). So you could almost say a large portion of her body of work amounts to an extended self portrait.
Cindy Sherman
Cindy Sherman uses her face as a medium to create art. However, her works couldn't be described as self portraits (although they are photographs of her face). In these images she becomes someone else. She is an actress or a chameleon. In the pictures she is difficult to recognise. She portrays various stereotypes and also creates film stills from imaginary movies which seem very familiar. You can read the narrative into them even though there is no narrative only a construct.
Click here for one of her film stills
Ana Mendieta
The work of this artist who died tragically young is interesting. She used her body and face in may ways in performance art and in making silhouettes of her body in the earth. Many of her works address issues such as female beauty and sexuality and male sexual violence. It is a tragic irony that she fell 34 floors to her death leaving an imprint of her body where she fell and that her partner at the time was suspected of pushing her to her death.
Click here to link to an article in the Observer from 2013 about Ana Mendieta also click on the link "In pictures to see several examples of her work"
Dieter Roth
I first encountered the work of Dieter Roth at the Biennale di Venezia in 2013. Roth is well known for producing many self portraits in a variety of media including multiple chocolate busts of himself and self portraits with titles such as "self portrait as a flowerpot' and 'self portrait as a pile of dog dirt". Click here to link to examples of his work on the Tate website. A lot of his work involves self reflection and self questioning as well as questioning of his work as an artist and the value of an art object.
The work I saw at the biennale was "solo scenes" (1997-98). This consists of 131 TV monitors and VCRs all showing scenes from the artist's everyday life. The camera is fixed and Roth wanders in and out of the frame going about his daily business and doing nothing in particular. He has a shower, eats his dinner and tinkers with work in the studio. If he wanders out of the frame nothing happens. The number of the screens containing activity means that it is difficult to concentrate on one particular screen - your eye is drawn away to check out other screens in case something more interesting is happening. I found this installation quite poignant given the knowledge that Roth is no longer alive and was quite ill when he made this. To it chimes with the thought of our own mortality and the fact that simple everyday activities assume a greater significance when there is a limited time left and the end is near. This was most likely nothing to do with the artist's intention but was my own personal response to the work. I found it quite moving. (despite the continuous very distracting and very annoying hum of Bruce Nauman at the other end of the room - click to link to video Raw Material With Continuous Shift - MMM an artwork which succeeds in its aim to be a sensory onslaught and a grating encounter).
Back to Dieter Roth though - here is and excerpt from the catalogue of the biennale which goes some way to explaining the scope of the work. " This enormous catalog of moving images shares some of the qualities of a memoir: its surveillance-like archive hints at an impossible interiority , perhaps fictionalising the notion of a private self beneath the realm of surfaces. Presenting the artist's activities all at once , the frenetic display begs to be navigated, making it impossible to rest on any single monitor. Ultimately the work denies both narrative and the intimacy of a self portrait: Roth shows us instead how one can wrest some sense of self from the stuff of one's daily life"
Reference Material used:
"A Face to the World - On Self Portraits" by Laura Cummings (Harper Press 2010).
"Il Palazzo Enciclopedico - The Encyclopedic Palace - Short Guide" La Biennale di Venezia 55th Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte ( Marsilio 2013)
"Ana Mendieta: Death of an Artist Foretold in Blood" Sean O'Hagan Observer Sunday 22nd September 2013
Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Research Point: Self Portraits - Part Three
Why do artists paint self portraits? There may be many possible reasons: As a product for sale (see above and below about Rembrandt), to show off technical skill (see Parmigianino), as a convenient way to practise facial expressions (Rembrandt again), to proclaim their status (see Dürer, Velazques,Van Dyck) and their purpose in life as and artist (Artemesia Gentileschi, Philip Guston) or as a sort of visual autobiography (Rembrandt again). Over the years the purpose of self portraiture has developed further; some have used it as an exploration of psychological or physical states ( Egon Schiele, Frida Kahlo, Edvard Munch, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner) or as a means of social commentary (Felix Nussbaum - self portrait with Jewish Identity Card 1943). Some prolific self portraitists are simply narcissists (Courbet) while others use their body as a means to express something and are portraying concepts or characters other than themselves (Cindy Sherman, Ana Mendieta).
As time progressed, artists started to explore other uses for self portraits - in particular their use to explore their own mental, physical or spiritual states of being.
Egon Schiele
click to access link to one of Schiele's self portraits on the MOMA website
A lot of Schiele's work is concerned with the human body, sexuality and death. He painted many self portraits during his career and they all seem to have a psychological intensity to them. Physically he is stick thin and angular which makes for some very striking images. In one image he even portrays himself as saint Sebatian in a hail of arrows as if to say he is prepared to suffer and die for his art.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Click to link to Self-Portait as a Soldier
In this expressionist work of 1915 was painted not long after Kirchner was discharged from military service as being unfit for service for psychological reasons during World War One. He portrays himself in uniform with cigarette in mouth, He is in the studio and there is a model but he has his face turned away from her. His eyes are dark as if they are unable to see and his painting hand is severed. This is not a pleasant image and clear expresses how Kirchner feels emasculated and stunted creatively by the affects of the war.
Frida Kahlo
"I've done my paintings well and they have a message of pain". Frida Kahlo's pain is well documented both physical resulting from a bus accident and psychological pain from her relationship with her unfaithful husband. Her paintings have a child-like quality but her face is always clearly recognisable with her characteristic monobrow. She is like an icon or her own logo. Some also argue that there is political content to many of her self portraits. Whatever the truth and despite her simple treatment of her own features, her surrealist self portraits do not fail in their scope of communicating pain.
Click here for image of Broken Column on Learner.org
Click here for "wounded Deer" On Frida Kahlo. Org
Edvard Munch
Click Here for Edvard Munch's 'Self Portrait in Hell' 1903 on Wikimedia
Laura Cumming describes Munch as an "enthusiastic miserabilist" which is demonstrated in this self portrait. He is not really in hell but paints himself as a victim of psychological torment. This is apparently how he felt during the fallout after the tumultuous end to a doomed affair during which he accidentally shot off the end of his own finger (both lovers were trying to out do each other as to who was going to kill themselves first - in the end both survived but Munch described himself as living in a kind of hell afterwards).
Both the picture and Much's description of events are all rather melodramatic. however, the self portrait does communicate a sense of discomfort and hopelessness so I guess on that level it succeeds.
Felix Nussbaum
Here we touch on social commentary. This artist portrays himself against a dark grey background and a forbidding sky showing his Jewish identity card and the star of David on his coat. The painting feels claustrophobic with an atmosphere of tension and fear - as it should with the subject it depicts. Nussbaum eventually became a victim of the gas chambers at Auschwitz
Click Here for Self Portrait with Jewish Identity Card 1943 on Wikimedia
Gustave Courbet
Was by no means a private person - he liked to live life open to public scrutiny. If he were alive today I would imagine him as a 'celeb' constantly updating his blog and his twitter feed. He liked to have himself photographed always trying to show himself off to his best advantage. He painted numerous self portraits - in some of which he played a role - for example he played a cello in one painting even though he didn't know how. Whatever the story, Courbet was the main protagonist. There isn't any soul searching going on here - the artist is quite simply in love with his own presence. Even over the passing of the years he does not acknowledge any deterioration in his looks and paints himself as young and robust.
In the meeting Courbet is greeted by a welcoming party from the town where he is arriving. These important dignitaries from the town afford him the greatest respect - taking their hats off and lowering their gazes. Courbet's fellow artists at the time thought this was hilarious - pointing out they only Courbet had a shadow as if 'he alone could stop the rays of the Sun" the painting got two nicknames "Bonjour Monsieur Courbet" and "Fortune bowing to Genius".
As time progressed, artists started to explore other uses for self portraits - in particular their use to explore their own mental, physical or spiritual states of being.
Egon Schiele
click to access link to one of Schiele's self portraits on the MOMA website
A lot of Schiele's work is concerned with the human body, sexuality and death. He painted many self portraits during his career and they all seem to have a psychological intensity to them. Physically he is stick thin and angular which makes for some very striking images. In one image he even portrays himself as saint Sebatian in a hail of arrows as if to say he is prepared to suffer and die for his art.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Click to link to Self-Portait as a Soldier
In this expressionist work of 1915 was painted not long after Kirchner was discharged from military service as being unfit for service for psychological reasons during World War One. He portrays himself in uniform with cigarette in mouth, He is in the studio and there is a model but he has his face turned away from her. His eyes are dark as if they are unable to see and his painting hand is severed. This is not a pleasant image and clear expresses how Kirchner feels emasculated and stunted creatively by the affects of the war.
Frida Kahlo
"I've done my paintings well and they have a message of pain". Frida Kahlo's pain is well documented both physical resulting from a bus accident and psychological pain from her relationship with her unfaithful husband. Her paintings have a child-like quality but her face is always clearly recognisable with her characteristic monobrow. She is like an icon or her own logo. Some also argue that there is political content to many of her self portraits. Whatever the truth and despite her simple treatment of her own features, her surrealist self portraits do not fail in their scope of communicating pain.
Click here for image of Broken Column on Learner.org
Click here for "wounded Deer" On Frida Kahlo. Org
Edvard Munch
Click Here for Edvard Munch's 'Self Portrait in Hell' 1903 on Wikimedia
Laura Cumming describes Munch as an "enthusiastic miserabilist" which is demonstrated in this self portrait. He is not really in hell but paints himself as a victim of psychological torment. This is apparently how he felt during the fallout after the tumultuous end to a doomed affair during which he accidentally shot off the end of his own finger (both lovers were trying to out do each other as to who was going to kill themselves first - in the end both survived but Munch described himself as living in a kind of hell afterwards).
Both the picture and Much's description of events are all rather melodramatic. however, the self portrait does communicate a sense of discomfort and hopelessness so I guess on that level it succeeds.
Felix Nussbaum
Here we touch on social commentary. This artist portrays himself against a dark grey background and a forbidding sky showing his Jewish identity card and the star of David on his coat. The painting feels claustrophobic with an atmosphere of tension and fear - as it should with the subject it depicts. Nussbaum eventually became a victim of the gas chambers at Auschwitz
Click Here for Self Portrait with Jewish Identity Card 1943 on Wikimedia
Gustave Courbet
Was by no means a private person - he liked to live life open to public scrutiny. If he were alive today I would imagine him as a 'celeb' constantly updating his blog and his twitter feed. He liked to have himself photographed always trying to show himself off to his best advantage. He painted numerous self portraits - in some of which he played a role - for example he played a cello in one painting even though he didn't know how. Whatever the story, Courbet was the main protagonist. There isn't any soul searching going on here - the artist is quite simply in love with his own presence. Even over the passing of the years he does not acknowledge any deterioration in his looks and paints himself as young and robust.
 |
| The Meeting 1854 |
In the meeting Courbet is greeted by a welcoming party from the town where he is arriving. These important dignitaries from the town afford him the greatest respect - taking their hats off and lowering their gazes. Courbet's fellow artists at the time thought this was hilarious - pointing out they only Courbet had a shadow as if 'he alone could stop the rays of the Sun" the painting got two nicknames "Bonjour Monsieur Courbet" and "Fortune bowing to Genius".
Reference Material used:
"A Face to the World - On Self Portraits" by Laura Cummings (Harper Press 2010).
The Oxford History of Art "Portraiture" by Shearer West (Oxford University Press 2004)
Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Research Point: Self Portrait- Part Two
Why do artists paint self portraits? (continued Self Portraits - Part One)
The young Parmigianino painted this self portrait to demonstrate his skills as he was seeking a wealthy patron (which he succeeded in gaining). Flat mirror were not common at this time and this painting describes the distortion of the reflection in the mirror with its unusual composition with the magnified hand in the foreground. The painting in fact is painted on the context surface of a wooden hemisphere which was of the same dimensions as the mirror he used.
In contrast - I will look briefly at Las Meninas (Velasquez) seen below - but the brief description will not do it justice as this is avery complex painting:
Clearly this is not 'just' a self portrait showing Velázquez as the court painter. It is a complex and carefully planned composition. The little infanta and her maids look out at us but Velazquez himself looking gravely out at us seems really to communicate and make the views part of the scene. it's almost as if he is painting us as part of the scene across the centuries. (Although he may actually be painting the king and queen who are reflected in the mirror at the back of the room). This is a lll a construct, an inclusion but a very compelling one.
What I like about this is the energy that she shows. She is leaning forwards looking round an enormous canvas as she paints her subject. The act of painting uses her whole body which seems believable. Compare this with the ridiculous image below in which the lady in all her fine satin is teaching pupils how to paint in oils.
Notwithstanding the virtuosity of the painting of the folds and sheen of the satin, my immediate reaction to Labille-Guiard was contempt.
Demontration of Technical Skill
 |
| Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror, 1524 Parmigianino |
Proclamation of Status
In part one I describes how Dürer was concerned with raising the status of the artist going to the extreme of portraying himself as an icon of Christ.
In the portrait below the artist seems to be 'showing off'. It strikes me as being similar in character to many of the 'selfie' photos on social media sites these days documenting life events but contrived to look gorgeous in the process. Here Sir Anthony van Dyck (who was court painter to Charles I) is proudly displaying a chunky gold chain while gesturing towards a sunflower. He seems to be saying 'look at me! I'm such a fabulous painter that I won a big chunky gold chain for painting these golden sunflowers'. He's wearing red satin - all very 'bling' and ostentatious - If he were around today he's probably be a rapper!
 |
| Sir Anthony van Dyk Self Portait with a Sunflower |
,_by_Velazquez.jpg) |
| Las Meninas 1656 - Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez |
Practising Facial Features and Experimenting with Techniques
Rembrandt clearly did some of this as I referred to in part 1. Van Gogh may have been forced to repeat his self portraits, not necessarily because he was exploring his state of mind (although we might like to think that after the subsequent publication of his letters and his premature death to promote the idea of the tortured genius). It may have been expedient because he was short of money and could, therefore not afford to pay a model. The results are spectacular and the artis recognisable for those brush strokes and those spectacular colour schemes rather that for consistency in the facial features.
Portraying the artist in the process of painting
One of my favourite self portraits of this section is that of Artemisia Gentileschi. This female artist is a touchstone for may female artists given that she triumphed over adversity (she was raped as a teenager and underwent the indignity of a trial which made her ineligible for marriage but went inn to become a very successful artist at a time when female artists were very rare).
 |
| Self Portrait as La Pittura 1638 (Self Portrait as an Allegory of Painting) Artemisia Gentileschi |
 |
| Adelaide Labille-Guiard 1785 Self-Portrait with Two Pupils |
At another extreme comes Philip Guston with his 1960 painting "the Studio" Click Here for Link to Image. The artist looks like a faceless member of the ku-klux clan or a halloween ghost with a sheet over his head. He paints a crude likeness of himself under a bare electric bulb (late at night) with a paintbrush that seems to smoke because of the cigarette he is smoking with the other hand. His hands are stubby and clumsy- he casts himself as a clumsy and un-creative buffoon. But to those in the know there are a number of references to previous high art in this picture.
Reference Material used:
"A Face to the World - On Self Portraits" by Laura Cummings (Harper Press 2010).
The Oxford History of Art "Portraiture" by Shearer West (Oxford University Press 2004)
Monday, 19 May 2014
Research Point: Self Portraits - Part One
What a potentially enormous research point! I have had to be selective here in my write up but I did enjoy this research. I have divided this research point into four sections as it is very 'image heavy'.
My starting point was to read "A Face to the World - On Self Portraits" by Laura Cummings (Harper Press 2010). I found this a hugely enjoyable read. It was well written and flowed nicely and gave an insight into many aspects of self portraiture. Prior to that I also read The Oxford History of Art "Portraiture" by Shearer West (Oxford University Press 2004) which also contains a chapter on the subject of self portraits.
History
Before the renaissance, self-portraits were not frequently seen and the language to describe them was also different - they were termed 'a likeness of the artist by their own hand'. In her book, Cummings questions the received notion that before the 18the century there was no 'sense of self' and that a self-portrait cannot exist without the language to describe it as such. Historians have argued that for example Rembrandt's numerous self portraits were simply stimulated by commerce, products for sale air a convenient means of practising technique.
Before the first recognised individual self portraits it was common for an artist to appear in a larger work on the sidelines as a kind of signature. An example of this is the reflection of the artist in Jan Van Eyck's Arnolfini portrait which is a bit like a modern day graffiti of 'Van Eyck was here'
However, Van Eyck also painted "Portrait of a Man in 1434 which depicts a man in a red turban. Given that Van Eyck was known to have worn a similar turban it is quite possible that his is one of the earliest self portraits
Some of the earliest prolific painters of self portraits were Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt van Rijn and I shall look more closely at these two artists shortly but first I want to look at some famous self-portraits on the sidelines of larger works. The artist here is involved in the action as a type of signature or even seeming to make a comment about the action or about themselves.
In the Adoration of the Magi, as well as including the likenesses of several of his rich patrons (this was a common way of demonstrating wealth and faith in those days to try to ensure favour with heaven). Botticelli himself appears in the lower right hand corner. While very one else is directing their attention within the painting (mostly towards the holy family), Botticelli gazes outwards at us but with quite a confrontational , almost disdainful glance. Is he challenging us to demonstrate our own faith or commenting about the circus of the rich being included in these religious paintings as participants in holy events?
In the last Judgement, Michelangelo himself appears, but with a difference. He appears as an empty shell, a limp piece of skin wearing the mask of Michelangelo. The artist was in his late sixties when he painted this and was preoccupied with thoughts of death and resurrection and of redemption or absolution for his past sins. He longs to rid himself of his mortal body in order to be reborn.
Caravaggio appears within the violent action of his painting "The taking of Christ" - in fact he is complicit in the action. Not only does he make the scene visible to use but he is also helping the soldiers who are arresting Christ by his action of holding up the lantern. Caravaggio certainly had some issues, His painting late in life egged deeply with religious issues - he may have been looking for forgiveness for his previous crimes or genuinely contemplating his own death after being left for dead in an alley in Naples. In his work of David and Goliath he casts himself as the dead head of Goliath.
Why do artists paint self portraits? There may be many possible reasons: As a product for sale (see above and below about Rembrandt), to show off technical skill (see Parmigianino), as a convenient way to practise facial expressions (Rembrandt again), to proclaim their status (see Dürer, Velazques,Van Dyck) and their purpose in life as and artist (Artemesia Gentileschi, Philip Guston) or as a sort of visual autobiography (Rembrandt again). Over the years the purpose of self portraiture has developed further; some have used it as an exploration of psychological or physical states ( Egon Schiele, Frida Kahlo, Edvard Munch, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner) or as a means of social commentary (Felix Nussbaum - self portrait with Jewish Identity Card 1943). Some prolific self portraitists are simply narcissists (Courbet) while others use their body as a means to express something and are portraying concepts or characters other than themselves (Cindy Sherman, Ana Mendieta).
Albrecht Dürer
Dürer produced his first self portrait at the age of 13years in silverpoint which is an extremely difficult and unforgiving medium.
This drawing show considerable technical ability and also makes us wonder about how he could have drawn himself from this angle - he may have used several mirrors and would have had to compensate for the curvature of the mirrors as flat mirrors were not readily available in that period.
In his 1493 self portrait to my eyes he looks quite effete. He is holding a thistle-like plant called Eryngium which may be a symbol of christ's suffering thereby declaring his piety. It is also thought to be variously a symbol of fidelity, an aphrodisiac and to guard against impotence. Some, therefore think that this is a betrothal gift to his future wife. That being so, he does not give the impression of being very enthusiastic about the union.
Dürer was concerned with raising the status of the artist within Germany. Before the renaissance period, artists were valued for their technical skills and nothing more. When he travelled to Italy, Dürer found that artists were treated with greater respect than they were in his home country. He wanted to get away from the artist being seen as a manual labourer. In this 1498 self-portrait he portrays himself in a fancy costume wearing fine white gloves as if to emphasise that he is not a manual worker but a person of status.
This is a startling painting emanating a golden glow. The artist is seen facing and looking out at us. His face and shiny ringlets of hair are very symmetrical. He draws attention towards himself and towards the luxurious fuse he wears with the gesture of his hand. The most striking thing, however is that he looks so much like Jesus (or of icons depicting Christ). This must surely have been deliberate and would have been recognised as such by his contemporaries. Was this extreme arrogance? Why was this not considered blasphemy/heresy?
It could be argued of the etching above that the artist is using his own face as a convenient model for a series of etchings of different facial expressions.
The four examples above show the great variation in Rembrandt both in character and technique over the years. The your Rembrandt's eyes are shadowed with only his cheek illuminated. By 1640 he is portraying himself as a rich and confident member of society with his very upright and proud posture, illuminated face and fine clothing. As he gets older and his popularity wanes so the self portraits change. In 1657 he is in darkness with only his face illuminated. He looks old with a furrowed brow. His gaze looks out at us in an almost accusatory way. The self portrait as Zeuxis shows him portraying the role of a character from Greek legend who apparently died of mirth. His painting technique is much rougher here and his grin is more of a grimace - I can almost imagine a hollow and sarcastic laugh at his situation. .
In 1663 he returns to a more recognisable Rembrandt style with the bod chiaroscuro and the golden light illuminating his face. He depicts himself at the easel, a commanding figure although not as grand as some of his previous depictions as a rich burgher. The look he gives us is hard to read. His eyes are in shadow. To me it has a certain defiance about it as if to say 'look at me still painting even though I'm not so popular anymore'. Others interpret this look as stern but forgiving. It may be that the circles in the background are a reference to the legend of the perfect freehand circles of Apelles. If that is so then I think this is defiance - that he is saying they he considers himself among the creates of artists.
Reference Material used:
"A Face to the World - On Self Portraits" by Laura Cummings (Harper Press 2010).
The Oxford History of Art "Portraiture" by Shearer West (Oxford University Press 2004)
My starting point was to read "A Face to the World - On Self Portraits" by Laura Cummings (Harper Press 2010). I found this a hugely enjoyable read. It was well written and flowed nicely and gave an insight into many aspects of self portraiture. Prior to that I also read The Oxford History of Art "Portraiture" by Shearer West (Oxford University Press 2004) which also contains a chapter on the subject of self portraits.
History
Before the renaissance, self-portraits were not frequently seen and the language to describe them was also different - they were termed 'a likeness of the artist by their own hand'. In her book, Cummings questions the received notion that before the 18the century there was no 'sense of self' and that a self-portrait cannot exist without the language to describe it as such. Historians have argued that for example Rembrandt's numerous self portraits were simply stimulated by commerce, products for sale air a convenient means of practising technique.
Before the first recognised individual self portraits it was common for an artist to appear in a larger work on the sidelines as a kind of signature. An example of this is the reflection of the artist in Jan Van Eyck's Arnolfini portrait which is a bit like a modern day graffiti of 'Van Eyck was here'
_-_WGA7695.jpg) |
| Reflection of Jan Van Eyck in the Arnolfini Portrait |
 |
| The Arnolfini Portrait 1434 |
 |
| Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?) 1433 |
Artists on the Sidelines
 |
| The Adoration of the Magi. Sandro Botticelli 1475 |
In the Adoration of the Magi, as well as including the likenesses of several of his rich patrons (this was a common way of demonstrating wealth and faith in those days to try to ensure favour with heaven). Botticelli himself appears in the lower right hand corner. While very one else is directing their attention within the painting (mostly towards the holy family), Botticelli gazes outwards at us but with quite a confrontational , almost disdainful glance. Is he challenging us to demonstrate our own faith or commenting about the circus of the rich being included in these religious paintings as participants in holy events?
 |
| Detail of the Last Judgement. 1538-41 Michelangelo Buonarroti |
In the last Judgement, Michelangelo himself appears, but with a difference. He appears as an empty shell, a limp piece of skin wearing the mask of Michelangelo. The artist was in his late sixties when he painted this and was preoccupied with thoughts of death and resurrection and of redemption or absolution for his past sins. He longs to rid himself of his mortal body in order to be reborn.
 |
| The Taking of Christ. 1602 Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio |
Caravaggio appears within the violent action of his painting "The taking of Christ" - in fact he is complicit in the action. Not only does he make the scene visible to use but he is also helping the soldiers who are arresting Christ by his action of holding up the lantern. Caravaggio certainly had some issues, His painting late in life egged deeply with religious issues - he may have been looking for forgiveness for his previous crimes or genuinely contemplating his own death after being left for dead in an alley in Naples. In his work of David and Goliath he casts himself as the dead head of Goliath.
Why do artists paint self portraits? There may be many possible reasons: As a product for sale (see above and below about Rembrandt), to show off technical skill (see Parmigianino), as a convenient way to practise facial expressions (Rembrandt again), to proclaim their status (see Dürer, Velazques,Van Dyck) and their purpose in life as and artist (Artemesia Gentileschi, Philip Guston) or as a sort of visual autobiography (Rembrandt again). Over the years the purpose of self portraiture has developed further; some have used it as an exploration of psychological or physical states ( Egon Schiele, Frida Kahlo, Edvard Munch, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner) or as a means of social commentary (Felix Nussbaum - self portrait with Jewish Identity Card 1943). Some prolific self portraitists are simply narcissists (Courbet) while others use their body as a means to express something and are portraying concepts or characters other than themselves (Cindy Sherman, Ana Mendieta).
Albrecht Dürer
Dürer produced his first self portrait at the age of 13years in silverpoint which is an extremely difficult and unforgiving medium.
 |
| Albrecht Dürer 1484 |
This drawing show considerable technical ability and also makes us wonder about how he could have drawn himself from this angle - he may have used several mirrors and would have had to compensate for the curvature of the mirrors as flat mirrors were not readily available in that period.
 |
| Albrecht Dürer 1493 |
 |
| Albrecht Dürer 1498 |
He seems to take this to extremes in his 1500 self portrait:
 |
| Albrecht Dürer 1500 |
This is a startling painting emanating a golden glow. The artist is seen facing and looking out at us. His face and shiny ringlets of hair are very symmetrical. He draws attention towards himself and towards the luxurious fuse he wears with the gesture of his hand. The most striking thing, however is that he looks so much like Jesus (or of icons depicting Christ). This must surely have been deliberate and would have been recognised as such by his contemporaries. Was this extreme arrogance? Why was this not considered blasphemy/heresy?
Rembrandt
Rembrandt produced more than eighty self portraits over his lifetime. They cannot help in some way being autobiographical, but was this what he intended? Many historians would argue that in the 17th century it was too early for the artist to have any real sense of self and that Rembrandt produced these self portraits purely as a product to sell, or to demonstrate his skills to potential buyers or for practising facial expressions. Looking at some of these self portraits it is difficult to believe that there was little in the way of self knowledge and perception going on.
 |
| Rembrandt Etching C1630 |
 |
| Young Rembrandt in 1628 |
 |
| Age 34 in 1640 |
 |
| Rembrandt 1657 |
 |
| Self Portrait as Zeuxis 1662 |
 |
| Rembrandt 1663 |
In 1663 he returns to a more recognisable Rembrandt style with the bod chiaroscuro and the golden light illuminating his face. He depicts himself at the easel, a commanding figure although not as grand as some of his previous depictions as a rich burgher. The look he gives us is hard to read. His eyes are in shadow. To me it has a certain defiance about it as if to say 'look at me still painting even though I'm not so popular anymore'. Others interpret this look as stern but forgiving. It may be that the circles in the background are a reference to the legend of the perfect freehand circles of Apelles. If that is so then I think this is defiance - that he is saying they he considers himself among the creates of artists.
Reference Material used:
"A Face to the World - On Self Portraits" by Laura Cummings (Harper Press 2010).
The Oxford History of Art "Portraiture" by Shearer West (Oxford University Press 2004)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)