portraiture upload

Identity and the Portrait

ReadingAlbert Elsen, “The Portrait in Painting, Sculpture, and Photography” from The Purposes of Art, 319-338.

Key Terms/Concepts: realism, verism, idealism, agency, identity, self-portrait.

Key Monuments: The Destruction of a Monument to

Joseph Stalin, Budapest, Hungary, October 23, 1956.

Head of Roman Patrician, Marble, c. 75-50 BCE.

Unknown Artist, Posthumous Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, 1604 (under painting), 18th century (later additions).

Do-Ho Suh, Uni-Forms/s: Self-Portrait/s: My 39 Years, 2006.

Auguste Rodin, Head of Baudelaire, 1892.

What is a Portrait?

“A likeness of a person, especially one showing the face, that is created by a painter or photographer.”--American Heritage Dictionary

“What is the art of Portrait Painting? It is the representation of a real individual, or part of his body only; it is the reproduction of an image; it is the art of presenting, on the first glance of the eye, the form of a man by traits, which would be impossible to convey in words.”--J.C. Lavater

What is a Portrait?

1. A “portrait” must depict a specific human subject.

2. A “portrait” must resemble the human subject.3. The viewer must be able to recognize the

subject of a “portrait” as a specific person.

We assume that something is a portrait based on these three qualities.

The Destruction of a Monument to Joseph Stalin, Budapest, Hungary, October 23, 1956.

The Power of the Portrait

Toppled Statue of Vladimir Lenin, Talllinn, Estonia, destroyed c. 1986-1991.

The Power of the Portrait

The Dismantlement of a Statue of Sadam Hussein, Firdos Square, Bagdad, Iraq, April 9th, 2005.

The Power of the Portrait

Real or Ideal?

Head of Roman Patrician, Marble, c. 75-50 BCE.

*Verism is the idea that Roman portraits were “true to life.”

Real or Ideal?

Head of Roman Patrician, Marble, c. 75-50 BCE.

*Assuming “likeness” is always an uncertain and sometimes dangerous position to take.

From “Awkward Family Photos”

From “Awkward Family Photos”

From “Awkward Family Photos”

Key “Decisions”

1. Face: age, beauty, expression, mood, character, etc.

2. Pose: relaxed, formal, active, stationary permanent, dynamic, etc.

3. Grooming/Clothing: status, wealth, profession, identity, etc.

4. Setting: intimate, public, stable, unstable, unknown.

1. Face

Head of Roman Patrician, Marble, c. 75-50 BCE.

Augustus Primaporta (Detail), 1st century CE.

1. Face: Questions

1. Is the subject smiling, frowning, etc.?2. Does the subject meet the viewer’s gaze? Is

the gaze intense?3. How old is the subject portrayed? Is the age

the actual age of the subject?4. Is the subject considered attractive? How

does the subject agree or disagree with contemporary concepts of beauty?

2. Pose

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Louis-Francois Bertin, 1832.

Hyacinthe Rigaud, Portrait of Louis XIV, 1701.

2. Pose: Questions

1. Is the subject standing? Sitting? 2. Is the portrait a bust? Full body? 3. What is the subject doing with his/her

hands?4. Is the position of the body frontal? Oblique?5. Is the pose formal? Informal? 6. How does the pose convey the mood of the

subject?

3. Grooming/Clothing

Albrecht Durer, Self-Portrait at 28 (as Christ), 1500.

Albrecht Durer, Self-Portrait at 26, 1498.

3. Grooming/Costume: Questions

1. How is the subject dressed?2. How does the subject groom his/herself?

Facial hair? Hair style?3. How does the subject’s attire communicate

his/her social status? Wealth?4. Does the subject’s attire communicate a

particular persona or identity?5. How does the grooming of the subject

contribute to their perceived character?

4. Setting

Elizabeth-Louise Vigee-Le Brun, Marie Antoinette and Her Children, 1786.

Elizabeth-Louise Vigee-Le Brun, Marie Antoinette in Gaul, 1780.

4. Setting

Edgar Degas, Place de la Concorde (Portrait of Vicomte Lepic and his Daughters), 1873-1874.

4. Setting: Questions

1. Is there a visible setting in this portrait? If there is a setting, what is it?

2. Is it an outdoor setting? Indoor? 3. Does the setting have a special relationship

with the subject?4. How does the setting relate to the entire

portrait?5. How is the space used? Little space? A lot of

space?

Agency

See Video Below

Unknown Artist, Posthumous Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, 1604 (under painting), 18th century (later additions).

Agency

Artist

Art Viewer

Context

Cont

ext Context

*Agency is the a means of exerting power or influence.

Agency

Artist

Art Viewer

Context

Cont

ext Context

*A portrait can be seen as a negotiation between the agencies of the artist and the sitter.

Agency

Artist

Art Viewer

Context

Cont

ext Context

*Ask yourself: who has the most agency, the subject or the artist?

Subject as Agent“Besides nobleness of birth, I would that he [the ideal courtier] have not only a wit, and a comely shape of person and countenance, but also a certain grace which shall make him at first sight acceptable and loving unto whosoever beholdeth him…Our Courtier ought not to profess to be a glutton nor drunkard, notorious or inordinate in any ill condition, nor filthy and unclean in his living.”

Raphael, Baldassare Castiglione, 1510. Castiglione, from The Courtier, c. 1508.

Artist as Agent“It is not Baudelaire…but it is a head that resembles Baudelaire. There are a series of characteristics that…preserve the cerebral conformation and that core calls the type; this bust is of a draftsman named Malteste who shows all the characteristics of the Baudelairean mask. See the enormous forehead, swollen at the temples, dented, tormented, handsome, nevertheless…the eyes have the look of disdain; the mouth is sarcastic, bitter in its sinuous line, but the swelling of the muscles, a little fat, announces the voluptuous appetites. In short, it is Baudelaire.”

Auguste Rodin, Head of Baudelaire, 1892. Rodin, On the Portrait, c. 1892.

Artist as Agent

Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Belley, 1797.

Head of Roman Patrician, 75-50 BCE.

Jean-Baptiste-Belley

Guillame-Thomas-Francois Raynal

Artist as Agent

Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Belley, 1797.

Capitoline Satyr, Roman Copy of Greek Original, c. 1st century CE

Jean-Baptiste-Belley

Self-Portrait

Artemisia Gentileschi, Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, 1638-1639.

Exploration of Identity

Cindy Sherman, Untitled (as Caravaggio’s Bacchus), 1989.

Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still, 1978.

Cindy Sherman, Untitled (as Caravaggio’s Bacchus), 1989.

Caravaggio, Sick Bacchus (Self-Portrait), 1592-93.

Do-Ho Suh, High School Uni-Face: Boy, 1997.

Portraits without Faces

John Frederick Peto, Reminiscences of 1865, c. 1900.

Trompe L’Oeil= Trick the Eye

Do-Ho Suh, Uni-Forms/s: Self-Portrait/s: My 39 Years, 2006.

Interrogating the Portrait

1. Do we know the name of the person the portrait represents? What do we know about the subject? How does that change your understanding of the portrait?

2. How does the portrait reflect the “likeness” of the subject? How are you determining likeness?

3. What “decisions” are being made in the execution of the portrait? How do those decisions create a specific identity for the subject?

4. Who is making those decisions? The subject? The artist? A combination of the two?