Looking at this self-portrait you see in the mirror the reflection of a young man, handsome and apparently normal in all ways that are visible. Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa or simply Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was a French artist famous for his depictions of the theatrical and decadent life of fin de siecle Paris. In later life was he interpreting the world in an impressionistic way or simply reflecting the distorted version of it that he actually saw ? Toulouse Lautrec (1864 – 1901) It is hard to know how much his signature style of softly blurred images owes to artistic vision and how much to his cataract problems. These reduce vision and can make things appear blurry and ‘out-of-focus’. As his career developed Monet was plagued by cataracts in his eyes. The term ‘impressionism’ is in fact derived from the title of Monet’s painting ‘Impression, Sunrise’. Monet was a founder of the French impressionist style of painting, which is based on the artist conveying his perceptions of the subject rather than a precise likeness. Interestingly and strangely enough, Van Gogh never seems to look directly at his ‘audience’ in his self-portraits. The drug digitalis, which he is also believed to have taken, would also produce ‘yellow vision’. Van Gogh indulged heavy in absinthe, a drink known to produce ‘yellow vision’ in addicts. One of the characteristics of his paintings is the sunny yellow ambiance that infuses them. This Dutch post-impressionist is probably as well known for the ‘cutting-his-own-ear-off’ incident (which may or may not have happened as reported) as he is for his considerable body of work. Think about a ‘tormented artist’ and one of the first names that come to mind is likely to be Van Gogh. This self-portrait of him with Dr Arrieta reflects his troubled state of mind, with its themes of illness and mortality. Postmortem diagnosis pointed toward possible paranoid dementia due to unknown brain trauma. In later years he suffered physical and mental breakdown, complaining of deafness, poor vision and loss of balance. He was a court painter to the Spanish Crown and a chronicler of history, who was bold in handling color and regarded as daring for the subversive elements in his art. The Spanish painter Goya occupies a unique place in art history, regarded by many as the last of the old masters and first of the moderns. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746 – 1828)
They record his progress from an uncertain young man, through his time as a very successful portrait-painter in the 1630s, to the later troubled but powerful self-portraits of his old age. An interesting aspect of Rembrandt’s self-portraits, other than their undoubted quality, is what we can discover in their sheer number and time-span. Art experts currently believe that he was responsible for over forty paintings, as well as a few drawings and thirty-one etchings, which is still pretty impressive. At one time about ninety paintings were counted as Rembrandt self-portraits, but it is now known that he had his students copy his own self-portraits as part of their training. The Dutch artist Rembrandt was also a prolific painter of self-portraits. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669 ) Although he was only a young man at the time, he was clearly confident of his talent and aiming to go far. He was highly conscious of his public image and reputation and I believe we can see that in this self-portrait which depicts him in an idealized way, elaborately groomed and dressed in the very latest Italian fashion to demonstrate to the world his international success. He was something of a child prodigy, painting from an early age, and by his twenties was selling his works all over Europe. The German painter Albrecht Durer was perhaps the first really prolific self-portraitist, producing at least twelve images of himself, including three oil portraits, and figures in four altar pieces. Whether its the unusual yellow ambience of a Van Gogh or the isolation of Hitlers self-portrait its always possible to learn a little more about the artist by reading between the brush-strokes. Whatever reason the artist might think he had for the painting though, with art as with writing, the act of creation always reveals something about the creator. At other times artists may use self-portraits to advertise their skills, practice their craft, explore some inner turmoil or stake a place in history.
DISTORTED PORTRAITURE FREE
Sometimes its for the most obvious reason, that in painting himself he has a ready, willing and free model. Its a rare artist that hasn’t at one time or another attempted a self-portrait.
0 kommentar(er)
