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Since the fifteenth century and the advent of the mirror artists have modeled for themselves in their own works of art. Whether it is an in-depth exploration of the artist's own psyche or simply because as a model, the artist is clearly the cheapest and most available. Whatever the reason, nearly every artist, in every medium from painters to sculptors have attempted this exploration of self. With this research, I'd like to explore the different artists and their self-portraits in an attempt to understand the differences and similarities between them, taking into consideration their historical social and cultural context of the time.
Brett Whiteley born 1, died 1, was awarded 1st prize in the young painter at the Bathurst show at the age of 17 and after years of study at Julian Ashtons, he won a Italian traveling scholarship and after some months in Italy reached London in 160 at the height of a brief vogue for Australian art. His work gained instant recognition at the White Chapel Gallery in June 161. His paintings covered a few styles during his career, in his first show, held in London Mathiesen Gallery he is cast in an abstract expressionist mould. Using a palette of ochre's, creamy whites and red brown, which recalled faintly the work of Drysdale, though much more abstracted and a touch of Arshile Gorky. Whiteley painted the social problems around him. The subjects that fascinated him were landscapes which he painted," sexed and fleshed," nudes, animals, images of violence and death. Whiteley was an uncommonly good draughtsman with an impressive feeling for space, placement and accent.
The early career of Brett Whiteley for example reveals many of he stresses imposed by the conflicting positions of abstract expressionism and pop painting, the swing from personal expressive art which directed attention away from the artist towards the anonymous population imagery of modern society imposed great strains upon many Australian artists who around 160 sought to make the change. Whiteley through his language of drawing and painting, sculpture and collage sought to portray the beauty of travel botany, zoology, sociology, sex and the horror of war, murder, political science, pollution, social upheavals etc. The majority of his paintings were his interpretation of the social subjects around him. He needed to relate these influences with both figuration and abstraction. He felt many pressures and was sensitive to the problems around him, when he was 17 his mother and father separated leaving him feeling deserted when his mother went back to England. At first he had a job with Lintas. But he spent much of his time studying works of art with other budding artists, at the art gallery of New South Wales. He worked hard at his art, almost at fever pitch. He also discovered alcohol at the
age of 17. The fist of many drug addictions.
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The self portrait painted in the study of 'Self Portrait in the Studio' painted in 176. Oil collage and hair on canvas, 00.5x5 and is as follows. The big self portrait looking at him self in the mirror, is extraordinary honest in some ways. He makes no attempt to hide the fact that he is really somewhere else, and that is not a particularly happy place. He looks very stoned and haunted, though of course the painting is beautiful and is generally read as sumptuous interior, furniture, surrounding art works, jewelry and rich colours. The media used in this collage is mostly oils painted in strong rich colours although slightly flat, brushstrokes are fairly smooth with fine attention to detail. Other material used is Whiteley's own hair attached to his self portrait, in other collages Whiteley was famous for using other objects such as branches, sticks, eggs, bird's nests and fiber glass for depth and texture. I believe he was trying to say 'stay away this is not what it might seem. Look at this beautiful house and wonderful pictures and things ,but don't be fooled, there are hidden problems, this is not happiness.' He had a fear of death and dying young like his father and uncle. His fatal obsession, dieing young like them and drugs. In this painting Whiteley was warning himself and other people watching. It was the cage of his interior, his addiction. Whiteley used symbols. He used a mirror image to reflect his psychological state and to combine views of the studio and objects within it reflecting aspects of his life and personality in a conglomerate self portrait. The mirror is a traditional device long used by painters to create additional viewpoints within the dominant viewpoints. The window can also been used as a symbol,, in this case, the window is a glimpse of possible escape in paradise; hope; the escape from ones own mind.
Frida Kahlo born 107, died 154, Mexican painter. Although Frida was passionately interested in politics and the social problems that surrounded her, in her self portraits she painted herself both her psychological and physical condition this is why I chose her for my psychological study. She began to paint while recovering from a terrible bus accident in 15 that left her seriously crippled. She began to paint her face as reflected in the mirror her mother had attached to her bed during her convalescence. She made a partial recovery but was never able to bear a child, and she under went operations before her death in 154. Her life's work of paintings, mostly self portraits, deals directly with her battle to survive. They are kind of exorcism by which she projected her anguished on to another Frida, in order to separate herself from pain and at the same time confirm her hold on reality. Her international reputation dates from the 170's, her work has a particular following among Latin Americans living in the USA.
Her first self portrait, painted one year after her accident, shows a melancholy girl with long aristocratic hands and neck depicted in the style that reveals her early love for Italian Renaissance art and especially for Botticelli. She drew on Mexican popular art as her chief source, attracted by its fantasy, naivety, and fascination with violence and death. Kahlo was described as a self invented Surrealist by Andre Brenton in his 18 introduction for the brochure of the first of two Kahlo exhibition held during her lifetime, but her fantasy was too intimately tied to the concrete realities of her own existence to qualify as Surrealist. She denied the appropriateness of the term, contending that she painted not dreams, but her own reality. Frida used symbols , she used Mexican traditions or myth, the fruits and symbols of the earth ,a third eye tears etc.. In Frida Kahlo's painting 'Broken Spinal Column painted in 144, oil on canvas, mounted on hard board, 40x1cm, a small painting one that could be painted while bedridden. The painting displays smooth brushstrokes with soft muted earthy colours in the background possibly a strip of shimmering sea in the far background and a blue warm sky. She painted herself with a pleasant dancer's body shape, long Botticelli neck and graceful arms. She also used inanimate objects within her body e.g. within the cavity of her body she has painted a stone column heavily cracked to represent her terribly damaged spine. Most of Frida's paintings also show the trademark of her winged monobrow. The simplicity of the technique could not hide the cruelty of her paintings, the bloody body, the chest opened up to reveal the broken spinal column. On her face tears can be seen this is to show her sadness and suffering just like the symbol of the tears on the statues of Saints in Mexican churches. Nails can be seen all over her body which shows her pain and restriction. Her nakedness represents her intense vulnerability and her inability to do anything about it. Her intense self portraits became of a destiny that was exceptional in all respects.
Frida in her self portraits painted herself both in her physical problems and pain and her mental or psychological state. Some critics claimed she was a surrealist but she denied this stating she painted what affected her, how she felt and what she saw. In Frida's case she painted because of her tragic accident. It gave her an outlet to release some of her physical torture 'an escape' of her mental torment. In 15 Frida's right leg was amputated at the knee because of gangrene, this plunged her into deeper depression. She turned to drugs and alcohol. She died in 154, almost certainly by suicide.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in Leyden, Holland on July 15, 1606 Rembrandt is given credit for being the first artist to intensely study the self through art. During his life time, 1606-166, Rembrandt sketched his own face thousands of times. He created a legacy of 60 self-portraits that depict his history, an autobiographical story that chronicles his turbulent life. From rags to riches, through marriages and mistresses, from youth to old age, we can witness the changing face of Rembrandt.
His first self-portrait is dated as early as 16; his last, a few months before his death in 166. The advantages for Rembrandt to turn to the mirror for inspiration are, models were not easily accessible and quite expensive for a struggling artist. He could paint himself anytime, anywhere, deep in shadows or with grimacing expressions, practicing techniques that he could not use on paying clients. His own face also provided a wide range of opportunity for growth and discovery as an artist.
Through his self-portraits, Rembrandt reflects a view of himself at every stage of his inner development - experimental in the Leyden years; theatrically disguised in the 160s; frank and self-analytical toward the end of his life, yet full of simple dignity. The self-portraits of his last two decades show that Rembrandt was beyond using himself as a model out of convenience, and past using his face to test new techniques. It is in these last two decades that a real exploration of self comes forth. We see a much more honest view of Rembrandts features in his later work than in his famous Self-Portrait, from 1640. In his final self-portraits dated from 1660 to 166, Rembrandt appears old, wrinkled, and tired. Glancing in the mirror, Rembrandt said of these final portraits, ...and I came, it may be, to look for myself and recognize myself. What have I found? Death painted I see...
The study of Rembrandts self portrait painted in 1640. 10x80cm, oil on canvas. We find this portrait was inspired by Italian works. The portrait of Baldassarre Castiglione, by Raphael at the Louvre and the Portrait of a Man, by Titian, in the National Gallery. This canvas is semi-circular at the top. Rembrandt shows himself three-quarters turned towards the right, his right arm rests on a stone ledge, he is wearing a white sleeved velvet coat embellished with fur around the neck, and a flat barrette. His self portrait is based on a triangle. One of the fundamental forms or renaissance painting. Rembrandt, however, in accordance with the Barroque ideal, introduces a strong diagonal; this diagonal is interacted by the light areas of the head, shirt and hand, thus making the image less static. Care and application remained characteristics of Rembrant's work.He was known to make at least ten different sketches before being satisfied with a draft for a painting.
The second study of self portrait as The Apostle Paul, oil on canvas 1x77cm. Rembrandt often painted pictures of Paul so Paul obviously had a major impact on his life. In his paintings, he tried to capture the force and emotion of Pauls letters. His head is turned in a diagonal fashion in which he looks right at the beholder. He is perhaps holding the Old Testament, and the sword symbolic of Paul lies at his side. This was painted in a time where Rembrandts own life was filled with hardships, and it seems that this reflects his mood at the time. It is interesting that he identifies himself with Paul, no stranger to dark times himself.
He abandoned conventional Dutch smoothness and his surfaces were already caked with more paint than was strictly necessary to present an illusion. Rembrandt used a heavily loaded brush. Where others needed five touches he was using one, and so the brushstrokes had begun to separate and could sometimes only be properly read from a distance. The exact imitation of form was being replaced by the suggestion of it to some of his contemporaries, therefore, his paintings began to look unfinished. It was from the Venetians that he had learned to use a brown ground so that his paintings emerged from dark to light, physically as well as spiritually. Yet, despite a palette that was limited even by seventeenth century standards, he was renowned as a colorist for he managed to maintain a precarious balance between painting tonally, with light and shade, and painting in color. Just as form was suggested rather than delineated, so the impression of rich color was deceptive. He worked in complex layers, building up a picture from the back to the front with delicate glazes that allowed light actually to permeate his backgrounds and reflect off the white under painting, and generously applied body colours which mimicked the effect of solid bodies in space. Never before had a painter taken such a purely sensuous interest and delight in the physical qualities of his medium. Because of his vigorous brushwork and rougher finish rather than the popular smoother strokes his work became less popular and he became a pauper towards the end of his life.
The identities of these artists were quite different and yet all three were passionate about their art, just showing different strengths. Like Rembrandt, the story of Frida Kahlo can be read in her self-portraits. Approximately one-third of her work is the exploration of her self, physically and mentally. Kahlo created some fifty-five self-portraits as a kind of therapy to face the most troubling events of her life; there are obvious differences between the realistic portraiture of Rembrandt and the abstract expressionism of Brett Whiteley. Rembrandt relies on his physical features to portray himself, Whiteley reveals himself through a mirror he paints his surroundings as being opulent and socially all one could want, but the misery on his face warns that this doesn't necessarily bring happiness. All artists used symbols in their painting. In all of these studied self portraits, however, the artist has painted their experience of life on their face. Rembrandt painted most faithfully the physical aspects of his various self portraits; Kahlo most certainly portrayed her psychological state in her self portraits whereas Whiteley made us view the social aspects of his self portrait.
Self-portraits, we have found, can be carefully staged to show the audience only what the artist wishes to project, or deeply revealing, inadvertently displaying feelings of anguish and pain. Self-portraits have been used to test new techniques, make a signature mark, launch into self-study, remember the past, and as a way to release emotion. Whichever way artists choose to construct their images, they are each forced to study their own personas both physically and emotionally. What do artists find when they search the mirror? For some the self-portrait is cathartic experience, a letting go of pent-up emotions. For others, the process reveals new insights about themselves and their work. For all artists, the self-portrait is an exploration, an opportunity to see beyond the image in the mirror and begin to search into the soul.
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