Portrait painting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- See Portrait for more about the general topic of portraits.
Portrait painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to depict the visual appearance of the subject, mostly a person, whereas the portrait is expected to show the essence of the subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe a painted portrait. Portraitists create their portraits by commission or are inspired by admiration or affection for the subject. If an artist portrayes him- or herself, the result is called a self-portrait.
Portraits can depict the subject 'full body', 'half length' or 'head and shoulders'. Beside human beings, animals, pets and even inanimate objects can be chosen as the subject for a portrait.
[edit] History
Portraiture's roots are likely found in prehistoric times, although few of these works survive today. In the art of the ancient civilizations of the Fertile Crescent, depictions of rulers and gods abound, although most of these were done in a highly stylised fashion. Some of the earliest portraits of people who were not kings or emperors are the funeral portraits that survived in the dry climate of Egypt's Fayum district (illustration, below). These are the only paintings of the Roman period that have survived, aside from frescos.
The art of the portrait flourished in Roman sculptures, where sitters demanded realistic portraits, even unflattering ones. During the 4th century, the portrait began to retreat in favor of an idealized symbol of what that person looked like. (Compare the portraits of Roman Emperors Constantine I and Theodosius I at their entries.) In Europe true portraits of the outward appearance of individuals re-emerged in the late Middle Ages, in Burgundy and France.
The Renaissance marked a turning point in the history of portraiture. Partly out of interest in the natural world and partly out of interest in the classical cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, portraits—both painted and sculpted—were given an important role in Renaissance society.
Portrait medals, based on the medals made in classical times, were popular in Italy. Those by Pisanello are particularly fine. During this period the tradition of the portrait miniature began, developing out of the skills of painters of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts. Artists also revived the classical practice of making portrait busts, good examples of which are the elegant sculptures of Francesco Laurana. Profile portraits, inspired by ancient medallions, were particularly popular in Italy between 1450 and 1500. Later, profile portraits depicted donors, represented in the paintings and altarpieces they had commissioned. Important portraitists include Sandro Botticelli, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci. One of best-known portraits in the Western world is Leonardo da Vinci's painting titled Mona Lisa, which is a painting of an unidentified woman. Perhaps the finest 16th-century portraitist was Venetian artist Titian, who portrayed many leading figures of his day. Italian Mannerist artists contributed many exceptional portraits that emphasized material richness and elegantly complex poses, as in the works of Agnolo Bronzino and Jacopo da Pontormo. One of the best portraitists of 16th-century Italy was Sofonisba Anguissola from Cremona, who infused her individual and group portraits with new levels of complexity.
Northern European artists used the profile format far less often, and very seldom after 1420. In the Netherlands, Jan van Eyck was a leading portraitist; The Arnolfini Marriage (1434, National Gallery, London) is a detailed full-length portrait of a couple. Leading German portrait artists include Hans Holbein the Younger and Albrecht Dürer.
During the baroque and rococo periods (17th century and 18th century, respectively), portraits became even more important. In a society dominated increasingly by secular leaders in powerful courts, images of opulently attired figures were both symbols of temporal power and wealth, and a means to affirm the authority of certain individuals. Flemish painters Sir Anthony van Dyck and Peter Paul Rubens excelled at this type of portraiture. Also during these periods, artists increasingly studied the facial expressions that accompanied different emotions and they emphasized the portrayal of these human feelings in their work. In particular, Italian sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini and Dutch painter Rembrandt explored the many expressions of the human face. This interest fostered the creation of the first caricatures, credited to the Carracci Academy, run by painters of the Carracci family in the late 16th century in Bologna, Italy (see Annibale Carracci).
Group portraits were produced in greater numbers during the baroque period, particularly in the Netherlands. Dutch painter Frans Hals used fluid brush strokes of vivid color to enliven his group portraits, and Rembrandt experimented with unconventional compositions and chiaroscuro into the group portrait, most notably in his famous Night Watch (1642). Bernini's bust Scipione Borghese (1632) captured the subject in mid-conversation and is considered a benchmark of baroque portraiture both because of its lifelike depiction of the subject and because it showed the subject in action.
Rococo artists, who were particularly interested in rich and intricate ornamentation, excelled at the refined portrait. Their attention to the details of dress and texture increased the efficacy of portraits as testaments to worldly wealth. French painters François Boucher and Hyacinthe Rigaud proved to be remarkable chroniclers of opulence, as were English painters Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds. In the 18th century, female painters gained new importance, particularly in the field of portraiture. Notable female artists include French painter Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, Italian pastel artist Rosalba Carriera, and Swiss artist Angelica Kauffmann.
In the late 18th century and early 19th century, neoclassical artists depicted subjects attired in the latest fashions, which were derived from ancient Greek and Roman clothing styles. The artists used light that had great clarity to define texture and the simple roundness of faces and limbs. French painters Jacques-Louis David and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Italian sculptor Antonio Canova were leading practitioners of neoclassical portraiture.
Romantic artists, who worked during the first half of the 19th century, preferred to paint exciting portraits of inspired leaders and agitated subjects, using lively brush strokes and dramatic, sometimes moody, lighting. French artists Eugène Delacroix and Théodore Géricault painted particularly fine portraits, the most noteworthy being Géricault's series of portraits of mental patients (1822-1824). Spanish painter Francisco de Goya painted some of the most searching and provocative images of the period, including La Maja Desnuda (1800), which is believed to be a portrait.
The realist artists of the mid-19th century created objective portraits depicting ordinary people. French painter Gustave Courbet created many realistic portraits, while French artist Honoré Daumier produced many caricatures of his contemporaries. French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec chronicled some of the famous dancers in the theater. French painter Édouard Manet, whose work hovers between realism and impressionism, was a portraitist of outstanding insight and technique.
The impressionists of the late 19th century relied on family and friends to model for them and painted intimate groups and single figures represented either outdoors or in light-filled interiors. French painters Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Pierre Auguste Renoir created some of the most popular images of individual sitters. Noted for their shimmering surfaces and rich dabs of paint, these portraits are often disarmingly intimate and very appealing. American artist Mary Cassatt, who worked in France, was noted for her engaging portraits of mothers and children. Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh, both postimpressionist artists of the late 19th century to early 20th century, painted revealing portraits of people they knew, but they are best known for their powerful self-portraits. Early 20th-century artists expanded the repertoire of portraiture. Fauvist artist Henri Matisse produced powerful portraits using nonnaturalistic, even garish, colors for skin tones. Spanish artist Pablo Picasso painted many portraits, including several cubist portraits, in which the likeness of the subject is inferior to the stylistic appearance. Expressionist painters provided some of the most haunting and compelling psychological studies ever produced. German artists such as Otto Dix and Max Beckmann, as well as Austrian painter Oskar Kokoschka, produced notable examples of expressionist portraiture.
Portrait production in Europe and the Americas declined in the middle of the 20th century, a result of the increasing interest in abstraction and nonfigurative art. More recently, however, there has been a revival of portraiture. English artists such as Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon have produced powerful paintings. Many contemporary American artists, such as Chuck Close, have made the human face a focal point of their work.
The end of the 20th century marked a revival of figurative art and as a side effect the market for painted and sculpted portraits increased significantly. Beside the market for corporate and clerical portraits, that has been quite stable through the ages, it became common practice for the middle-class to commission portraits of children, beloved ones, whole families or even pets.
[edit] See also
- The New Age “Art Notes” column of 28 February 1918 is a closely reasoned analysis of the rationale and aesthetic of portraiture by B.H. Dias (pseud. of Ezra Pound), an insightful frame of reference for viewing any portrait, ancient or modern.
[edit] References
- ^ For media coverage and interpretation, see e.g. Adam Sage. "Cave face 'the oldest portrait on record'", Times Online, June 05, 2006.
