The Self Portrait : An Interesting Genre Of Work

For my term paper I decided to go to the Cantor Museum in Palo Alto, and I chose to focus on two portraits of women from two distinct time periods. First, I decided on the portrait of Margaret Blagge, Wife of Sidney, 1st Earl of Godolphin. This portrait was painted by the artist Matthew Dixon in 1675, in the Baroque period of art. The portrait of Margaret Blagge was done in England, and it was painted as an oil on canvas. The second artwork I chose to compare was the Portrait of Sally Fairchild by John Singer Sargent. This portrait was done from the year 1884 to 1887 during the Realism movement in art. The portrait of Sally Fairchild was painted in the United States of America, and was painted as an oil on canvas. When comparing these two portraits

Have you ever looked at a piece of art and wondered how it could be based on real life, because it was just so beautiful? Well Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun was able to paint in such new and exciting ways; people were left wondering just this. Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun was a woman of many talents. In her life time she came up with new ways of painting, revolutionized fashion in France, and overcame any prejudice thinking because she was a woman. Before dying at the age of eighty-seven, she had gained the respect of women and men all across the world. Being a female artist in the eighteenth century was not easy, especially when you had to keep a career and your life together during the

In this essay, I will be discussing how two famous artists from different times and cultures have created aesthetic qualities in artworks, communicated ideas and developed styles. Frida Kahlo and Pablo Picasso have been chosen to express two very different art styles and how both artists use elements and principles to create a distinct quality artwork. Although Frida Kahlo and Pablo Picasso come from different parts of the world and have different cultural backgrounds, both artists have practiced and explored portraiture as a way of making art.

One of her paintings, The Two Frida’s, shows us two Kahlo’s and how one person can feel and look like two totally different people after an emotional experience, in this case the divorcement of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. In the painting of “The Two Fridas” you automatically notice two women sitting

Of particular concern are the women who are celebrated and glamorized as successful and well-educated artists, actresses, and celebrities. We are so familiar with slick, glossy photographs of women such as Nicole Kidman, Drew Barrymore, rapper Lil’ Kim, or young actress Christina Ricci, that at first glance these portraits are far more celebratory, depicting the women in thoughtful, atmospheric lighting, perfect makeup and hair, beautiful clothing, and carefully-framed shots. It is very clear - these are not tabloid photos, but instead artistic portraits, to be viewed as such. The complication arises when we consider what statement Leibovitz is making about the real nature of their careers, however, as seen in a careful evaluation of the postures and presentations of these “powerful” and “successful” women.

work, an approach extremely influenced by portrait photography is present. Due to the fact of this, she

She repeatedly re-examines the woman’s roles in society and history, she doesn’t believe that her works have negative or explicit messages, which is why she leaves them untitled making them open to interpretation. In the late 1980’s she expanded her range to more gross subjects. I believe her works strongly support woman’s rights, which was, is still is a very important topic. She typically photographed herself in a range of costumes. To create her photographs, often times she would shoots alone in her workspace, taking on many roles such as make-up artist, director, talent, and so

While walking around on the second floor of the University of Michigan Museum of Art, I came across the portrait, “The Figure of a Girl in Blue” (portrait of Miss Minnie Clark) which was painted by Thomas Wilmer Dewing circa 1892. It stood out from the rest of the paintings, because it was a portrait of a woman amongst various paintings of nature and landscapes. She is trying to embody being a woman of high society, but the details of the portrait indicate otherwise. As I observed the portrait more closely I questioned why she would she would want to portray herself as something she is not. After spending some time and making more detailed observations of the woman’s characteristics, the the artistic technique, and the paintings surrounding, it lead me to think more analytically and understand the meaning behind the portrait of Miss Minnie Clark.

Painting portraits, portraits of women, youth and loved ones became more popular than scenery. Here, women are no longer mythological creatures and have stepped out into everyday life, although there is still an air of idealism around them. (Fig. 2)is a work of this period with an emphasis on the female element.

What does it mean to challenge portraiture in an age of modernity, and how can typically-labelled Renaissance-style portraiture be challenged within the contemporary world? Janet Werner, an artist/painter from Montreal, QC. has done just that. Known for her exhibitions “Another Perfect Day”, “Too Much Happiness” and “Who's Sorry Now”, Werner forces us to question what the term “portraiture” truly means through a feminist art style, and how a typically generic form of artwork, in our modern world of “selfies” and mass photography, can be transformed into a powerful message of self-reflection and self-worth. We expect portraiture's to merely be a shell of someone's self, but we expect that in the physical sense, and less so in the mental and

We wish to acknowledge our collaborators, Brianna Barker Caza, Ph.D., and Emily Heaphy, Ph.D., for their contributions to our ongoing research on the Reflected Best Self Exercise™ (RBSE™). This research served as the inspiration and conceptual anchor for this exercise. We thank Jennifer Suesse for her collaboration on the Bringing My Reflected Best Self to Life action steps, which inspired Phase 2 in this edition of the exercise. We thank the Stephen M. Ross School of Business for its continued support of the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship. We appreciate the questions and comments we have received from those who have completed and/or facilitated the RBSE™. Thank you for sharing how you have brought your

This painting demands to navigate the expectations of marginalized groups through Kahlo’s eyes. Self-portrait with Cropped Hair 1940, Frida Kahlo explores the social construct of a woman in society. With this painting she challenges and interprets the cultural definition of femininity. Through this self-portrait Kahlo eliminates most social norms of being a typical woman in society. She does this by cropping her once long black hair which holds one of the defining elements of a female, she replaces a Mexican dresses for a black suit garment, and loses the modest posture by instead taking a stern appearance.

One reason Kahlo chose to make many of her paintings self portraits is “to present the female image as something other than the object of male desire” (BOOK 46). Another reason Kahlo

Every woman is working hard to look beautiful in front of others, the beauty standard varies from one era to another, one country to another. Here are two paintings showcasing the beauty of women by two great artist. One is called “Girl with Pearl Earring” by Johannes Vermeer a Dutch artist and painted on 1665. The other is “Mona Lisa” painted by Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. In both painting, the women gives a different meaning on their concept of beauty, but both are appealing subject to see on a canvas.

Self-portraits have been used by artists for centuries to explore aspects of the self. They are the subjects they know best and artists have reflected this through their treatment of media, subject matter and techniques. Two artists who explore aspects of their personality and life experiences in their self-portraits are Frida Kahlo and Ben Quilty. Many of their artistic techniques can be derived from the same origins. Whilst there are similarities in self-portraits by any artist usually, you will find differences the norm. After all, this is what makes art and art form.