From Margaret Chanler Aldrich's memoir Family Vista, Available on Archive.org
Previously: Talking Models, Speaking Likeness, Setting Up a Sight-Size Portrait
From Margaret Chanler Aldrich's memoir Family Vista, Available on Archive.org
Previously: Talking Models, Speaking Likeness, Setting Up a Sight-Size Portrait
Irish painter Sir John Lavery lamented in his memoirs that it is impossible to both capture a true likeness of a portrait subject and also please that subject.
The problem is compounded by the fact that most portraits are not commissioned by the subject, but rather by a relative or spouse, and their feelings must be taken into account, too.
(Portraits are by John Lavery but not the one referred to in this story)
"The day at last arrived and with it the husband. Planting himself in front of the picture with both hands resting on a gold-headed cane, he maintained an ominous silence while his eyes roamed over the canvas."
"At last, raising a hand, covering the figure, and concentrating on the head, he spoke. 'I pass the forehead and the eyes. I move my hand downwards: the nose the mouth the chin, them also I pass. I move my hand yet lower: what is this flat-chested modernity that I see? Where is the snowy amplitude of Her Ladyship? No, Sir John Lavery, that does not represent my wife.'"
"Her Ladyship stood by his chair almost in tears, saying, 'I will not have an eighth of an inch added.' I had tried to please both and, of course, had failed."
"Later, I wrote to His Lordship that I felt he was justified in his criticism, and that if he was still in the same mind I would, with his permission, cancel the commission, and that he should take back the very expensive and highly carved frame he had ordered. He accepted."
He painted another portrait over the canvas.
Quoted from The Life of a Painter by Sir John Lavery.
"Cecilia Beaux (1855-1942) had quite a different experience in Brittany. Writing about her unsuccessful efforts to get a Breton woman to pose for her, she observed, 'We found that the people, especially the country folk, did not really like les artistes.'"
Quotes from Elisabeth Nourse, 1859-1938, A Salon Career
Source: Wikipedia on Elizabeth Nourse and Cecilia Beaux
William Oberhardt (American, 1882-1958) was known for his charcoal portraits, always drawn from life, always of men.
How did he achieve such convincing likenesses, where the subject seems animated and on the verge of speech?
The answer is that he engaged his subjects in a spirited conversation. He wanted to make sure that the sitter had a delightful experience, and he tried to bring out their best in the conversation.
Most of his drawings were achieved within an hour. After laying out the overall gesture he would focus on completing the eyes early in the process, because he knew he needed to get them right or the whole effort would be futile and he would have to start over.
Sidney Dickinson by William Oberhardt
To convey an individual likeness, he focused on the unique attributes of the person's face. He preferred to portray celebrities because "they are free from the inhibitions that the average man is heir to. The celebrity usually realizes that lines, plans, and wrinkles cannot be removed without loss of individuality, the individuality that has made him prominent...The trouble is that some people don't like their own faces. When that happens, I admit, the cards are stacked against you. No matter how much of the milk of human kindness you mix with your pictorial effort, you're fighting a losing game because a portraitist cannot redesign a face and still preserve a likeness."
The new issue of Illustration Magazine has a 23 page article with dozens of examples of Oberhardt's portraits, both in charcoal and oil, together with many notes about his process, including extended excerpts from several articles by Oberhardt himself.Which is more important for face recognition: outline or tonal shapes?
When painters efface the surface of a portrait, they typically leave the eyes in a carefully finished state, both because of the psychological importance of the eyes, and to show that they're capable of painting realistically.
But not always. Sometimes artists deliberately disrupt the mouth, eyes, or head.
Michelle Kohler
Michelle Kohler says: "Most of my years spent studying were focused on portraiture, as expressed through realism. As an artistic discipline, it has been a constant throughout my life. But it was only after a fortuitous departure into abstract painting that I was able to playfully and courageously combine two disciplines. Deconstructed Realism is my expression of artistic independence and creativity as it pertains to the depth and complexity of human portraiture."
(Link to YouTube) Mia Bergeron says that her approach to painting grew out of a frustration with the academic approaches to realism.
The deconstructive approach includes not just figural work, but also landscapes and cityscapes.
Other artists that you've suggested to check out in the comments: Julie T. Chapman, Patrick Kramer, Jenny Saville,
Book: Disrupted Realism: Paintings for a Distracted World
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