Self-Portraits

In choosing subjects for a work of art, the possibilities are endless. Inspiration for art reaches from whatever our eyes may catch to wherever our minds may take us. This truth can be seen by merely observing the myriad of interesting themes that artists have chosen, perhaps Andres Serrano's Piss Christ or Damien Hirst's Mother and Child (Divided) come to mind. There is a subject, although often less subtle than a urine-immersed Jesus Christ and bisected cows, that many artists can't help but wander into and be fascinated by: the self-portrait. If you take a little moment to think about it, the self-portrait is really incredible. There must be so much you can learn about a person in the way that they artistically and emotionally express themselves in a physical object. The self-portrait is essentially an artist saying, "Here's how I see myself. Here's how I feel about myself." And there is no doubt that the self-portrait, seen in this manner, can be an window into understanding an artist and their work. This is especially true with self-portraits that are more expressive. In fact, this is so prominent that analyses of self-portraits are common in the field of psychology and neurology. An interesting book on the topic can be found here: Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists. Today's focus, however, will be on self-portrait drawings.

Self-Portrait by Umberto Boccioni (1910)
Artstor ID: 5734

This self-portrait of Umberto Boccioni is done in pen and ink, wash and pencil on paper. Common in the use of wash, there is a lot of tonal complexity in which the artist was able to do a lot of shading and highlighting. There is also a lot of hatching used throughout the work, most likely created by pen and ink or pencil. This is a great example of how expressive self-portraits can be. The work is overall dark and the expression worn by the artist is scrunched up with a furrowed brow.

Self-Portrait by Francisco de Goya (1795-7)
No Artstor ID

Franciso de Goya did this self-portrait with brush and gray wash on laid paper. The brush strokes come off as very soft. Also, the coloring of the wash is considerable light. Unlike Boccioni's self-portrait, Goya's work is very soft and "romantic" in style. His expression, although slightly stern, is quite kind and there is an unfinished flower on his attire.

Self-portrait in studio with nude model, done in linear style by Ramón Casas (1891-1912)
No Artstor ID

 

This self-portrait scene of the artist painting a nude in his studio is drawn by Ramón Casas in ink. As it is usually done with ink drawings, the shading composes of many lines placed closely next to one another, otherwise called hatching. There is great attention to shading and the details of fabric, however not much in the expressions of the characters. The style in this self-portrait is relatively more expressive and caricature-like than the previous two works. 

Self-Portrait Exaggerating My Negroid Features by Adrian Piper (1980)
No Artstor ID

 

 

Adrien Piper's Self-Portrait Exaggerating My Negroid Features is drawn in pencil. The style is simple like many pencil sketches, focusing on my main factors like the outline of the face and nose and eyes. There is a lot of smooth shading that seems to have been done by rubbing in the graphite, and also excellent highlights in the eyes, on the tip of the nose, cheekbones, and chin. Piper's self-portrait stands out because she intentionally added a twist to it. As the title goes, Piper chose to exaggerate certain features in her self-portrait. This is amazing because by directly altering her portrayal of herself she is shouting her self-expression. The viewers are able to see Piper in a completely different way, and they are left with a message to interpret.