Research Point 1 – Artists' self-portraits!!Do some research into artists’ self-portraits. Some artists – most notably Rembrandt and van Gogh – painted numerous self-portraits, but there are plenty of other examples. Choose five or six self-portraits that particularly appeal to you. Try and choose examples that cover a broad time span and a range of painting techniques. Look carefully at these and make notes in your learning log. For example, does the artist portray himself or herself as an artist? What is the purpose of the self-portrait? What impression is the artist trying to convey? What impression is actually conveyed? If possible, compare your chosen self-portraits with portraits of the same sitter by other artists. What does this comparison tell you?!!For this exercise I found myself with a difficult choice - selecting 5 or 6 self-portraits that particularly appeal to me. !!Rembrandt, for example painted more that 90 self-portraits over a period of some 40 years or so during his lifetime 
[ source: http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/rembrandt_self_portraits.htm ], !!while van Gogh painted over 30 portraits of himself during the three years 1886 to1889 [ source: http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/selfportrait.html ].!!The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) has produced a ‘Teacher’s Guide to self-portraits from the 17th to 21st centuries’, which categorises the self-portrait into three categories: Self-advertisement; Self-image; and Self-knowledge. The wealth of self-portraiture over the centuries is highlighted for me by the mere fact that none of the twelve artist self-portraits analysed in this guide feature in my selection - and there are so many more to chose from.!!The three NPG descriptions are as follows:!!Self-advertisement!The self-portrait is the artist’s most intimate personal legacy, and most public form of self-advertisement. Self-portraits are often specific in intention, recording particular moments in an artist’s personal or professional life. We find certain works clearly state the artist’s occupation by the inclusion of brushes, palettes, portfolios, pencils, easels; whilst others indicate success and status by concentrating on fashionable clothing, smart interiors and diverse proofs of wealth. The very nature of the drawing or painting, the actual technique of applying ink, pencil, chalk or charcoal to paper, or paint to canvas - the distinguishable mark-making - can convey information about the character and type of artist represented. Artists define their aesthetic perceptions by every decision made in the art-work produced. Each line, colour, shape and the consequent relationships between them become part of the expressive self and define a creative identity. ‘I am my style’, said Paul Klee.!Self-image!In a self-portrait the artist is his or her own flexible and free model; always available, day or night, ready to take on any number of disguises, gestures or expressions, without needing to explain these to a sitter, or to analyse the reasons for themselves. Self-portraits are rarely commissioned works, and thus they have their own autonomy and sense of self-investigation, unrestricted by outside constraints.!Self-knowledge!The self-portrait records physical appearance, and some artists examine how they age by repeatedly recording themselves. Sometimes mood, feelings, character and emotions invade the picture and these works have an independent spirit of their own. Because this type of work combines shrewdly-observed physical characteristics with artistic bravura, a naked quality of self-knowledge emerges.![ source: http://www.npg.org.uk/assets/files/pdf/learning/NPG_17-21C_portraits.pdf ]!!I decided to try and present a collection of artists’ self-portraits that spanned a period of six centuries that had a real resonance with me - here’s what I came up with:!

http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/rembrandt_self_portraits.htmhttp://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/selfportrait.htmlhttp://www.npg.org.uk/assets/files/pdf/learning/NPG_17-21C_portraits.pdf

16th century - Albrecht Dűrer [German, 1471-1528] - http://www.albrecht-durer.org !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Self portrait at 26/27, late 15th century! ! ! Self portrait II, early 16th century!!When I look at these two self-portraits, and I believe there was an earlier third self-portrait, I think that there are clearly elements of ‘self-knowledge’ as defined by the NPG demonstrated here:!!• Self-knowledge - the recording of physical appearance - younger to older - through time.!!In particular, the elegant young man of the c1498 painting with his long curly locks of hair comes across as a confident, well-dressed and comfortably-off individual, brightly painted and with a hint of the wider world seen through the background window - a man of that world?!!In contrast, the c1500 (only two years later?) painting is a much darker depiction of the artist in an almost Christ-like pose and still with his long curly cascading locks of hair - with more knowledge - worldly-wise, or weary?!!By my calculation, Dűrer lived for 57 years. His main body of work was in printmaking and woodcuts, plus a significant number of drawings and watercolours, with around 60 surviving oil paintings. !![ source: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/D/durer.html ]!!!!!!!!!

17th century - Rembrandt van Rijn [Dutch, 1606-1669] - http://www.rembrandtpainting.net !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Self portrait as a young man, 1628!!!

According to Susan Fegley Osmond, Rembrandt was a particularly prolific self-portraitist:!!‘… he depicted himself in approximately forty to fifty extant paintings, about thirty-two etchings, and seven drawings. It is an output unique in history; most artists produce only a handful of self-portraits, if that. And why Rembrandt did this is one of the great mysteries of art history.’ 
[ source: http://blog.oup.com/2010/07/rembrandt/ ].!!There have been many theories put forward trying to explore this mystery: ranging from self-image, status and success; through using himself as a ‘cheap’ model for studies for paintings resulting in self-portraits showing extreme facial expressions; meeting ‘market’ demand for the popular genre of the time known as ‘tronies’ (head-and-shoulder studies in which the model plays a role or expresses a particular emotion); a more psychological interpretation of identity self-discovery; to the perceived honesty of his self-examination.!!‘To sum up, there are four possibly competing, possibly compatible explanations or analyses of the prolific self-portraiture Rembrandt engaged in throughout his life. First, he was advancing a view of himself as a successful gentleman, at the same time as he was acquiring commissions, forming a successful studio, setting up a vast household in Amsterdam, etc. Second, he was both working on, and at the same time more or less arguing for, his status as a successful artist. Third, he was trying on different versions of himself to see which would fit best. And fourth, he was exploring his countenance as a way of facing and coming to terms with his own aging and mortality, impelled no doubt by the losses he had faced of both wives and of his beloved young son Titus.’![ source: http://blog.oup.com/2010/07/rembrandt/ ].!!So, what we find here with Rembrandt could almost be described as a ‘covering all the bases’ approach and in relation to the NPG categorisation, his self-portraits can be seen to cover all three descriptions: self-advertisement, self-image and self-knowledge.!!I chose ‘Self portrait as a young man, 1628’ particularly because of the understated, almost delicate and subdued depiction of the fresh-faced Rembrandt recording the start of his artistic journey as a planned programme of work which ultimately does now act as a visual autobiography. This is Rembrandt ‘starting out’.!!

18th century - Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin [French, 1699-1779] -!http://www.jean-baptiste-simeon-chardin.org !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Self portrait with eyeshade, 1775!!I chose this self-portrait as a fine example of ‘portraiture in pastels’. Towards the end of his life, Chardin’s eyesight deteriorated and he began to work in this medium, particularly on paintings of his wife and himself.!!If I was to assign this self-portrait to the NPG descriptions, I would chose:!!• self-advertisement - an artist in his later years, ‘an artful fellow’ *, dealing with visual

impairment in order to carry on with his work, extra large spectacles and visor to help manage the light and working in a new medium to him - pastels [ * source: http://www.brooklynrail.org/2012/09/artseen/jean-baptiste-simon-chardin-chardins-visor ];!!

• self-knowledge - the spirit of the artist shines through, embracing his frailties, not giving up despite ‘tired eyes’ - a sensitive and revealing self-portrait displaying tonal gradations of pastel colour that pick out the head and shoulder features of the artist in what seems to me to be an air of celebration against adversity.!!

‘Chardin had his outsize eyeglasses, made in England, because his eyes had suffered from the burning effects of lead-based pigments and mediums, which is also what led him, in his old age, to turn from oil paint to the pastel of his self-portrait—and at times to wear a visor when working.’![ source: http://www.brooklynrail.org/2012/09/artseen/jean-baptiste-simon-chardin-chardins-visor ]!!I do like working with pastels, especially messy soft pastels, blending and rubbing to achieve a degree of subtlety of colour mixes, and for me I see in this painting an extremely experienced eye and subtle use of warm pinks and reds, complemented and softened with cooler greens, blues and greys - sometimes reflected and at times shining through a complementary surface colour. !

19th century - Gustave Courbet [French, 1819-1877] - http://www.gustavecourbet.org !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The desperate man 2, 1845!!The 19th century Realist painter Courbet’s underlying driving force was his belief in and understanding of ‘… the independent artist and the ties between art and politics’ [ source: !Herding, K.  (1996).  Courbet.  In: Turner. J. (ed); !cited in http://ericwedwards.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/the-art-of-gustave-courbet/ ].!!His main body of work between 1840 and 1850 portrayed the peasants and labourers who he saw as fundamental to shaping his political beliefs and his championing of the common man as a worthy artistic subject. In later years he also turned to landscapes, seascapes, still lifes and nudes.!!His early self-portraits certainly seem to fit the NPG descriptions of self-advertisement and self-image and are painted more in the style of the earlier Romantic school of painting. !!‘The desperate man’ for me is quite an electrifying painting, with strong light and complementary shades and the staring wide-open eyes and intense grasping of the hands strongly depicts the character and emotion suggested by the painting’s title. It possibly also shows us something of Courbet’s own personality:!!‘Bold, wily, radical, ambitious and determined. Determined to challenge established painting genres, protest against traditional clichés, and change the course of art history.’!![ source: http://www.galleryintell.com/artex/the-desperate-man-gustave-courbet/ ].!!!!!!!!!!

19th century - Vincent van Gogh [French, 1853-1890] - http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Self portrait as a painter, 1888!!Of all his self-portraits, this is one of just a few in which we see van Gogh as an artist, with easel, canvas, palette, paint and brushes. This self-portrait sits very well within the NPG description - self-advertisement.!!Using short brush strokes and complementary colours - blue smock and orange-red beard - the the effect is striking with each colour strengthening the other. The juxtaposition of colours on the face also work very well, with the green and red lines merging to present as grey shadow. This is a fairly serious self-portrait that, to me, suggests that van Gogh was intent in depicting himself proudly as the artist he was, with confidence.!!In contrast, Paul Gaugin’s 1888 ‘Van Gogh painting sunflowers’ depicts a gentler, less strident, more muted portrait of the artist at work, one probably painted from memory

rather than from direct observation.!![ source: !

http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?page=3973&collection=454&lang=en ]!

20th century - Camille Pissarro [French, 1830-1903] - http://www.tate.org.uk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Self portrait, 1903!!Best known for his large body of landscapes and urban views, many including the human figure at work and in their daily life, Pissarro painted four self-portraits during his lifetime. !!At the end of his life, this oil self-portrait was his last and tells the story of a quiet, modest but authoritative and respected figure - the ‘Father of Impressionism’. The brush strokes are dabs of paint carefully positioned in the style of ‘purer Impressionism’. 
[ source: http://www.camille-pissarro.org/biography.html ].!!At 73, Pissarro hardly had any need for self-advertisement, and there is no indication here that the subject was an artist, but I can see elements of the NPG descriptions self-image and self-knowledge in this late work: the independent spirit of the man shines through and the mood of the composition for me quietly sets about celebrating a life well spent.!!“Pissarro bridged the 19th and 20th centuries in his art and life. Despite his humble nature, Pissarro’s legacy—his unrelenting interest in change, his influence on seminal artists such as Cézanne and Gauguin, and his steadfast opposition to the artistic establishment—powerfully shaped the development of the early 20th-century avant-garde.” !![ source: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/461800/Camille-Pissarro/235518/The-crisis-of-Impressionism-and-Neo-Impressionism ].!!!!!!!!!

20th century - John Byrne [Scottish, 1940-to date] - http://johnbyrneart.com!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[ image source: http://www.nationalgalleries.org ].!!!

Self portrait in a flowered jacket, 1972!!Paisley-born Byrne has designed theatre sets and record covers, written plays and painted self-portraits amongst his other works. A 2008 retrospective exhibition of his body of visual art works at the Moray Arts Centre, Findhorn, Moray brought together a selection of pieces spanning some forty years.!!“A keenly observed sense of character, humour and irony pervade his work both as a playwright and visual artist. This quality is well represented by portraits and self portraits in the exhibition.” [ source: http://northings.com/2008/07/26/john-byrne-moray-art-centre-findhorn/ ].!!In terms of the NPG descriptions, there are elements of all three categorisations present in this Byrne self-portrait:!!• self-advertisement - the artist as artist, a confident front-on portrait with palette and brush

to hand, vibrant colours and very ‘flower-power’ and of its time;!• self-image - the artist as artist, as ‘Patrick’ his alter-ego;!• self-knowledge - ‘artistic bravura’ (florid, show-offy, skilful). !! !!!!!!

21st century - Birgit Megerle [German, 1975-to date] - http://www.moma.org!!!!!!Self portrait with peaked cap, 2008!!!!Theatre, photography, cinema all appear to influence this self-portrait. While life is present here in the painted figure, there is an underlying sense of emptiness, a frozen image in space and time. This is like a storyboard image for a screen play or theatre production - a static point in the movement of a much wider ongoing story surrounding the individual figure - movement to stillness to movement.!![ source: Phaidon Editors. (2011) Vitamin P2: new perspectives in painting. Phaidon Press. pp210-211].!!“Birgit Megerle’s figurative and abstract paintings are characterized by an artificial, rigid, and stage-like atmosphere. The female characters featured in her works are poised with a determination and a readiness to act, and while based in a tradition of representational painting, they are eerily unreal and remote.” [ source: http://www.sternberg-press.com ].!


The exhibition catalogue that accompanied Megerle’s exhibition at The Kunsthalle Lingen contemporary art gallery, Lingen, Germany in the fall of 2010 contained a few essays on Megerle’s work. An essay by Vanessa Joan Müller succinctly captures the essence of the artist’s work:!!“Her pictures use authentic artistic means to aspire to architectural or statuesque forms and are sometimes even reminiscent of the cinematic, despite being characterised by a stationary reality that knows neither time nor movement.” !
[source: Megerle, B. (2010) Birgit Megerle. Exhibition catalogue. Berlin: Stenberg Press. p115].!!In terms of the three NPG descriptions already cited, what I see here in this self-portrait is a combination of:!!• self-advertisement - ‘I am my style’.!• self-image - ‘I am ready’.!• self-knowledge - ‘I am timeless’.!!!!Stuart Brownlee - 512319!!24th March, 2014