Self Portraits

Brandon Salvas

3-17-11

G Block WAVI

Self Portraits

1)      Rembrandt van Rijn- Self Portrait, 1659, Netherlands

Vincent Van Gogh- Self Portrait, 1889, Zundert

Susanna Coffey- Slam Dunk, 2003, United States

Lucian Freud- Self Portrait, Reflection, 2002, England

Kathe Kollwitz- Self Portrait, 1921, Germany

Paul Gauguin- Caricature Self Portrait, 1889, France

Gregory Gillespie- Self Portrait, 1978, United States

Pablo Picasso- Self Portrait, 1907, Spain

Paul Cezanne- Self Portrait with Rose Background, 1875, France

Brett Gamache- Self Portrait (frontal view), 2008, United States

2)                There are great similarities in many of these works that can be noticed when you first look at them. Three of these self portraits in particular seem very similar in how they were painted. Vincent Van Gogh’s, Rembrandt van Rijn’s, and Lucian Freud’s self portraits are painted in similar styles in which you can see the brush strokes on the canvas and also it looks like the paint is raised up in some areas. These similarities can easily be seen and noticed by all.

3)                In my opinion, the strongest self portrait on the list is that of Rembrandt van Rijn’s. His self portrait done in 1659 shows his artistic ability as well as his ability to show emotions through his paintings. The portrait has a very rough texture and the background is shaded darkly. Also the look in his eyes shows sadness and I believe that all of these elements make the image more powerful.

4)                I believe that there are many reasons why artists make self portraits of themselves. One possible reason is that they aren’t painting for the money and they just want to use their artistic ability, most people don’t want pictures of other people on their walls and maybe the artists realize that. I believe a more logical reason why is that the artist uses the self portrait as a way of expressing them self. Self portraits don’t always look exactly like the artist and it can be how they see themselves on the inside and how they feel. Nobody knows the real reason why except the artist.