Portraits, what is a true likeness?

Sketch, Vision of Sue, by Peter Kreet

 

My first example is a quick ink and wash sketch I did a number of years ago, were the main focus was to capture the personality of the girl. It is very rough, but I feel quite lively. After all who wants to see themselves as half dead.

The Love of Portrait.

What is meant by a portrait, a photographic likeness, the capture of the spirit of an individual, realistic  academic painting, impressionist rending, and so on. Everyone has their own idea, and rightly so, after all most will live with the painting assuming that they have commissioned the work. Many artists look on portrait painting as an opportunity to earn a little money. Others may shun the whole idea declaring the practice as archaic, and only undertake the task for close friends or to learn new techniques.

 

Owning a portrait of yourself, has great appeal to many people. You only have to observe the crowds who queue up at the easel of a street artist to have their likeness drawn. Many people are reluctant to sit, fearing that their inner soul will be exposed in some way, or they fall into a type of trance that results in a lifeless portrait. Some artist paint only from a photo with a rather wooden result. Personally I feel this is rather sad, both from an artistic view point and a social experience. A few year ago a good friend of mine George Davis painted my portrait over six months, during which time we not only got to know each other very well, but enjoyed the company.

 

What constitutes a satisfactory portrait? I have taken the liberty to throw up a few possible approaches realistic or otherwise. Historically only people of wealth had their likeness painted generally by an important artist. Many of these works were produced with the artist having one eye on the reaction of the patron, rather than truthfulness. Van Dyek’s portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria comes to mind, according to Prince Rupert’s sister, the lady in question was rather short with crooked shoulders, spindly arms, and teeth that stuck out of her mouth “like guns from a fort”, not that you would  know looking at it. I know artists that feel all this is fine, after all who knows what a person looks like a hundred years or so from now, The important thing is the painting itself, its’ aesthetic, and general appeal, or even in some cases the historic context of the piece.

 

 

Joshua Smith 1943 by William Dobell

 

The portrait of Joshua Smith by William Dobell was much criticised after he won the Archibald Portrait Prize in 1943. Critics claimed the work was a caricature not a portrait, no matter what its artistic merit.

                                                        Morton May by Max Beckmann

In the painting of Morton May , Max Beckmann has been more concerned with the creation of tension within the work, while presenting the uncomplicated view of America. The painting was completed a year before his death. He was sixty-five and gravely ill, he seems to have provided a protective shield in front of the sitter in defence to his own internal illness.

                                           Self-Portrait in Black 1944 by Max Beckmann


The Self-Portrait In Black  by Max Beckmann displays great interest in shape and drama, rather than concern about correct portraiture. It was painted while in exile in Amsterdam for ten long yeards during in Second World War. His endurance seems to be at an end, as he turns in the seat and hurl bitterness and scorn at the world in general. Beckmann painted some eleven self- portraits during his lifetime and to a great  extent tracks his feelings about the world.

 

                                                      Choir Boy by Haim Soutine.

Soutine’ “Choir Boy”, like the Dobell also has that sense of caricature about it. He appears to be commenting on the petit bourgeois of Parisian  life . His work at this time was somewhat influenced by Modigliani. His colours have both humour and luminosity.

                                          Lunia Czechowska 1916 by Amedeo Modigliani

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       The Modigliani portrait has everything one would desire in a painting. Bold colour, formal design, while pushing the boundaries of restrictive art practice. It has all the qualities of good portraiture, tone, tension ,texture , balance and aesthetic appeal.

                                                     Thomas Carlyle by Whistler.

The last example Whistler’s portrait of Thomas Carlyle allows us to see howl portrait painting has evolved over recent years. Although this work could not be described as a standard portrait, it never the less embodies the conventions of 19^th cent. traditions.

                                                   Self-Portrait by Peter Kreet.

 

Finally another quick sketch, a likeness  captured with a limited amount of means. The idea was to capture the essence with as little detail as possible.

Canadian Artist Brian Fisher.Memories of Rome

Enigma 1966 Queen's University, Kingston.

A few weeks ago, I learnt of the untimely death of my very dear friend Brian Fisher. We first meet some fifty odd years ago at the Accademia di Belli Arti, in Rome. Brian had arrived with a Canada Council grant in his pocket, and had decided to study the Renaissance masters at their source. Over the next year or so we got to know each other very well, spending days exploring the some eighteen hundred sites worth viewing in Rome. Eating together in some rather run down and questionable restaurants in the back streets of the city. We would walked up and down narrow streets, and across piazzas discussing everything under the sun as young men are prone to do, we would often make up free form poetry about the city as we went, of particular interest was the activity of the Roman dogs.It was an exciting time to be in Europe, the full impact of abstraction was making itself felt. Galleries held exhibitions of Tapies, de Stael Wols, Karel Appel, Fontana, Burri to name just a few, all within walking distance of our front door. Mark Rothko held a major exhibition down at the British School in Rome, that for young artists from the "new' world took our breath away.

Our mornings were taken up drawing various over weight models in the life drawing class, and then apart from excellent lectures in the afternoon the days were ours. We were fortunate to have a philosopher in the form of Prof. Reviasici who had been a close friend of Benedetto Croce during the 1930s.  He was very distressed at the direction the world was taking, the urban development, electrical wires clouding out the Roman sky.The Academy was full of students from all over the world, Americans, Germans, even Iceland was represented, so there was a wide range of viewpoints from which to draw.

Detail . Transfixion. Dept. of External Affairs.

Brian ,as I remember him was a very methodical person, who thought problems from a somewhat mathematical perspective. Looking back it was a quality he remained faithful too for most of his life. At the time he was a great fan of Mark Tobey, and his calligraphic impulses, reference to Chinese brush painting. like many young people at the time we were both influenced by Zen and its simplicity of form. The exhibition we held together in 1963 at Il Bilico, exemplifies his approach at the time. He would talk a lot about his teachers in Vancouver who had influenced him, Roy Kiyooka and Ron  Bloore's white paintings ,that he felt spelt out the future. of art. During my second year in Rome I saw a lot less of him, as his partner Carol Itter arrived from Canada intending to study stage and costume design at the Academy.

                                                             Early work Rome 1962.

The following year we meet up again in London, were I was studying stained glass, and he offered to sponsor my immigration to Canada. This was very kind, as it gave me the opportunity to settle in Canada. It so happened that , Toronto Cathedral was being built, and an SOS had been sent out for stained glass artist. After a short stay in Vancouver, my wife and I returned to Australia. , to visit her family.

It was only when we met up again in Tasmania, that I learnt of his successful career in the Canadian art world. His major commissions for postage stamps, murals at Montreal International Airport, various other venues. His work had sold well, and had been purchased by all the major galleries in Canada. But it was not to last, after we renewed our friendship, he was struck down by some bone disorder that resulted in the loss of a leg. Brian never seemed to be able to come to terms with his new physical condition, somethingg I can fully understands, who wants to lose their leg. Then recently he developed a tumor on his brain, that in the end carried him off. Unfortunately, I was in Laos when this happened, so was unable to say a proper goodbye. He leaves behind his lovely wife Joy, and devoted daughter and son. . Brian Fisher has left the world a richer place than he found it, I am sure in generations to come people will remember Brian Fisher through his paintings.

"Wheel" !988. Personal collection.