Self-portraits [antikvár]

Introduction ^ OOKING AT PAINTINGS is a series of books about the artistic process of seeing, thinking and painting. Painters have created self-portraits for many different reasons. For most artists, the face in the mirror is the most familiar and the most convenient model. They are working with a subject they know better than any other and are freer to experiment with new techniques. Albrecht Dürer (page 9) portrayed himself as a thoughtful young scholar to show his future in-laws that he was the ideal husband for their beloved daughter. Rembrandt Harmenz van Rijn (page 15) displayed his genius for transforming paint into life in a youthful self-portrait, one of the first of the many Rembrandt painted throughout his career. Too poor to pay a model, Vincent van Gogh used himself in a series of portraits (page 25). He developed new ways of illustrating the changing effects of sunlight with brilliant colour and expressive brushstrokes. Arshile Gorky's haunting self-portrait (page 37) expresses his love for his mother, who died when he was a teenager. Through the ghostly colours and church-like setting, he evokes his family's ancient religious beliefs. Using primary colours, Jacob Lawrence (page 43) created structural forms to represent himself as a builder of paintings. Audrey Flack (page 45) tricks the viewer into thinking that the painting is a photograph in a 1981 self-portrait. Great artists' self-portraits reveal their character, and sometimes they reveal what the painters think about themselves. When you look into a mirror with the eyes of a painter, you begin to see the person behind the image. Note: words in bold are explained in the glossary on pages 46-47.