Self-portraiture shows no sign of losing its ability to capture the public imagination. Given our current proclivity to snap and share 'selfies' in seconds, it is unsurprising to find a renewed interest in the genre among general audiences and students. Self-portraits have the power to illuminate a range of universal concerns, from identity, purpose and authenticity, to frailty, futility and mortality. In this volume, curator Natalie Rudd expertly casts fresh light on the self-portrait and its international appeal, exploring the historical contexts within which self-portraits have proliferated and considering the meanings they hold today. With commentaries on works by artists ranging from Jan van Eyck and Artemisia Gentileschi to Francisco Goya, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo and Jenny Saville, the book explores the emotive and expressive potential of self-portraiture, and its capacities to distance or to demystify. Can self-portraits offer windows into artistic process? Is there ever a singular identity to be captured? Is it necessary for a self-portrait to depict the human form? In her vibrant and timely discussion, Rudd dissects these and other important questions, revealing the shifting faces of individuality and selfhood in an age where we are interrogating notions of personal identity more than ever before. With 97 illustrations in colour

This book analyzes the philosophical origins of dualism in portraiture in Western culture during the Classical period, through to contemporary modes of portraiture. Dualism - the separation of mind from body - plays a central part in portraiture, given that it supplies the fundamental framework for portraiture's determining problem and justification: the visual construction of the subjectivity of the sitter, which is invariably accounted for as ineffable entity or spirit, that the artist magically captures. Every artist that has engaged with portraiture has had to deal with these issues and, therefore, with the question of being and identity.

Taking inspiration from artists of the Renaissance to Rococo periods, contemporary artist Arabella Proffer has re-imagined the mannerist portrait with a pop surrealist twist. After researching fashion history, heraldry, and peerage protocol, she went on to create her own world parallel to that of old world Europe. Concocting a family legacy -- ancestors that could belong to anyone it has become an impulse and a passion the artist continues to explore, adding characters and stories to her ever-growing private empire of punks, goths, and nobility behaving badly. Included are over 40 portraits created between 2000 and 2011, their stories, family trees, map and more, as well as a foreword by Josh Geiser of Creep Machine and Paper Devil.

This title was first published in 2000: In their stunning simplicity, George Romney's portraits of eighteenth-century gentry and their children are among the most widely recognised creations of his age. A rival to Reynolds and Gainsborough, Romney was born in 1734 on the edge of the Lake District, the landscape of which never ceased to influence his eye for composition and colour. He moved in 1762 to London where there was an insatiable market for portraits of the landed gentry to fill the elegant picture galleries of their country houses. Romney's sitters included William Beckford and Emma Hart, later Lady Hamilton. An influential figure, one of the founding fathers of neo-classicism and a harbinger of romanticism, Romney yearned to develop his talents as a history painter. Countless drawings bear witness to ambitious projects on elemental themes which were rarely executed on canvas. Richly illustrated, this is the first biography of Romney to explore the full diversity of his oeuvre. David A. Cross portays a complex personality, prone to melancholy, who held himself aloof from London's Establishment and from the Royal Academy, of which Sir Joshua Reynolds was President, and chose instead to find his friends among that city's radical intelligentsia.

Open this book as an absolute beginner, and come away as a proud portrait artist

Mark and Mary Willenbrink's"Absolute Beginner" books have helped thousands of novices tap into their inner artists. In this book, Mark and Mary help the beginning artist take on portraits, showing that absolutely anyone can draw faces. Their encouraging, easy-to-follow instruction style makes learning fun--you'll be amazed by how quickly you achieve impressive results.

You may be a beginner now, but not for long "Drawing Portraits for the Absolute Beginner" covers everything from warming up with sketches, and capturing facial expressions, to framing your finished work. Page by page, you'll build the skills and confidence you need to draw lifelike portraits of your friends and family.

What's Inside:

• A simple two-stage approach to drawing portraits: sketch a likeness, then build up values to bring it to life
• Step-by-step instruction for drawing eyes, noses, mouths, hairstyles, hands, glasses and other tricky elements
• 13 complete demonstrations featuring a range of ages and ethnicities
• Tips for evoking more personality in your portraits by using props, costumes and accessories

This title was first published in 2000: In their stunning simplicity, George Romney's portraits of eighteenth-century gentry and their children are among the most widely recognised creations of his age. A rival to Reynolds and Gainsborough, Romney was born in 1734 on the edge of the Lake District, the landscape of which never ceased to influence his eye for composition and colour. He moved in 1762 to London where there was an insatiable market for portraits of the landed gentry to fill the elegant picture galleries of their country houses. Romney's sitters included William Beckford and Emma Hart, later Lady Hamilton. An influential figure, one of the founding fathers of neo-classicism and a harbinger of romanticism, Romney yearned to develop his talents as a history painter. Countless drawings bear witness to ambitious projects on elemental themes which were rarely executed on canvas. Richly illustrated, this is the first biography of Romney to explore the full diversity of his oeuvre.

Whether you re an aspiring artist or new to the medium, seasoned instructor and accomplished artist Nathan Fowkes makes drawing portraits in charcoal not only accessible, but also a real pleasure! From stocking the best supplies to using them effectively, and composing a portrait while avoiding common mistakes, How to Draw Portraits in Charcoal by Nathan Fowkes will place you firmly on the path to producing the charcoal portraits you've dreamed of creating. His easy-to-follow tips, in-depth tutorials, and valuable exercises make this guide your first step toward building an understanding and appreciation for every face you draw. This handy book will equip you with the skills to capture them in beautiful charcoal fashion."

A new account of painting in early modern England centered on the art and legacy of Anthony van Dyck As a courtier, figure of fashion, and object of erotic fascination, Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) transformed the professional identities available to English artists. By making his portrait sittings into a form of courtly spectacle, Van Dyck inspired poets and playwrights at the same time that he offended guardians of traditional hierarchies. A self-consciously Van Dyckian lineage of artists, many of them women, extends from his lifetime to the end of the eighteenth century and beyond. Recovering the often surprising responses of both writers and painters to Van Dyck's portraits, this book provides an alternative perspective on English art's historical self-consciousness. Built around a series of close readings of artworks and texts ranging from poems and plays to early biographies and studio gossip, it traces the reception of Van Dyck's art on the part of artists like Mary Beale, William Hogarth, and Richard and Maria Cosway to bestow a historical specificity on the frequent claim that Van Dyck founded an English school of portraiture. Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

Commemorating twenty years of manga, FEMME FATALE showcases of all of the full color artwork from New York Time's Best Selling artist Shuzo Oshimi. Featuring cover art, posters, promotional materials and never before translated comics, this is a definitive compilation of character art from one of the best known manga artists in the 21st Century. Concept art and promotional illustrations from FLOWERS OF EVIL, INSIDE MARI, DRIFTING NET CAFE and BLOOD ON THE RAILS are also included giving readers a deeper look into Oshimi's processes and artistic mind. This collection also includes dozens of never before published in English comic pages that are a must have for Oshimi completionists.

A significant publication of original writing on Lucian Freud, including interviews with leading contemporary artists, marking the 100th anniversary of his birth Lucian Freud (1922-2011) was one of the greatest figurative painters of the twentieth century. With an unflinching eye and an uncompromising commitment to his work, he created masterpieces that continue to inspire contemporary artists to the present day. Spanning nearly 70 years, Freud's career has often been overshadowed by his biography and celebrity. This book re-examines his paintings through a broad series of original approaches. Texts by a variety of rising and established international writers explore topics ranging from the compositional echoes of old master paintings in Freud's works, to the contextualization of his practice within the class struggles of 1980s Britain. Throughout the book, leading contemporary painters such as Tracey Emin and Chantal Joffe give insightful testimony to the relevance of Freud today. Marking the 100th anniversary of Freud's birth, this publication accompanies the first major exhibition of his work in 10 years. Presenting fresh perspectives on his paintings, it introduces Freud to a new generation of scholars and enthusiasts - demonstrating his lasting international importance. Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The National Gallery, London October 1, 2022-January 22, 2023 Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid February 14-June 18, 2023

With just under a thousand portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, the National Portrait Gallery boasts some of the most treasured and famous official portraits of the Queen captured at key historic moments, as well as day-to-day images of the monarch at home and with family, following her journey from childhood, to princess and Queen, mother and grandmother. This publication highlights the most important portraits of Elizabeth II from the Gallery's Collection. Paintings and photographs from the birth of Elizabeth II to the present will take readers on a visual journey through the life of Britain's foremost icon. The book will reflect on the Queen's life, presenting family photographs alongside important formal portraits to explore how, as her reign became record-breaking, she became an iconic figure in modern British culture and history. The publication features works by key artists depicting the Queen from 1926 to the present day, including Baron, Cecil Beaton, Dorothy Wilding, Patrick Lichfield, Andy Warhol, Annie Leibovitz and David Bailey. This book features an introductory essay by Alexandra Shulman, exploring how the collected portraits depict the Queen throughout her life and reign, and a timeline of key historical events and moments from Elizabeth II's life.

Portraits of Queen Marie Leszczinska (1703-1768) were highly visible in eighteenth-century France. Appearing in royal chateaux and, after 1737, in the Parisian Salons, the queen's image was central to the visual construction of the monarchy. Her earliest portraits negotiated aspects of her ethnic difference, French gender norms, and royal rank to craft an image of an appropriate consort to the king. Later portraits by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, Carle Van Loo, and Jean-Marc Nattier contributed to changing notions of queenship over the course of her 43 year tenure. Whether as royal wife, devout consort, or devoted mother, Marie Leszczinska's image mattered. While she has often been seen as a weak consort, this study argues that queenly images were powerful and even necessary for Louis XV's projection of authority. This is the first study dedicated to analyzing the queen's portraits. It engages feminist theory while setting the queen's image in the context of portraiture in France, courtly factional conflict, and the history of the French monarchy. While this investigation is historically specific, it raises the larger problem of the power of women's images versus the empowerment of women, a challenge that continues to plague the representation of political women today.

A unique collective portrait of the United Kingdom during the national lockdown of 2020. Introduction by The Duchess of Cambridge. Text by Lemn Sissay MBE. Sunday Times Bestseller. 'Every bookcase should have this book' 'Beautifully heart-warming' and 'a keepsake for years to come'. Focused on three key themes - Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal and Acts of Kindness, this book presents a unique portrait of the UK during the 2020 lockdown, through 100 community photographs. The net proceeds from the sale of the book will be equally split to support the work of the National Portrait Gallery and Mind, the mental health charity (registered 219830) Spearheaded by The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron of the National Portrait Gallery, Hold Still was an ambitious community project to create a unique collective portrait of the UK during lockdown. People of all ages were invited to submit a photographic portrait, taken in a six-week period during May and June 2020, focussed on three core themes - Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal and Acts of Kindness. From these, a panel of judges selected 100 portraits, assessing the images on the emotions and experiences they conveyed. Featured here in this publication, the final 100 images present a unique and highly personal record of this extraordinary period in our history of people of all ages from across the nation. From virtual birthday parties, handmade rainbows and community clapping to brave NHS staff, resilient keyworkers and people dealing with illness, isolation and loss. The images convey humour and grief, creativity and kindness, tragedy and hope - expressing and exploring both our shared and individual experiences. Presenting a true portrait of our nation in 2020, this publication includes a foreword by The Duchess of Cambridge, each image is accompanied by the story behind the picture told through the words of the entrants, and further works show the nationwide outdoor exhibition of Hold Still.

The first extended study of Frank Auerbach's remarkable portrait drawings reveals their complexity and ambition as works of graphic art This book offers an original approach to one of Britain's leading artists: Frank Auerbach (b. 1931). It looks in detail at his portrait drawings, which Auerbach has been making since the 1950s, and which he has always considered important, freestanding works of art. By turns eerie, shocking, enigmatic, and hauntingly tender, they demand fresh interpretation and investigation. Reproducing more than 130 examples of these portraits, some for the first time, and featuring new essays by curators, scholars, and critics, this book provides an unprecedented opportunity to explore and reassess these striking and sometimes unsettling works of graphic art. Frank Auerbach: Drawings of People includes texts by both the editors and the artist himself, and new essays by Kate Aspinall, James Finch, Alex Massouras, David Mellor, and Barnaby Wright. Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

This wide-ranging collection of 50 iconic portraits includes works by many of the world's most renowned artists, each with their own style, technique, and story to tell. Throughout the history of art, most of the world's greatest artists have produced portraits at some point in their careers, whether commissioned by rulers or magnates; created to preserve a cherished friend or relation; or even to capture the artist's own likeness. Arranged chronologically, each of the 50 masterworks in this book exemplifies a moment in history, or a turning point in the artist's career. Van Eyck's A Man in a Turban, Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, Sargent's Madame X, Kahlo's Self-Portrait with Necklace, Warhol's Marilyn, and many more world-famous paintings are featured in exquisite full-page reproductions accompanied by engaging and enlightening texts. An introductory essay on the history and importance of the portrait in art history and brief biographies of each artist round out this survey that provides valuable information in an attractive and affordable package.

-- Twenty of the most notorious Florida pirates from the 1500s to the present
-- Meet Sir Francis Drake, Black Caesar, Blackbeard, Jean Lafitte, Jose Gaspar
-- Piracy continues today, though the cargo is more likely to be drugs or other contraband instead of gold and silver
-- A lively read for adults and older children

As one of the first books to treat portraits of early modern women as a discrete subject, this volume considers the possibilities and limits of agency and identity for women in history and, with particular attention to gender, as categories of analysis for women's images. Its nine original essays on Italy, the Low Countries, Germany, France, and England deepen the usefulness of these analytical tools for portraiture. Among the book's broad contributions: it dispels false assumptions about agency's possibilities and limits, showing how agency can be located outside of conventional understanding, and, conversely, how it can be stretched too far. It demonstrates that agency is compatible with relational gender analysis, especially when alternative agencies such as spectatorship are taken into account. It also makes evident the importance of aesthetics for the study of identity and agency. The individual essays reveal, among other things, how portraits broadened the traditional parameters of portraiture, explored transvestism and same-sex eroticism, appropriated aspects of male portraiture to claim those values for their sitters, and, as sites for gender negotiation, resistance, and debate, invoked considerable relational anxiety. Richly layered in method, the book offers an array of provocative insights into its subject.

Catalogue and iconography of the extraordinary wealth of images of Sir Isaac Newton, both before and after his death. Sir Isaac Newton [1642-1727] is rare among figures of the past for the number of authentic paintings, engravings and images of him which survive. He was painted by some nine different artists in the latter part of his life, and after his death both portraits and sculptures continued to proliferate, the amazing demand for representations of his image demonstrating his immense fame. This iconography, lavishly illustrated in both colour and black and white, and involving the disciplines of History of Art and History of Science, catalogues 231 icons in two sections, and is thus an invaluable guide to the images. Part I contains 122 portraits and Part II 109 sculptures, about fifty of which were produced before his death, the rest from then until 1800.

The face of John Wesley (1703-91), the Methodist leader, became one of the most familiar images in the English-speaking and transatlantic worlds through the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. After the dozen or so painted portraits made during his lifetime came numbers of posthumous portraits and moralising 'scene paintings', and hundreds of variations of prints. It was calculated that six million copies were produced of one print alone - an 1827 portrait by John Jackson R.A. as frontispiece for a hymn book. Illustrated by nearly one hundred images, many in colour, with a comprehensive appendix listing known Wesley images, this book offers a much-needed comprehensive and critical survey of one of the most influential religious and public figures of eighteenth-century Britain. Besides chapters on portraits from the life and after, scene paintings and prints, it explores aspects of Wesley's (and Methodism's) attitudes to art, and the personality cult which gathered around Wesley as Methodism expanded globally. It will be of interest to art historians as a treatment of an individual sitter and subject, as well as to scholars engaged in Wesley and Methodist studies. It is also significant for the field of material studies, given the spread and use of the image, on artefacts as well as on paper.

Melanie Klein was a Viennese psychoanalyst who extended the work of Sigmund Freud in significant and innovative ways. She lived and worked in the UK from 1926 until her death in 1959. During her life she was a controversial and divisive figure and has remained so since her death; conflict between the Freudian and Kleinian strands of psychoanalysis dominated the history of psychoanalysis in the latter half of the twentieth century. The reasons why she polarised opinion are multiple and complex; partly they were related to her psychoanalytic ideas and how she expressed them but they were also intrinsic to her personality. In 2016, a pair of delicate low relief sculptures of Melanie Klein in profile were re-discovered, having been hidden away for some eighty years, and have been subsequently identified as the work of the sculptor Oscar Nemon. Roger Amos was asked to write a brief article about these sculptures for publication on the Melanie Klein Trust website. During his research, he discovered that Klein had destroyed two significant works of art depicting herself: one a bust by the same sculptor as the low relief profiles, Oscar Nemon, and the other a portrait by William Coldstream. This beautifully illustrated book is the first comprehensive review of all attempts to portray Klein during her lifetime, from her earliest childhood until her old age, including the work of painters, sculptors, and portrait photographers. It reviews the history of each artistic project and the relationship between Klein and the artist involved, locating them in a narrative of Klein's life. The complex and interrelated reasons why she chose to destroy some of the representations of herself but kept others are identified and discussed. Through an understanding of the subject/artist relationship, Amos illuminates Klein's professional life in the world of psychoanalysis. A must-read for all scholars and professionals working in the field of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and psychodynamic counselling, plus those with an interest in Melanie Klein or aesthetics, this enjoyable read shines a never-before seen light on to the world of Melanie Klein.

From its establishment in 1648 until its disbanding in 1793 after the French Revolution, the Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture was the centre of the Parisian art world. Taking the reader behind the scenes of this elite bastion of French art theory, education, and practice, this engaging study uncovers the fascinating histories - official and unofficial - of that artistic community. Through an innovative approach to portraits - their values, functions, and lives as objects - this book explores two faces of the Academie. Official portraits grant us insider access to institutional hierarchies, ideologies, rituals, customs, and everyday experiences in the Academie's Louvre apartments. Unofficial portraits in turn reveal hidden histories of artists' personal relationships: family networks, intimate friendships, and bitter rivalries. Drawing on both art-historical and anthropological frames of analysis, this book offers insightful interpretations of portraits read through and against documentary evidence from the archives to create a rich story of people, places, and objects. Theoretically informed, rigorously researched, and historically grounded, this book sheds new light on the inner workings of the Academie. Its discoveries and compelling narrative make an invaluable and accessible contribution to our understanding of this pre-eminent European institution and the social lives of artists in early modern Paris.