JOIN JANE CONTINUING TO MAKE SENSE OF ART
And this month Jane is thinking about
portraiture.
Throughout history portraits have been commissioned to elevate and celebrate the great and the good! We see them hanging in galleries and stately homes in heavy elaborate frames. The subjects of the portraits are dressed in sumptuous clothes and are often posing in a magnificent setting, befitting of their status.
‘Seeing Each Other: Portraits of Artists’ is a thought provoking exhibition at The Pallant House Gallery in Chichester which turns the traditional idea of portraiture on its head.
The sitters for the portraits in this exhibition were artists, often close friends of the artist painting/sculpting. These works are certainly not about status – they are much more intimate and about close relationships, expressing admiration, love, empathy and above all a deep understanding about the life of an artist. Many of these relationships were forged at art school, particularly at The Slade.
The exhibition is beautifully curated telling the story of groups of British artists through the 20th century. I particularly enjoyed the early groups – seeing groups of artists through each others eyes – some serious, some playful. It gets even more interesting when there are several artists interpretations of one artist. Here are two of Frances Hodgkins. It is thought that they were both done at the same time – but they are so different and yet we can tell it is the same woman. The first is by Arthur Lett-Haines. He focussed entirely on her distinctive facial features. The second is by Cedric Morris and he gives us more about her – placing her sitting in a richly patterned room – maybe a nod to her use of colour.
Another great pairing are two paintings of John Minton, the first by Lucien Freud and the second by Michael Ayrton. Both were close friends of John Minton and they are similar in the way they capture his inner turmoil. Minton took his own life just a few years after these portraits were painted.
It’s very easy to be judgemental when looking at contemporary portraiture of people we all know – hands up – I am! Seeing several portraits of the same sitter done by different artists with close relationships to the sitter was an insight into how we perceive each other. A significant feature to one artists isn’t necessarily deemed important to another.
Here are 3 different interpretations of Barbara Hepworth by Cedric Morris, John Skeaping and Ben Nicholson.
And finally, this one by Chantal Joffe, (a self portrait with her friend Isabel Myerscough) just made me laugh! Nothing glamorous, no status, just good friendship!
