I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on March 10, 2017. I didn’t necessarily find many self portraits but I found intriguing pieces that made me think of self. I went with my best friend who has a quirky personality and has his specific likes and themes with art. He dislikes the city but somehow he was willing to go with me on a cold day. It was a first for me and for him! He is quite opposite to me when it comes to art. I was intrigued by the weird pieces, dark ones, and ones that don’t make sense to the eye. We walked around and he’d say “THIS IS YOU”, which I immediately appreciated because I didn’t feel so awkward liking this odd images. I couldn’t pick just two, so I decided to describe four. Apologies.
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Rush Hour, 2010
George Condo |
The first image I enjoyed was “Rush Hour” by George Condo. He used acrylic, graphite,charcoal, and pastel on canvas. This image had so many faces and distorted faces, I felt it was so unique and a bit crazy. As a writer, I connected it to characters and self as being different kinds of self. I am one person with many personalities.
This made me uncomfortable yet relieved at the same time. I think how messy it is yet how organized, made me realize how my brain is as well. I felt this image represented self in the sense that there is more than one self. In the description the artist pays homage to the masters of the past. He is inspired by many artists and combines these artists specific quirks to create an image. The descriptions mentions he uses Cubism and echos Arshile Gorky’s color-blocked
washes.
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Prescience, 1942
Charles Houghton Howard |
Another image I found was “Prescience” by Charles Houghton Howard. It’s oil on canvas. The colors are beautiful and deep. They are not bright yet the colors are vibrant. This is the first one my best friend saw and said “THIS IS YOU”. This one felt like a puzzle. I felt like if I could rearrange the shapes it would make a face, not a proportional face but a face. In the description of the image, the artist mentioned a phrase which I think is related to self. He said “to recall shapes and relations of things which are common to all mankind”. I think the self is common, images are seen daily. We see faces or hear descriptions of people daily. After seeing this image, my best friend proceeded to say this is you because it’s dark, scary, but it has some light. And then I was called Wednesday
Addams.
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Woman with a Cat, 1921
Frenand Léger |
Another image I found lovely was “Woman with a Cat” by Fernand Léger. This image is definitely a self portrait of me. Even just the title itself explains what it is, but it’s not a woman with a face or that sex appeal that is immediately assumed when the woman appears.. The painting itself is modern. Its shapes and not curves, it’s robotic, having this classic feel to the image but modernizing it by color and style. The artist painted many woman and this image was part of a collection. In the description it mentions that Léger’s subject comes from European specifically French artistic tradition. I immediately connected this to the discussion we had in class about tradition. I feel that this artist broke tradition by not painting a woman all beautiful and sexual. This one was my favorite because of the cat, a book, and the woman posing in the image. (SO ME)
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| Gala Éluard, 1924
Max Ernst |
The last Image I’d like to include is "Gala Éluard" by Max Ernst. This is oil on canvas as well and is more of a portrait than the other images. This one in the description is saying it reveals the personal and artistic lives of members of the surrealist circle. The image is surreal and beautiful. It’s sort of feels like I am reading someone’s mind. This image is the least dark of the four and actually contains a face that looks like a face. I felt this one was more self in the sense that there is a self in it, a person in it, and it shows a reflection of a life in which the others are more weird.
I feel like the ones I chose do not necessarily concentrate on self but show an image of self. I felt they were all different in their own way but they were all weird and modern. I was way too intrigued by surreal art and as my best friend said, “dark, scary, and some light”. He also mentioned the word “funky” but not sure what he meant by it. I think the way these artists show an image is by details.. Smallest details creating a whole bigger picture.
Selfie:
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| Singing in Whispers, 2017 |
I wanted something simple, black and white. I was inspired by the description of what I like, dark, scary, and light. I don't see scary but I see dark and light.
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