Quote:

I don't think that Joyce would want this one on her wall, however, it is very special.

Click on the image for enlargement. It is wonderful.

Gustave Courbet — The Desperate Man (self-portrait) — 1845

The self-proclaimed "proudest and most arrogant man in France," Gustave Courbet created a sensation at the Paris Salon of 1850–51 when he exhibited a group of paintings set in his native Ornans, a village in the Franche-Comté in eastern France. These works, including The Stonebreakers (1849–50; now lost) and A Burial at Ornans (1849–50; Musèe d'Orsay, Paris) challenged convention by rendering scenes from daily life on the large scale previously reserved for history painting and in an emphatically realistic style. Confronted with the unvarnished realism of Courbet's imagery, critics derided the ugliness of his figures and dismissed them as "peasants in their Sunday best."

Courbet's self portrait, The Wounded Man, painted in 1855, shows a Christ-like figure who has presumably sacrificed his life for a cause. Courbet sacrificed his comfortable bourgeoisie lifestyle to live like a bohemian in Paris.

Quote:

Quote:

I don't think that Joyce would want this one on her wall, however, it is very special.

Click on the image for enlargement. It is wonderful.

Gustave Courbet — The Desperate Man (self-portrait) — 1845

The self-proclaimed "proudest and most arrogant man in France," Gustave Courbet created a sensation at the Paris Salon of 1850–51 when he exhibited a group of paintings set in his native Ornans, a village in the Franche-Comté in eastern France. These works, including The Stonebreakers (1849–50; now lost) and A Burial at Ornans (1849–50; Musèe d'Orsay, Paris) challenged convention by rendering scenes from daily life on the large scale previously reserved for history painting and in an emphatically realistic style. Confronted with the unvarnished realism of Courbet's imagery, critics derided the ugliness of his figures and dismissed them as "peasants in their Sunday best."

Courbet's self portrait, The Wounded Man, painted in 1855, shows a Christ-like figure who has presumably sacrificed his life for a cause. Courbet sacrificed his comfortable bourgeoisie lifestyle to live like a bohemian in Paris.

Hi Roger,

I agree Courbet's Desperate Man is wonderful. I had not realized it was a self-portrait, and that somehow makes it all the more valuable for me. The bad criticism it received should not cause surprise, great breakthroughs particularly in art will usually provoke envy among the lesser endowed artists and the critics.

I also like Robert Lenkiewicz's self portrait, though to look at his stern stare would also make me unconfortable if I happened to enter a room with the painting hanging at a preferential place on a wall. Joyce's remark in this regard is interesting. I guess both she and you are right as to the cause of the difference between men and women in their facial expressions, and feminist Marie Laurencin's photo and self portraits on page 14 are a good example of it as well: her look in the photo is almost manly, while the ones in her self portraits are softened as becomes a woman.

Back to Lenkiewicz's self portraits, there could also be an attempt to impress their viewers still more than his blond, almost white, hair could of itself. To me, this is suggested by the fact that the author has resorted to light up a number of the hairs individually around his head, which most certainly act as eye-catchers as well.

Thanks for sharing all these.

Miguel

Miguel,

Loved your comments.

It makes the forum worthwhile.

If only more would post. Visitor numbers are good byt postings few.

Roger

1835 Self portrait

Emile Jean Horace Vernet

(1789 – 1863)

the Director of the French Academy inRome from 18287 to 1834.

This picture is depicted in his studio amongst Arabian props which were probably collected on one of his Algerian trips.

Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto

(1519 - 1594)

1588 Self portrait

.

1546 - 8?

Angelica Kauffmann

(1741 – 1807)

.

Swiss born Angelica Kauffman was famed for her decorative paintings and produced many graceful self portraits.

This is a beautifully painted self portrait

I once employed a young man who was a direct decendant of this lady. his family had lost many works of art to the Nazis during WWII.