![]() It all depends on what the artist wants to achieve with the work, and also what they plan to do with it. Conversely, an artist might "kindly overlook" the person's flaws, correcting imperfections and presenting an idealized view of a person. Artists may sometimes even exaggerate a person's characteristics, good or bad, to make a caricature of the person. Another example of an unconventional pose for a portrait is Gerhard Richter's painting of his daughter, Betty, in which she is turned away from the viewer.Īn artist might choose to depict a person exactly as they are - flaws included, so that every wart, pimple or scar is clearly memorialized in paint for all to see. There have even been portraits showing just the back of a person, such as Andrew Wyeth's painting, Christina's World. The person can be facing straight ahead, depicted in 1/4 turn, captured in profile, or be turned 3/4. Another example is this fun and easy Henna Hand Designs Art Project, which shows you how to make a unique self-portrait featuring your hands! A great example is this colored pencil drawing by Alan Magee, which shows a beautifully detailed portion of a woman's braid, with the rest of her profile fading into a ghostly silhouette. A portrait can even focus on a specific part or region of the person's body, cropping out the rest. Composition, pose and sizeįor starters, portraits can show the full figure of the person, or just the head, or any combination in between. These are just a few examples of choices that artists make when composing a portrait. What do the details in this artwork tell me about this person's life?įacial expression - Does the sitter look happy, sad, contemplative, sarcastic? Lively or tired? Peaceful or angry? Friendly or menacing?Įach of these choices will effect the way that the portrait is perceived by the viewer. When looking at a portrait painting, ask yourself: Portrait paintings can reveal the sitter's place in society, their hobbies or occupation, or aspects of their personality or beliefs. The artist will carefully craft visual clues to tell the story of the person in the artwork. In this way a portrait painting or drawing can function as a biography - telling the story of that person's life. Such a portrait painting causes the viewer to wonder about the person depicted. ![]() Sometimes the person in the portrait can become iconic, representing a wider group of people from a specific period in time, who share something in common.Ī strong portrait captivates viewers, draws them into the painting, and engages their attention. What the portrait reveals may not be completely obvious - sometimes it can be cleverly implied through a certain expression or pose, an included object, or the artist's use of color. A good portrait is not just a visual representation of a person it will also reveal something about the essence of the person. Some 50 of Hals’s finest works will be brought together, including the exceptional, first-ever loan of his most famous picture, ‘The Laughing Cavalier’ (1624), from the Wallace Collection.įrom small works to large group portraits, genre scenes, and marriage portraits reunited for the first time from international collections, visitors will see the very best of his life’s work.Įxhibition organised by the National Gallery, the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and the Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin with the special collaboration of the Frans Hals Museum, Haarlemĭetail from Frans Hals, 'The Lute Player', before 1623–4.Portraits are effective and compelling when they tell us something about the person. This exhibition, the first major retrospective of Hals in more than thirty years, means a new generation can discover why he deserves his place as one of the greatest painters in Western art. A gifted artist whose deft brushwork was unparalleled, he built his reputation on a new style of portrait – highly unusual in his time – that showed relaxed, lively sitters, often smiling, and even laughing.ġ7th-century Dutch audiences were enthralled, and the popularity of his portraits earned him the status of Haarlem’s famous son. Hals was one of the most sought-after painters of his generation. ![]() There’s the hint of a smile, a hand resting nonchalantly on a hip, and just occasionally, a burst of laughter. Four hundred years since they were painted, Frans Hals’s portraits still breathe with life.
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