Part 4 Project 6 Research: Portraiture

Over the past month, I have helped my mother-in-law pack up 53 years of her life into boxes, to move into a smaller house. Over the weeks, we have discovered interesting historical finds stashed hidden in the backs of cupboards. A few finds belonged to my husband’s grandfather. Until this time, the small photograph with three medals hanging in the back study had no meaning to me. Now I know this historical character to be William Johnston a Canadian World War 1 hero. The significance of this small photograph has helped to put a face to the legendary tales of heroism I have heard over the years. It is interesting how this portrait now has a whole new sense of meaning to me. 

Elizabeth Peyton

I found reading up about Elizabeth Peyton very interesting. In the same way, that having an image to connect with the stories of my husband’s grandfather, helped me to enter into the world of William Johnston, Peyton’s exposure to literature on Napoleon and Ludwig II drove her to explore how to depict these characters based on the descriptions of others. “Reading about Napoleon made me think how people make history. They are the way the world moves, and they contain their time. It shows in their faces. I’d always made pictures of people, even when I was a little, little person. The urge was there—I just didn’t know why. When I did that first drawing of Napoleon, I realized this is something I have to do and want to do.” (The New Yorker, 2006)

What I found interesting about Elizabeth Peyton’s style is the way in which she uses broad strokes to delineate sections of her portraits. She is able to describe the features of a person using the fewest possible strokes, yet the portraits still show individuality and character. This is particularly noticeable in her portrait of one of my favorite artists, Georgia O’Keeffe after Stieglitz 1918 (Peyton, 2006). Peyton uses only a few strokes to denote the shadows on O’Keeffe’s face and neck, but retains fine detailed drawing for her refined facial features, “zooming in on some facial detail.” (The New Yorker, 2006) This article describes her work as, “Peyton’s work carries her own signature, with its bold, large-scale brushstrokes on small surfaces.” (The New Yorker, 2006)

Chuck Close

Reading articles about Elizabeth Peyton lead me to read about Chuck Close. His style is completely different from Peyton’s. It is interesting to see his total change in style from his pre-paralysis super-realistic portraits (Close, 2014-2016) to the abstracted color-saturated works of the 1990s. 

Fig. 1. Chuck Close. Big Self-Portrait, 1967-1968.

The sheer size of his Big Self-Portrait, 1967 – 1968 is remarkable. (Fig.1.) His ability to get such a fine likeness with an airbrush, on such a huge scale is quite absorbing. My daughter, who recently studied Graphic Design in Idaho, told me that these works are the ones which she recognizes from the recent Art History books she studied for her courses.

However, I particularly like his later experimentations in styles of portrayal. His wet paper pulp works were coded, almost like paint-by-numbers – an activity which was part of my childhood. Each number was assigned a different tonal value of paper pulp. It is when viewed from a distance that the image comes into focus. His use of a metal grid to create a more organic approach to his portrait, Georgia, 1984, is quite intriguing. (Close, 1984) I finally understand why I had a compulsory evening art class in handmade papermaking when I was studying art in 1989. We were never shown artworks created by using handmade papers. As our course was in the middle of Cape Town’s winter, and the papers refused to air dry, leaving our creations moldy and smelly, I never returned to handmade papermaking. Now, I can see why it was an attraction during that era.

Fig. 2. Chuck Close. Eric, 1990.

Close’s exploration into an enlarged form of pointillism is particularly stunning. Close starts with a simplified grid of undercoat colors, upon which he slowly builds up complementary and harmonious colors to create the illusion of tonal values and hue changes when viewed from afar. This can be seen in the photographs of his work technique for his painting, Eric, 1990 (Close, 1990). (Fig. 2) Unfortunately, I am only viewing his work online, using the zoom to get an idea of what areas appear in reality, but the effect of his technique seems to cause you to desire to look deeper into the image, as if it is out of focus. Each little square of his canvas ends up in having at least three or more colors which together create a hue and tonal value. How he goes from a regular photograph to this interpretation is a mystery to me.

Graham Little

It was interesting to see the very different style of Graham Little. His works are modelled to smooth perfection as the colored pencils and gouache subtly model the forms of fashion models from bygone years. His figures, however, are not glitzy and characterless, rather they display a quiet sense of contemplation and mystery.

David Datuna and Alex Gufeng

While studying the technique of Chuck Close I was reminded of the installation of Steve Jobs– Ayn Rand by David Datuna, in collaboration with Alex Gufeng. Datuna uses a similar “pixilated” style with layers that together create an image which comes into focus and is interpreted by the viewer when seen from afar. However, Datuna created his base image out of a “collage of recurring shaded portraits” of Ayn Rand. The Mironova Gallery, of Kyiv, Ukraine, is quoted as saying, that a “cascading wall of approximately one thousand optical lenses” then superimposes this background. (Taylor, 2011) These lenses are both positive and negative, described as showing the polarity of opinions that people hold on the impact that the late Steve Jobs has had on contemporary society. 


It is amazing how just three artists encompass entirely different ways of working with portraiture. It just goes to show that the human face holds great potential for different means of portrayal and interpretation, ensuring that portraiture never grows old fashioned. A philosophy purported by Elizabeth Peyton. (Peyton, 2006)


Works Cited

Close, C., 1984. Georgia. [Art] (Pace Prints, and Pace Gallery).

Close, C., 1990. Eric. [Art] (Pace Prints, and Pace Gallery).

Close, C., 2014-2016. Big Self-Portrait, 1967 - 1968. [Art] (Official Chuck Close Website).

Peyton, E., 2006. Georgia O'Keeffe after Stieglitz 1918. [Art].

Peyton, E., 2012. Nick. [Art] (Artnet.com).

Taylor, A., 2011. PHOTOS: Ukrainian Gallery Shows Steve Jobs Portrait Made Up Of Hundreds Of Tiny Ayn Rands. [Online]
Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/david-datuna-steve-jobs-ayn-rand-2011-11
[Accessed 20 July 2016].

The New Yorker, 2006. The Artist of the Portrait. [Online]
Available at: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/10/06/the-artist-of-the-portrait
[Accessed 20 July 2016].