Portrayal and the Search for Identity

Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, General Art
Cover of the book Portrayal and the Search for Identity by Marcia Pointon, Reaktion Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Marcia Pointon ISBN: 9781780230726
Publisher: Reaktion Books Publication: February 15, 2013
Imprint: Reaktion Books Language: English
Author: Marcia Pointon
ISBN: 9781780230726
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Publication: February 15, 2013
Imprint: Reaktion Books
Language: English

We are surrounded with portraits: from the cipher-like portrait of a president on a bank note to security pass photos; from images of politicians in the media to Facebook; from galleries exhibiting Titian or Leonardo to contemporary art deploying the self-image, as with Jeff Koons or Cindy Sherman. In antiquity portraiture was of major importance in the exercise of power. Today it remains not only a part of everyday life, but also a crucial way for artists to define themselves in relation to their environment and their contemporaries. 

 

In Portrayal and the Search for Identity, Marcia Pointon investigates how we view and understand portraiture as a genre and how portraits function as artworks within social and political networks. Likeness is never a straightforward matter, as we rarely have the subject of a portrait as a point of comparison. Featuring familiar canonical works and little-known portraits, Portrayal seeks to unsettle notions of portraiture as an art of convention, a reassuring reflection of social realities. Pointon invites readers to consider how identity is produced pictorially and where likeness is registered apart from in a face. In exploring these issues, she addresses wide-ranging problems such as the construction of masculinity in dress, representations of slaves, and self-portraiture in relation to mortality.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

We are surrounded with portraits: from the cipher-like portrait of a president on a bank note to security pass photos; from images of politicians in the media to Facebook; from galleries exhibiting Titian or Leonardo to contemporary art deploying the self-image, as with Jeff Koons or Cindy Sherman. In antiquity portraiture was of major importance in the exercise of power. Today it remains not only a part of everyday life, but also a crucial way for artists to define themselves in relation to their environment and their contemporaries. 

 

In Portrayal and the Search for Identity, Marcia Pointon investigates how we view and understand portraiture as a genre and how portraits function as artworks within social and political networks. Likeness is never a straightforward matter, as we rarely have the subject of a portrait as a point of comparison. Featuring familiar canonical works and little-known portraits, Portrayal seeks to unsettle notions of portraiture as an art of convention, a reassuring reflection of social realities. Pointon invites readers to consider how identity is produced pictorially and where likeness is registered apart from in a face. In exploring these issues, she addresses wide-ranging problems such as the construction of masculinity in dress, representations of slaves, and self-portraiture in relation to mortality.

More books from Reaktion Books

Cover of the book Portraiture by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book Sunflowers by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book Health and Illness by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book Design for Society by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book Shape of Things by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book Tombs of the Great Leaders by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book History of Language by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book Yew by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book Terror and Toleration by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book Lobster by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book Travels in the History of Architecture by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book Immunization by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book Fairies by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book Zooming In by Marcia Pointon
Cover of the book A Philosophy of Boredom by Marcia Pointon
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy