Self-Portraiture: From Vincent Van Gogh To Chuck Close
So, how has the way we choose to capture ourselves changed off the years? I look to find a my conclusion to this timeless question by analysing self-portraiture in art and more pacifically Vincent Van Gogh's Self-Portrait, Spring, 1887 and Chuck Close’s Self-Portrait, 2000 - 2001. By comparing works that where created over a century apart, I hope to explore the change in method and technique that has influenced the artists off today and that will continue to do so in the further.
Self-Portrait, Spring by Vincent Van Gogh was created in 1887 and although he believed “It always seems to me that poetry is more terrible than painting, although painting is dirtier and more damned annoying “ (Heenk. (2013). Page: 7.) he still loved it never the less and dared to go beyond what was considered popular for his time “Many painters are afraid of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the painter who dares and who has broken the spell of 'you can't' once and for all.” (Unknown. (Unknown).) his style explored the range of colours one would never dream of incorporating into a portrait, no longer did he stick to traditional earthy rich tones but experimented with bold colour palettes. Van Gogh believed there was no such thing as can’t when it came to painting, everyone can paint we just have different levels of styles and understanding, and with time and practice anything could happen and who knows you many just fine your hidden talent “If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” (rjdaviesmornix. (2013).).
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| Vincent Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait, Spring 1887, Oil on pasteboard, (42 × 33.7 cm) |
Van Gogh believed that to be a good painter one much first learn how to draw, as if you did not, how would you paint? “There are two ways of thinking about painting, how not to do it and how to do it. How to do it with much drawing and little colour; how not to do it - with much colour and little drawing.” (Bailey. (2013). Page: 5.). The whole painting process is simply the same as drawing, you hold a stick in your hand and create an image by connecting to a surface.
He wasn’t the brightest of painters and failed in school, but why does an artist need to be so academic? “People around him obviously queried whether he was a ‘genuine artist’, since he failed to sell.” (Heenk. (2013). Page: 7.). His lack of qualifications made people question whether he could truly be classed as an artist but “Since painting and drawing were the only things he could do well, he saw no reason to give up” (Heenk. (2013). Page: 8.).
“People were apparently unable to see the value of Vincent’s work, which was too modern, or too rough, to be appreciated.” (HeenkL. (2013). Page: 8.). Van Gogh continued to do what he loved even if it meant not making a profit because his styles wasn’t considered normal and his brush strokes to bold, the freedom to paint was rewarding enough. “I only have the choice between being a good painter or a bad one. I choose the former. But the things needed for painting are like those of a ruinous mistress; you can do nothing without money, and you never have enough of it. And so painting should be done at society’s expense, and the artist should’t be overburdened by it.” (Heenk. (2013). Page: 14.). The fact that no one was buying Van Gogh’s work soon became a problem when the struggle of buying materials was next to impossible “ His younger brother Theo (1857 - 1891) was to become his life-long supporter (both emotionally and financially) and best friend.” (Bailey. (2013). Page: 9.). Theo had every faith that Van Gogh would one day succeed in selling art, but if it was after death would be the question. “People pay a lot for the work when the painter himself is dead. And people always disparage living painters by pointing unanswerably to the work of those who are no longer with us.” (Heenk. (2013). Page: 16.).
Finally things started to look up for Van Gogh “When I heard that my work was having some success … I was immediately afraid that I’d regret it - it’s almost always the case that success is the worst thing that can happen in a painter’s life.” (Heenk. (2013). Page: 27.). But the pressure of becoming successful meant that you now had the added stress of continuing and upholding your reputation as the world was now watching you. In the end the stress became all to much for him and anxiety and madness kicked in, leading to his suicide with which he left a religious statement and a legacy of extraordinary work. “My dear brother - the Muslim idea that death only comes when it must come - let’s just see about that. To me, it seems that we haven’t any proof of such a direct guidance from above.” (Heenk. (2013). Page: 39.).
Self-Portrait, 2000 - 2001 by Chuck Close: Close started out by mapping his image out using quite an old technique of gridding but instead of the traditional style of vertical and horizontal lines, he uses diagonal lines creating a more modern outcome than the standard repetition of squares. “When you use a grid, you can make big, complicated things out of a lot of little pieces.” (Close. (2012). Page: 31.). The grid makes enlarging an photograph quick and easy to figure out, it ensures that everything is perfectly placed and is in proportion without the added stress of potentially messing up and needing to start off. “You see, I am a nervous person. I also tend to be lazy and a slob, and I have a short attention span.” (Close. (2012). Page: 31.).
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| Chuck Close’s Self-Portrait, 2000 - 2001, Oil on canvas, (274 x 213.4 cm) |
The way in which Close starts his paintings is said to be rather random by the way he selects a ground for each square, as he states “The first colour is arbitrary—it’s whatever colour I feel like laying down.” (Close. (2012). Page: 29.). There is no said reason or system into choosing the colours although I personally feel there could be slight undertones of colour in the photograph that only certain people would notice. I often look at photographs of portraits myself and see hints of colours such as green or purple within the skin, that other do not see at all. So perhaps Close is subconsciously doing this too and his choices aren’t completely lacking thought or process after all. After painting the ground Close then moves on to adding thick bush stokes of build up oil paints to create a range of shadows and highlights. He learnt from years of practice how a cluster of squares in turn will look like facial features from a distance.
“A photograph doesn't gain weight or lose weight, or change from being happy to being sad. It's frozen. You can use it, then recycle it.” (Unknown. (2005).). Close has a wide amount of self-portraits and having the option of photographs is great for recreating, for example you may wish to have the exact same pose or facial expression but wish to paint it differently and a photo is the best way of documenting something like that. Chuck Close also finds that photographs are great for choosing a composition “I use photographs as a tool to organise a composition. I enlarge the photograph and, using a pen and ruler, draw a grid over it” (Close. (2012). Page: 28.).
The style used to create this painting reminds me of a sort of abstract pointillism and the more modern term i would give it is “pixelated”, if a photo was of bad quality or you zoomed into an image you would see a selection of coloured squares. “like pixelated computer images, my gridded pictures look like a lot of abstract shapes up close, and more like a face as you back away. once the makes begin to dissolve, you get a big picture that pushes you away but also draws you in.” (Close. (2012). Page: 38.). This whole way of creating are seem fascinating and I can imagine it would be quick time consuming as there must be an awful lot of thought on how one would even start such a task.
Chuck Close was born 5th July 1940, Monroe, Washington and was always a kin lover of art “I knew from the age of five what I wanted to do. The one thing I could do was draw. I couldn't draw that much better than some of the other kids, but I cared more and I wanted it badly.” (Unknown, (2005).). Not only was Close severely learning disabled and was dyslexic, he also had face blindness and was unable to remember faces but by drawing and later on in his life taking photographs he began to recognise people “I have almost a kind of photographic memory for flat stuff.” (Kung. (Unknown).). This drove his interest in to painting and photography farther and was truly fascinated by the whole idea of why a flat image was so different to that of the real thing to him “I’m very interested in how we read things, especially the link between seeing two-dimensional and three-dimensional images, because of how I read.” (Kung. (Unknown).).
Although Close saw many advantages to photography such as being able to remember peoples faces and also having something to experiment with scale and composition, there was the occasional annoyances “Sometimes I really want to paint somebody and I don't get a photograph that I want to work from” (Clay. (2002).) perhaps the subject was not photogenic or camera shy and came across as a completely different person on film? Close would not like to portray someone as anything else but who they truly are. “I have no intention of flattering people. I like wrinkles and crow's feet and flaws, and somebody should know, if I'm going to photograph them, that's going to show up, you know?” (Yuan. (2012).). Close likes to show pure honestly in his paintings and believes in capturing one’s true self.
Chuck Close has used a range of mediums and techniques over the years from drawing, airbrushing, painting and has even used his fingers to paint to create an image. But one thing has never changed the subject matter portraits, portraits, portraits… nothing more, nothing less but there is a good and interesting reason for this, not only do I believe it to be connected to his face blindness but, “Well. I care more about people than i do about trees or flowers or rocks.” (Close. (2012). Page: 10.). The answer is simple, a person has so much more to offer than any flower ever could, so, why shouldn't we celebrate and explore the human form?
When Close was 48 he suffered a collapsed blood vessel in his spine and was paralysed from the chest down usable to move his arms and hands all that played on his mind in hospital was “How am I going to make art?” (Close. (2012). Page: 44.) this terrible idea of no longer being able to do the one thing he was good at made him even more determined to seek physical therapy. He never truly got control again as he is still in a wheel chair today, but still continues to create amazing painting with a brush secured to his hand with velcro, using the other hand for support.
Having looked at not only the work of Vincent Van Gogh and Chuck Close but also there background and way of thinking, I feel that it is very common for artists to go through life with a great deal of struggle. As both artists have strong learning difficulties and mental chances to face, but this modern world is much more advanced and accepting of people, that even the hardest struggles can be resolved.
I also see that both artists expressed their true self and stood again the traditional art of their time, making bold statements in the process and succeeding. We will continue to develop new ways of creating portraits for new ideas are always welcome. In the end the passion to make art is much more rewarding that the desire to make money.
Kayleigh-Jane Bradley
Bibliography
(Heenk, L. (2013). Van Gogh's Inner Struggle: Life, Work and Mental Illness. Book 2. Oegstgeest: Createspace.)
(Unknown, (Unknown). webexhibits. [Online]. [Accessed 5 April 2014]. Available from: http://www.webexhibits.org/vangogh/letter/14/378.htm?qp=attitude.clergy)
(rjdaviesmornix, (2013). R J Davies Mornix. [Online]. [Accessed 5 April 2014]. Available from: http://rjdaviesmornix.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/jan152013/)
(Bailey, J. (2013). Van Gogh: The Great Artist Collections Book. UK: Park Lane Books.)
Close, C. (2012). Chuck Close: Face Book. Page: 31. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.
Unknown, (2005). the Guardian. [Online]. [Accessed 7 April 2014]. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2005/oct/09/art
(Kung, M. (Unknown). WSJ.com. [Online]. [Accessed 6 April 2014]. Available from: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/06/12/chuck-close-gets-perceptional/)
Clay, J. (2002). artzar. [Online]. [Accessed 6 April 2014]. Available from: http://www.artzar.com/content/close/index.html
Yuan, J. (2012). Telegraph.co.uk. [Online]. [Accessed 6 April 2014]. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/9724849/Chuck-Close-gets-up-close-and-personal.html
Image 1: Vincent Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait, Spring 1887, Oil on pasteboard, (42 × 33.7 cm) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VanGogh_1887_Selbstbildnis.jpg)
Image 2: Chuck Close’s Self-Portrait, 2000 - 2001, Oil on canvas, (274 x 213.4 cm) (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1Jgfh_pPybs/TmNwDGZIpDI/AAAAAAAAALg/Qn5bNDvU2sM/s1600/chuckclose-selfportrait-2001.jpg)
