Annotated Bibliography
Bonafoux, Pascal. Portraits of the Artist: The Self Portrait in Painting. New York: Rizzoli, 1985.
Portraits of the Artist is a collection of observations by Bonafoux on various self-portraits by many old masters. Aside from describing the composition, style, and color of each piece, he goes into greater detail to pull from each work questions that would otherwise go unasked. Many questions such as why did the artist paint this portrait? In what condition was the artist's health when painting? Who are the significant others depicted in the painting? Many of the questions that Bonafoux asks leads me to re-evaluate my own self-portraiture. Self-portraiture to me now is not copying your own face on the canvas or paper but more like a statement of status, judgement, occupation, health, and inquiry. The likeness comes secondary to something much deeper.
Bonafoux, Pascal. Rembrandt, Master of the Portrait. New York: Abrahms, 1992.
In Rembrandt, Master of the Portrait, Pascal gives a brief overview of the life of Rembrandt. What I found most fascinating about this book were the documents located at the end of the book. These were various letters and writings by the artist. Pascal's description of Rembrandt leave one to believe that he was not as noble a painter as most history books depict him to be. I found it shocking to read that Rembrandt had his mistress imprisoned for stealing money from him. What I find interesting about Rembrandt's work is that regardless of the number of subjects in portraiture, there is always something new in each one. Each is produced without reference to another in both style, composition, costume, and subject matter. His variety is limitless.
Buettner, Stewart and Rienhard Pauly. Great Composers / Great Artists. New York: Timber Press, 1992.
This book is a collection of painted and drawn portraits of famous composers between the 12th and 20th centuries. It is an excellent resource in finding the close relationship between art and music throughout history. In addition to this, it is a good chronology of artists' styles and the evolution of the portrait from the 12th to the early 20th century. I found this book an important contrast to the books on Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent that I had read earlier in that there is not one view of the human face, but many views that are backed by various social, economic, and historical views.
Craze, Sophia. Mary Cassatt. New York: Brompton Book Corp., 1998.
Mary Cassatt by Sophia Craze is an overview of the artist's life and accomplishments. Looking more at the artworks than reading the written material, I was able to see the way in which the Impressionist artist was able to bring the image of modern woman to the forefront of the art world. Nowhere before had the image of women been painted in its honesty than in Cassatt's work. She was able to capture an essence in the women that she painted that undoubtedly says "woman." Everything from tranquil scenes of women and children, which are remarkably similar to earlier religious paintings of the Virgin and Child, to women attending social functions such as the opera. Cassatt has the ability and insight to capture these sitters in their full womanhood. This is a truly inspirational book that shows the artist at her fullest potential.
Denvir, Benard. Vincent: A Complete Portrait. Philadelphia: Running Press, 1994.
In Vincent: A Complete Portrait, Bernard describes the many self portraits of the Post-Impressionist artist Vincent Van Gogh. To have the majority of Van Gogh's portraits in one book is very inspiring to me. After reading this book, I had to paint a few self-portraits. What I find enlightening about Van Gogh's portraits is that he is able to project his personality into each work that he produces. There is no doubt that he is using the sitter as a stepping stone to tell his own story in paint. What is also interesting is that each sitter is an icon of life and its cycles. This use of iconography may be due to Vincent's life-long interest in the clergy. I found this book a fascinating look into the self-portraiture of Vincent Van Gogh.
Guare, John. Chuck Close: Life and Work 1988-1995. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1995.
This powerful book on Chuck Close is a masterpiece of design and publishing. Unlike many catalogues on artist's works, this catalogue gives new meaning to the artists represented by the overall design of the book itself. Printed in a new, boldly used, Arial-style type, Chuck Close explains the struggles that the artist endured while fighting paraplegia and continuing a successful art career. This book is an inspiration to me not only for the heroic accomplishments of the artist, but also purely for the work that it contains. Close has been able to successfully pull off the greatest feat of all: remaining representational in an abstract-laden art world. There are no boundaries for his works for he rests comfortably between pure abstraction, surreal, and high realism. His monumental portraits, carved into a grid pattern with thick, primitive shapes leave the observer no room to deny the sitter's presence. Close, is forcing the viewer to acknowledge his or her fellow human being's presence. On the contrary, when viewed up close, the abstraction is obvious. From a distance, we see a face appear that is uncomfortably large and that demands our attention. This book is a astounding journey into an artist's private world and is also testament that the art of portraiture can still be done today with success.
Jennings, Kate F. John Singer Sargent. New York: Brompton Book Corp., 1998.
John Singer Sargent by Kate Jennings is a monograph containing several important portrait works by the American Master. These inspiring portraits including Madam X, Theodore Roosevelt, The Daughters of Edward Boit, and Carnation Lily, Lily, Rose. These portraits presented by Jennings show Sargent at the height of his career as a portrait artist. What I find inspiring in these is that despite popular views on the shallowness of Sargent's work, I find that each captivates and enthralls the viewer with its own unique life.
Leeds, Valerie Ann. My People: The Portraits of Robert Henri. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
This catalogue of Henri's portrait works, if it can be called a catalogue at all, is brimming with information about the artist's career, working methods, and connections with other artists. The book is divided into thirds with the first part being a brief history of Henri's career. The second part is a section on Henri's involvement with the progression of color theory and composition. The third is a color catalogue of various portraits by the artist. The part of the book I found the most interesting was the section on color theory and composition. Always looking for information like this, I was excited to find this information of which I was formally unaware. Henri, a well-liked and fully involved artist / teacher of his time, invented an entire system of using color similar to a musician playing chords. With each color having a "note" value, he was able to create fully harmonized portraits that followed the same principles of musical harmony. This ties closely into a part of my study of color theory and Impressionism four semesters ago.
Marsh, Jan. Pre-Raphaelite Women, Images of Femininity. New York: Harmony, 1988.
Pre-Raphaelite Women, Images of Femininity is a fascinating book that brings the images of Pre-Raphaelite women to life. In describing the women associated with the Pre-Rapealite circle, Marsh provides letters, documents, and photos that detail the lives of the women behind the paintings. Many were wives, friends, and daughters of the artists and I found it interesting how the relationships between the artists and the models are evident within each work of art.
Mathews, Nancy Mowll. Mary Cassatt. New York: Abrahms, 1987.
In Mary Cassatt, Mathews explains the many areas of the artist's work and working process. She also describes the many roles that Cassatt plays as: an interpreter of modern women in art, a source of artistic expression and taste in America, and a visionary of fusion in western and eastern art. What I like about this book in particular is that it has shown me the dichotomy that is often overlooked in Cassatt and her work. As with many books, it addresses that she was a woman tackling almost impossible tasks, considering her time period. In relation to this, it shows that while Cassatt was merging western and eastern art, becoming an Impressionist, tutoring her homeland, America, of the rich art being formed in Europe, and fusing a new, modern art from that of the old masters, she was painting no one but her family. There are but a few large, monumental, historical pieces in her life's work. She was able to accomplish her life's work with a simple, nearby, and familiar subject: her family.
McQuillan, Melissa. Impressionist Portraits. London: Thames and Hudson, 1986.
McQuillan, in Impressionist Portraits, points out the often overlooked fact that the Impressionist painters contributed to portraiture just as much, if not more than landscape painting, in the late 19th century. When the word Impressionism is mentioned, an image of landscape painting comes to mind without second thought to the numerous portraits created by these artists. What I find interesting about this book and how it fits well into my study is that it shows that many of the Impressionist artists relied on their close friends and relatives as subjects for their paintings. Being the misfits of the art establishment, the Impressionists had little to no other patrons to paint for. So it is only natural for them to turn to there own circles for subject matter. This book illustrates this overlooked aspect of French Impressionism.
Mullins, Edwin. The Painted Witch. New York: Carroll & Graf Pub., 1985.
Mullins, in the Painted Witch, describes the many different male views of women throughout the course of art history. He illustrates these views through various painting examples. Some views of women ranged from holy icons as in paintings of the Virgin Mary to mistresses depicted in Francois Boucher's paintings of subtle innocence. The woman in these various examples is both the sinner and the salvation of man. Before reading this book, I was unaware of just how much play there is between the image of men and women in art. There is a series of Sargent painting during his stay in Venice that show the dynamic interaction between men and women. Before reading this book, I'd been totally unaware of it. Great book that scratches deep beneath the surface of a age-old discussion.
Olson, Stanley. Sargent at Broadway: The Impressionist Years. New York: Universe Books, 1986.
Focusing primarily on Sargent's career immediately after his scandalous painting of Madam X was exhibited at the French Salon, Olson describes how Sargent was able to piece the remaining parts of his career together and move on to become one of Britain's foremost portrait painters. Some works included are "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" the painting that moved Sargent into the limelight of the British art scene. What I found fascinating while reading this book is that many of my past studies are so closely linked to this study that it is uncanny. Earlier, I had two studies that covered the Pre-Raphaelite movement in Britain during the mid-nineteenth century. Sargent had moved into Whistler's old apartment in the same neighborhood as the leading Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais and developed a close friendship with him. This close tie to Pre-Raphaelite art and artists explains the dramatic change in Sargent's style during his move from Paris to England. Sargent was a sponge when it came to working with other artists and learning their methods. To name a few: The traditionally based- Carlous Duran, the Impressionists, and the Pre-Raphaelites. He was also a huge admirer of Thomas Eakins work. Fantastic book.
Pollock, Griselda. Mary Cassatt. New York: Harper & Row, 1980.
Pollock's main concern in Mary Cassatt is to explore the reasons for Cassatt's success as a painter in a era when women were not normally accomplished, let alone accepted, by a male dominated art world. In additon to this. Pollock also explores the influences of the artist and how her images of women and children evolved throughout her career. Pollock does an excellent job of describing key points in Mary Cassatt's work that separates her from the other Impressionists. In addition to being one of the only two women in the group, Cassatt, by not following the trend of joining the art establishment, then the Salon, she was able to perfect the icon of modern women in her portraits. An excellent book that gives long overdue credit to a truly gifted artist.
Prettejohn, Elizabeth. Interpreting Sargent. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1999.
In Interpreting Sargent, Prettejohn goes beneath the surface of various portraits by John Singer Sargent to reveal deeper psychological and social themes used by the artist. By going beyond the elegant mesmerizing surface that Sargent is usually known for, Prettejohn enables the reader to reinterpret Sargent's work with new vision. After reading about these underlying themes in Sargent's work, I was able to understand that he was not the shallow, washed-out artist that many historians make him out to be.
Ratcliff, Carter. John Singer Sargent. New York: Artabras Press, 1982.
In John Singer Sargent, Ratcliff describes in detail, the life of John Singer Sargent. Sargent's artistic career can be divided into three major areas: early career in France / Italy, middle career in England, and his late career in America. Not only did Sargent dominate the portrait trade in England and France at the turn of the century, but he played a dominant role in landscape painting as well. Anything produced by Sargent is an inspiration to me as an artist because just his artistic output alone shows that he took his art very seriously and was dedicated to his cause.
Richardson, Edgar. Gilbert Stuart. Providence: Meridan Gravure Company, 1967.
Appearing to be little more than a catalogue of an exhibition of Stuart's works, this book is surprisingly an intimate look into the portraiture of a successful early American painter. Before reading this book, I had little or nothing to place behind the many portraits of Stuarts that I had admired at the National Gallery. Looking at the, sometimes sterile, portraits of our nations first president and many others from the same period, I had an image of a painter that was well established and had little other worries in life other than to paint. This book informed me that I had totally misinterpreted Stuart's work and the life that he led as a painter in early America.
Stuart struggled almost his entire life and died in poverty. He was constantly undermining his own work by valuing others works, such as that of the English portrait painters Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds above his own. Truly a gifted and well-read artist, Gilbert Stuart studied other portraitists not only to include previously mentioned Reynolds and Gainsborough, but also Anthony van Dyke, Rubens, and Rembrandt. With determination, he was able to carve a name for himself into American art history as the country's first successful portrait artist.
Roudebush, Jay. Cassatt. New York: Crown Pub., 1979.
In Cassatt, Roudebush describes Cassatt's eventful career and her ties to both European and American art of the past. He points out influences of the artist and gives specific examples of influences in some of the artist's works. I found this book to be somewhat well written, but would have liked to see more of a contrast of Cassatt's works to other artists of her time in order to really bring forth her uniqueness in relation to the other Impressionist artists.
Simpson, Marc and Richard Ormond. Uncanny Spectacle : The Public Career of the Young John Singer Sargent. Boston: Yale University Press, 1997.
In Simpson and Ormond's Uncanny Spectacle, the main focus of the book is to unravel the intricate career moves that catapulted the American painter John Singer Sargent at a young age. This book was enjoyable and exciting to read for me because it contained so many first-hand resources from Sargent's family and close associates. Although Sargent was able to move to such high acclaim before he reached thirty, I feel that he had a high price to pay for this swift recognition. In my opinion, he gave up his artistic freedom and became a slave to the upper-class. His painting was dictated by what the public wanted and not what he wanted to paint. I his later years, I begin to see a transition away from this until finally he gave up public painting altogether. I learned from this book that there is a balance between notoriety and freedom in art and that it is very rare for an artist to have both at the same time in their career.
Whitford, Frank. Klimt. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1990.
A majority of this book is dedicated to trying to piece together the puzzle of Gustav Klimt's secretive life, but I did manage to find a section on the portraiture the artist. Giving the intricacy of Klimt's portraits, I had a vague idea that they took a long time to do, but I was astounded to find that many of his portraits took over six months to do and at three sittings a week! This must have been an exhausting experience for his sitters. What I like about Klimt's portraits is his use of decorative motifs combined with shallow picture space and controlled composition. Like Chuck Close's work, they teeter between abstract and realism. Also, in addition to his use of flat pictorial space, Klimt borrows styles ranging from Roman, Byzantine, and Egyptian in his portraits.