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Art and the Individual
Introduction to Eastern and Western Art

Michelangelo Buonarroti
(Italian Renaissance)
David, 1501 – 1504,
Marble, 5.17 meters (17
feet) tall

Individualism
The Renaissance (15th
and 16th
Centuries in Europe) manifested itself in
new attitudes towards human beings and the world. During the Middle
Ages, recognition of individual accomplishment was rare. Christian
humility had discouraged praise of the self; as ones major concern should be
salvation in the next world, rather than fame in the present. Medieval writers
had studied ancient texts merely as a way to know God, and scholars had
interpreted the classics in a Christian sense, often finding points of
agreement between the two.
During the Renaissance, Individualism became important.
Individualism stressed the personality, uniqueness, even genius of the
individual either as artist, athlete, painter, scholar, etc. One’s personal
abilities should be fully realized, not melded into a communal whole.
Individuals developed a burning desire for fame and achievement.
Michelangelo's David illustrates the Renaissance idea of Individualism,
and in fact, Michelangelo himself is an example of how the genius of
the individual was celebrated.

Self-Portraits
● Self-promotional tool
● Artist as celebrity / Importance in society
● Connection to mortality / immortality
● Method of self-expression
● Relationship to psychology
● Narcissism / vanity (relationship to mirrors)
● Identity / Individualism

Jan van Eyck
(Flemish Early
Renaissance),
Man in a Red
Turban, 1433, Oil
on Wood Panel

Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban was created by Jan van Eyck, a Northern
Renaissance artist, in 1433, in Bruges. It is believed by many to have been a
self portrait of Jan van Eyck and possibly used as a portfolio piece. The
inscriptions in the framing include van Eyck’s personal motto, which is one
reason it is often believed to be a self portrait. The idea that the piece was
used as a portfolio comes from the idea that he could show potential
customers his painting and himself to compare.
In this painting van Eyck does not idealize himself, if it is in fact a self
portrait, but instead goes into great detail and realism. This lack of
idealization is representative of humanist ideals, he accepts himself as
imperfect while producing a painting which bolsters his individual skill.
Additionally, this piece does not necessarily have any religious aspects; it is
simply an individual in a painting.
Retrieved from https://atschroth.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/jan-van-eyck-and-humanism/

Parmigianino (Italian
Renaissance)
Self-portrait in a
Mirror, c. 1524, Oil
painting

This painting stunned Renaissance Italy. It shows the artist at the age of
about 21, romantic, his unkempt face unmanly, even feminine. It emphasizes
the fantastic nature of his talent, of his right hand that draws and makes a
world. What makes the painting unique is its gimmick. Spectacularly,
Parmigianino has not only studied himself in a convex mirror but
reproduced what he sees.
The painting is not on a flat canvas but on a section of a wooden sphere that
reproduces the shape of a convex mirror. In it, we see a world as freakish as
Parmigianino's huge right hand - the hand that creates this world and
dominates the room, whose window and ceiling have become rounded and
spiraling. The theatre of Renaissance perspective space has been replaced
here with a mad, mannerist cinema.
In painting the mirror, rather than subsuming its visual information into a
more generalized, ideal self-image, Parmigianino makes a radical statement
about what art is, what it can do, about the nature of the world. Italian art of
the 15th century was entranced by the orderly, coherent space it was
possible to map on a flat canvas using single-point perspective. But
Parmigianino sees reality - specifically, his own reality, as he is this
painting's subject - as chaotic, shifting, distorted and bizarre. This is a
painting that flirts with the monstrous, the unruly and the occult.
Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2003/jan/18/art

Hokusai (Japanese),
Self-portrait in the Age
of an Old Man, c.
1839, Ink Drawing

“From the age of six I had a penchant for copying the form of things and from
fifty my pictures were frequently published; but until the age of seventy
nothing I drew was worthy of notice. At seventy-three years I was somewhat
able to fathom the growth of plants and trees, and the structure of birds,
animals, insects and fish. Thus, when I reach eighty years I hope to have
made increasing progress and at ninety to see further into the underlying
principles of things, so that at one hundred years I will have achieved a
divine state in my art and at a hundred and ten, every dot and every stroke
will be as though alive.”
- written by Hokusai in 1835 at the age of 75

Vincent van Gogh
(Dutch), Self-
portrait with
Bandaged Ear,
1889, oil on
canvas, 60 x 49 cm

This self-portrait was painted shortly after Van Gogh returned home from
hospital having mutilated his own ear.
The prominent bandage shows that the context of this event is important.
Van Gogh depicts himself in his studio, wearing his overcoat and a hat.
Is it cold in the studio, or is this a sign of a lack of permanence?
His facial expression is still and melancholy, as though he is contemplating
his position as an artist.
On the left, a blank canvas suggests that there is more work to come from
this artist, as indeed there was, and a Japanese print on the right relates to
an area of great artistic interest for him. This is a manipulated copy of a real
print by Sato Torakiyo, owned by Van Gogh and pinned on the wall in his
studio. In order to fit his own face into the composition, Van Gogh has shifted
the figures and Mount Fuji across to the right.
Retrieved from http://courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/collection/impressionism-post-impressionism/vincent-van-gogh-
self-portrait-with-bandaged-ear

Frida Kahlo (Mexican Surrealist), The Two Fridas, 1939,
Oil on Canvas, 173.5 cm × 173 cm (68.3 in × 68 in)

This double self-portrait is one of Kahlo's most recognized compositions, and
is symbolic of the artist's pain during her divorce from Diego Rivera and the
subsequent transitioning of her constructed identity. On the right, the artist is
shown in modern European attire, wearing the costume she donned prior to
her marriage to Rivera. Throughout their marriage, given Rivera's strong
nationalism, Kahlo became increasingly interested in indigenism and began
to explore traditional Mexican costume, which she wears in the portrait on
the left. It is the Mexican Kahlo that holds a locket with an image of Rivera.
The stormy sky in the background, and the artist's bleeding heart - a
fundamental symbol of Catholicism and also symbolic of Aztec ritual sacrifice
- accentuate Kahlo's personal tribulation and physical pain. Symbolic
elements frequently possess multiple layers of meaning in Kahlo's
pictures; the recurrent theme of blood represents both metaphysical
and physical suffering, gesturing also to the artist's ambivalent attitude
toward accepted notions of womanhood and fertility.
Retrieved from http://www.theartstory.org/artist-kahlo-frida-artworks.htm

Tseng Kwong Chi (Chinese American Pop Artist), from his
Self-portrait series, 1979 – 1989, Silver gelatin print

Tseng Kwong Chi (Chinese American Pop Artist),
from his Self-portrait series, 1979 – 1989, Silver
gelatin print

Tseng Kwong Chi (born 1950, Hong Kong; died 1990, New York) is
internationally known for his photographic series Expeditionary Self-
Portrait Series a.k.a. East Meets West. In over 100 images, he poses in
front of iconic architecture and sublime nature as his invented artistic
persona, a Chinese “Ambiguous Ambassador” in the classic Mao suit....the
work explores tourist photography in a playful juxtaposition of truth, fiction,
and identity.
Tseng was an important documentarian and denizen of the downtown
1980’s New York club and art scene. During his brief but prolific 10-year
career, he created over 100,000 vibrant color and black-and-white
photographs of his contemporaries Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Julian
Schnabel, Jean-Michel Basquiat, McDermott and McGough, Kenny Scharf,
Philip Taaffe, Madonna, Grace Jones, the B-52’s, and Fab Five Freddy,
among others, a rich historical archive of the decade.
In 1990, Tseng died at age 39 from complications related to AIDS, leaving
an enduring body of work that engages major photographic traditions — the
tourist snapshot, portraiture, the Sublime tradition of landscape photography,
documentary and performance. Tseng’s photographs have been exhibited
widely in international exhibitions and are in numerous major public
museums and private collections.
Retrieved from http://www.ericfirestonegallery.com/artists/tseng-kwong-chi

Marina Abramović (Serbian), The Artist is Present, 2010, 700 hour-long Performance Art
Piece at MoMA, New York City

"Sit silently with the artist for a duration of your choosing"—so the
instructions read on a small plaque in the second-floor atrium at The
Museum of Modern Art. Behind the plaque, a queue of visitors forms, eager
to enter a large square space—demarcated only by tape on the floor—to sit
down at a wooden table across from a dark-haired woman in a dress that
conceals every part of her body save her face and her hands.
The woman is the pioneering artist Marina Abramović, but its likely that few
of the people in line have any sense of this woman’s indelible impact on
contemporary art. As I wait, an anthology of her performances scrolling
through my head. Watching her from afar, I look to see the courage and
fearlessness in a woman capable of incising a five-pointed star on her own
stomach, screaming until she loses consciousness, and living in a gallery for
12 days without food. Strangely, she doesn’t seem reckless at all, but
peaceful and wise. I then remember she trained with Tibetan Buddhists and
has said she’s able to transcend the limits of her own body and mind through
meditation. She’ll need these skills now more than ever as she attempts her
longest performance-to-date, sitting at this table for every hour of every day
that her retrospective is open at MoMA. No food. No water. No breaks.
Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/global-culture/conceptual-performance/a/marina-
abramovi-the-artist-is-present

Portraits
Traditionally, portraits honor and memorialize certain
figures in history (high status, powerful, influential figures
often associated with religion and politics)
In the past, most portraits were created in the form of
painting and sculpture, however today photography is
the main medium for portraiture
In contemporary art, the genre of portraiture is sometimes
used to focus on issues surrounding class, race, and
identity

“What is portraiture? It's choice.
It's the ability to position your body in
the world for the world to celebrate
you on your own terms.”
- Kehinde Wiley, Artist

Jean Antoine
Houdon (French
Enlightenment),
Seated Voltaire,
Plaster, 1778,
35.6 x 14.6 x 20 cm

Voltaire (real name François-Marie Arouet) (1694 - 1778) was a French
philosopher and writer of the Age of Enlightenment. His intelligence, wit
and style made him one of France's greatest writers and philosophers,
despite the controversy he attracted.
He was an outspoken supporter of social reform (including the defense
of civil liberties, freedom of religion and free trade), despite the strict
censorship laws and harsh penalties of the period, and made use of his
satirical works to criticize Catholic dogma and the French institutions of his
day. Along with John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau,
his works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American and
French Revolutions.
He was a prolific writer, and produced works in almost every literary
form (plays, poetry, novels, essays, historical and scientific works, over
21,000 letters and over two thousand books and pamphlets).
Retrieved from http://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_voltaire.html

Raja Ravi Varma
(India), Portrait of
Maharaja Serpoji II of
Tanjore, c. 1875, Oil
painting

Raja Ravi Varma (1848 – 1906) was an Indian painter best known for uniting
Hindu mythological subject matter with European realist historicist
painting style. He was one of the first Indian artists to use oil paints and to
master the art of lithographic reproduction of his work. In addition to incidents in
Hindu mythology, Varma painted many portraits of both Indians and British
in India.
Varma was born into an aristocratic family in Travancore state. He showed an
interest in drawing from an early age, and his uncle Raja Raja Varma, noticing
his passion for drawing on the palace walls, gave him his first rudimentary
lessons in painting. When Varma was 14, Maharaja Ayilyam Thirunal, ruler of
Travancore at the time, became a patron of his artistic career. Soon the royal
painter Rama Swamy Naidu started teaching him to paint with watercolours.
Three years later Varma began to study oil painting with Theodore Jensen, a
Danish-born British artist.
Varma was the first Indian to use Western techniques of perspective and
composition and to adapt them to Indian subjects, styles, and themes. He
won the Governor’s Gold Medal in 1873 for the painting Nair Lady Adorning Her
Hair. He became a much-sought-after artist among both the Indian nobility and
the Europeans in India, who commissioned him to paint their portraits.
Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ravi-Varma

Tōshūsai Sharaku
(Japan Edo Period),
Kabuki Actor Ōtani
Oniji III as Yakko
Edobei in the Play
“The Colored Reins of
a Loving Wife” (Koi
nyōbō somewake
tazuna), Woodblock
Print, 1794,
38.1 x 25.1 cm

The actor Otani Oniji II is captured here in the role of Yakko Edobe.
A yakko is a manservant often used by samurai to perform violent deeds.
Otani Oniji's leering face, shown in three-quarter view, bristling hair, and
groping outstretched hands capture the ruthless nature of this wicked
henchman. Sharaku was renowned for creating visually bold prints
that gave rare revealing glimpses into the world of kabuki. He was
not only able to capture the essential qualities of kabuki characters,
but his prints also reveal, often with unflattering realism, the
personalities of the actors who were famous for performing them.
Because kabuki plays have relatively simple plots, the acting style of the
performer is central to the performance. As a result, successful kabuki
actors enjoyed great celebrity status. Unlike earlier masters, Sharaku
did not idealize his subjects or attempt to portray them realistically.
Rather, he exaggerated facial features and strove for psychological
realism.
Retrieved from https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/jp2822/

Kehinde Wiley
(American).
Napoleon
Leading the Army
over the Alps,
2005. Oil on
canvas, 108 x
108 in. (274.3 x
274.3 cm)

Jacques-Louis
David. Napoleon
Crossing the Alps.
oil on canvas. 1803

In this large painting, Kehinde Wiley, an African-American artist,
strategically re-creates a French masterpiece from two hundred years
before but with key differences. This act of appropriation reveals
issues about the tradition of portraiture and all that it implies about
power and privilege. Wiley asks us to think about the biases of the art
historical canon (the set of works that are regarded as “masterpieces”),
representation in pop culture, and issues of race and gender. Here, Wiley
replaces the original white subject—the French general-turned-
emperor Napoleon Bonaparte—with an anonymous black man whom
Wiley approached on the street as part of his “street-casting
process.” Although Wiley does occasionally create paintings on
commission, he typically asks everyday people of color to sit for
photographs, which he then transforms into paintings. Along the way, he
talks with those sitters, gathering their thoughts about what they should
wear, how they might pose, and which historical paintings to reference.
Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/global-culture/global-art-architecture/a/kehinde-
wiley-napoleon-leading-the-army-over-the-alps

Ren Hang (Chinese), untitled, 2014, color photography

Ren Hang (1987- 2017) was born in Jilin, China.
Ren was a poet and photographer. Splicing imagery of urban and rural
environments as a metaphor for the increasingly citified millennials
of today, he arranged the naked limbs of his friends in his hide-and-
seek photographs. In these images, the subjects’ expressions are
casual yet provocative, hinting at the erotic and playful energies
between Ren Hang and his intimate circle of companions. Ren Hang’s
work has been the subject of group exhibitions worldwide.
Retrieved from http://www.kleinsungallery.com/artists/ren-hang

Manit Sriwanichpoom (Thailand), from Ordinary/Extraordinary series,
2008, Black and White Photography

“With ‘Ordinary/Extraordinary’, one is confronted by a wall of faces. Spare,
black and white portraits lit from above. Ordinary people etched by a simple
but dramatic light source that brings out the uniqueness of each one
person. Laborer Nivat, who looks like he’s just stepped out of a temple mural;
housewife Na Dokmai (“Auntie Flores”), with her haunting Amerindian shaman
face; lost-looking Na Haeng (“Auntie Dry”), who washes clothes for a living; 22
year old plumber Mekh (“Cloud”) of the sad eyes; five year old Earth whose
sphinx-like presence holds all the answers to all the riddles that ever were…
Each unique face weaves its enchantment and sings its own song, of
unique joys and secrets and concerns.
Retrieved from http://goodartbook.com/book/Ordinary-Extraordinary

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