Portraits paintings

Portrait: stages of development of the genre

A portrait (from the French Portrait) is an artistic depiction of a person or several people living at the present time or who lived in past times. When creating it, painting, engraving, sculpture, graphics, and photographs are used.

The portrait genre is a separate type of painting; it conveys a person’s appearance in such a way that it becomes possible to discern his inner world. The portrait remains a typical image of a representative of a particular era, a particular social class.

History of the portrait genre

The portrait genre, like all art, does not stand still and is constantly evolving. Of course, this was facilitated by the improvement of artistic skills, for example, the development of science deepened knowledge of human anatomy, the composition was developed, and patterns in the construction of the picture were identified; a change in the idea of the weight of a person’s individuality also influenced the development of the portrait.

Ancient Eastern and Ancient Egyptian sculptures can be considered the prototype of a modern portrait. In ancient times, the portrait served cult and religious-magical purposes. In Ancient Greece, portraits of philosophers and poets, statesmen and public figures were idealized.

In ancient Rome, the portrait genre was at the height of its prosperity, which was facilitated by increased attention to the individual, as well as the expansion of the circle of portrait customers. This picture of the ancient Roman era was distinguished by its realism and the most accurate representation of individual traits. Fayum portraits are examples of easel painting in Egypt during the period of the 1st-4th centuries AD. They were made as a funeral mask, from life, which is why they obtained a convincing resemblance to the person being portrayed. Similar works made somewhat later are believed to have some specific spirituality.

The Middle Ages brought with it the loss of all interest in portraiture: it was then that characters were depicted in a standard and, one might say, simplified manner; the main thing for the artist was to show not a specific person, but only a certain public figure occupying a certain position. The Renaissance, which came to an end to the Middle Ages, turned the situation around in painting. The new ideology of the Renaissance was distinguished by humanistic realism, the excessive influence of religion weakened, and again the individual’s personality appeared in the foreground in art, and in portraiture in particular, beautiful paintings of portraits of women appeared, which still attract connoisseurs of painting.

However, the 18th century did not allow the portrait to remain at the heights that it had previously reached. In European countries, the model became “official” art, in which solemn pomposity, ornate pomp of characters, and even a certain idealization appeared. In the second half of the 18th century, a separate direction of the portrait genre was actively formed - portrait miniature. Portraits also became in demand, but not everyone could afford to buy a portrait painting. And then a portrait appeared, which was painted using relatively inexpensive means - watercolor, engraving or pencil.

What did classicism bring to the portrait?

The next, 19th century was marked by the emergence of classicism - a new style in art, with which cold severity came to portraiture. However, in the second half of the century several directions for further progressive movement of the portrait appeared:

• realism,
• impressionism,
• modern,
• photographic portrait

In each direction, the character is written differently, and the artist tries to identify the person’s strengths, understand his psychology, achieve the greatest verisimilitude, or direct his skill to demonstrate the changeable human appearance, giving the image elements of the grotesque.

The twentieth century is becoming a time of declining interest in paintings with people - a crisis in understanding the human personality has matured in society. At the same time, the genre of photographic portraiture is progressing, attracting many portrait painters; beautiful paintings of portraits of girls are in demand. Realistic portraits of famous people can be seen on the covers of Time, Esquire, etc. magazines.

Systematization of the portrait

The portrait genre can be divided into several subgenres, taking into account that elements of different ones can be combined in one picture:

• self-portrait,
• historical,
• posthumous (retrospective),
• portrait-painting (sometimes distinguished as portrait-walk),
• portrait-type,
• costumed (allegorical, historical, mythological),
• family,
• religious.

In addition, the paintings are systematized according to the pictorial means used in creation:

• painting (oil, tempera, gouache),
• graphic (pencil, engraving, watercolor),
• relief (images on a coin, medal),
• sculptural,
• photographic portraits.

When creating a portrait, the artist should take into account the following point - where his work will be located, in a large or small room. Judging by the sizes, portraits are:

• monumental (monument, mosaic, fresco),
• easel (paintings, busts, graphic sheets),
• portrait miniature.

Next division depends on the number of people in the picture:

• normal (one character),
• double,
• group.

There are paired portraits - two different paintings with different characters (usually a married couple), united by one concept and one format.

Looking at portraits, you see not only how the characters look outwardly, but you can also try to penetrate their inner world, reflect on the person’s personality, learn the uniqueness of the era by seeing the clothes, jewelry and surroundings of the person. You can think about a lot about a portrait painting, which is probably worth buying: it will serve as both an object of thought and a subject of design.