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The Portraitist: Frans Hals and His World
by Steven NadlerA biography of the great portraitist Frans Hals that takes the reader into the turbulent world of the Dutch Golden Age. Frans Hals was one of the greatest portrait painters in history, and his style transformed ideas and expectations about what portraiture can do and what a painting should look like. Hals was a member of the great trifecta of Dutch Baroque painters alongside Rembrandt and Vermeer, and he was the portraitist of choice for entrepreneurs, merchants, professionals, theologians, intellectuals, militiamen, and even his fellow artists in the Dutch Golden Age. His works, with their visible brush strokes and bold execution, lacked the fine detail and smooth finish common among his peers, and some dismissed his works as sloppy and unfinished. But for others, they were fresh and exciting, filled with a sense of the sitter’s animated presence captured with energy and immediacy. Steven Nadler gives us the first full-length biography of Hals in many years and offers a view into seventeenth-century Haarlem and this culturally rich era of the Dutch Republic. He tells the story not only of Hals’s life, but also of the artistic, social, political, and religious worlds in which he lived and worked.
The Portraitist: Frans Hals and His World
by Steven NadlerA biography of the great portraitist Frans Hals that takes the reader into the turbulent world of the Dutch Golden Age. Frans Hals was one of the greatest portrait painters in history, and his style transformed ideas and expectations about what portraiture can do and what a painting should look like. Hals was a member of the great trifecta of Dutch Baroque painters alongside Rembrandt and Vermeer, and he was the portraitist of choice for entrepreneurs, merchants, professionals, theologians, intellectuals, militiamen, and even his fellow artists in the Dutch Golden Age. His works, with their visible brush strokes and bold execution, lacked the fine detail and smooth finish common among his peers, and some dismissed his works as sloppy and unfinished. But for others, they were fresh and exciting, filled with a sense of the sitter’s animated presence captured with energy and immediacy. Steven Nadler gives us the first full-length biography of Hals in many years and offers a view into seventeenth-century Haarlem and this culturally rich era of the Dutch Republic. He tells the story not only of Hals’s life, but also of the artistic, social, political, and religious worlds in which he lived and worked.
Portraits
by John Berger Tom OvertonA major new book from one of the world's leading writers and art criticsJohn Berger, one of the world's most celebrated art writers, takes us through centuries of drawing and painting, revealing his lifelong fascination with a diverse cast of artists. In Portraits, Berger grounds the artists in their historical milieu in revolutionary ways, whether enlarging on the prehistoric paintings of the Chauvet caves or Cy Twombly's linguistic and pictorial play. In penetrating and singular prose, Berger presents entirely new ways of thinking about artists both canonized and obscure, from Rembrandt to Henry Moore, Jackson Pollock to Picasso. Throughout, Berger maintains the essential connection between politics, art and the wider study of culture. The result is an illuminating walk through many centuries of visual culture, from one of the contemporary world's most incisive critical voices.From the Hardcover edition.
Portraits and Philosophy (Routledge Research in Aesthetics)
by Hans MaesDespite its huge popularity, portraiture hasn’t received much philosophical attention. While there are countless art historical studies of portraiture, including self-portraiture and group-portraiture, contemporary philosophy has largely remained silent on the subject. This book brings together philosophers and philosophically minded art historians with different areas of expertise to discuss this enduring and continuously fascinating genre. The essays in this volume are grouped into thematic sections, each of which is guided by numerous research questions relevant to the genre of portraiture. Part I explores the boundaries of portraiture. What makes something a portrait? In what way is it similar to and different from other genres? How have artists pushed the limits and conventions of the portraiture? How does the recent vogue of selfies relate to the tradition of self-portraiture? Part II responds to questions about empathy and emotion in portraiture. How do artists express attitudes and emotions towards sitters of their portraits? Why are we moved by certain portraits and not so much by others? In Part III, the contributors address questions about fiction and depiction. Do portraits fall within the domain of non-fiction? Can authenticity in portraiture be achieved if portraits necessarily involve posing? Finally, Part IV grapples with the following question: What are the moral dimensions of the relation between artist, sitter, patron, and audience?
Portraits and Prayers
by Gertrude SteinPortraits and Prayers is a collection of early essays and word portraits by the American writer Gertrude Stein. Her subjects often provide a description of what she observed in her Saturday salons.
Portraits by Degas
by Jean Sutherland BoggsThis title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1962.This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived</DIV
Portraits in Early Modern English Drama: Visual Culture, Play-Texts, and Performances (Studies in Performance and Early Modern Drama)
by Emanuel StelzerPortraits in Early Modern English Drama studies the complex web of interconnections that grows out of the presentation of portraits as props in early modern English drama. Emanuel Stelzer considers this theory from the Elizabethan age up to the closing of the theatres. This book examines how the dramatic text and the subjectivities of the dramatis personae are shaped and changed through the process of observation and interpretation of pictures in the dramatic actions and dialogues. Unlike any previous study, it confronts when a portrait is clearly meant not to be a miniature. This also has bearings on the effect of the picture on the audience and in terms of genre expectation. Two important questions are interrogated in the book: What were the price and value of these portraits? and What were the strategies deployed by the playing companies to show women’s portraits in a theatre without actresses? This book will be of interest to different areas of research dealing with the history of drama and literature, material and visual culture studies, art history, gender studies, and performance studies.
Portraits in Life and Death
by Peter HujarA new edition of the cult classic photography book by the legendary Peter Hujar. “I am moved by the purity of [Hujar’s] intentions.... These memento mori can exorcise morbidity as effectively as they evoke its sweet poetry and its panic.” —Susan Sontag Portraits in Life and Death is the only book of photographs published by Peter Hujar during his lifetime. The twenty-nine portraits of creative people—ranging from William Burroughs, Susan Sontag, and John Waters to Larry Ree, founder of the Trocadero Gloxinia Ballet Company, and T.C. (whose identity is unclear)—possess a haunting beauty and degree of psychological examination that is both offbeat and riveting. Following the portraits come eleven images that can only be described as devastating: pictures of semi-preserved, clothed bodies of nineteenth-century Sicilians found in the arid catacombs beneath a church in Palermo. There is no necessary connection in the photographs themselves or between the two sections of the book, yet the pictorial progression from life to death is an emblem of the journey we all take. The living subjects seem to be meditating on the mortality that is limned with such profound effect in the catacomb pictures. In different ways, both groups of images speak to the basic fears and emotions that we carry with us, somewhere beyond our consciousness. After viewing this extraordinary book, it is almost impossible not to make those connections and interpretations or be moved by Hujar’s consistent ability to convey what appears to be the inner spirit of his subjects. Even so, an air of nonchalance, even gaiety, hovers over the photographs. The book is odd, oblique, sometimes opaque, and certainly deeply felt; but it sticks to the mind like a burr. It will be noticed. Once seen, it cannot be forgotten.
Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors
by Laura Bush George W. Bush Peter Pace<P>A vibrant collection of oil paintings and stories by President George W. Bush honoring the sacrifice and courage of America’s military veterans. With Forewords by former First Lady Laura Bush and General Peter Pace, 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. <P>Growing out of President Bush’s own outreach and the ongoing work of the George W. Bush Institute's Military Service Initiative, Portraits of Courage brings together sixty-six full-color portraits and a four-panel mural painted by President Bush of members of the United States military who have served our nation with honor since 9/11—and whom he has come to know personally. <P>Our men and women in uniform have faced down enemies, liberated millions, and in doing so showed the true compassion of our nation. Often, they return home with injuries—both visible and invisible—that intensify the challenges of transitioning into civilian life. In addition to these burdens, research shows a civilian-military divide. Seventy-one percent of Americans say they have little understanding of the issues facing veterans, and veterans agree: eighty-four percent say that the public has "little awareness" of the issues facing them and their families. <P>Each painting in this meticulously produced hardcover volume is accompanied by the inspiring story of the veteran depicted, written by the President. Readers can see the faces of those who answered the nation’s call and learn from their bravery on the battlefield, their journeys to recovery, and the continued leadership and contributions they are making as civilians. <P>It is President Bush’s desire that these stories of courage and resilience will honor our men and women in uniform, highlight their family and caregivers who bear the burden of their sacrifice, and help Americans understand how we can support our veterans and empower them to succeed. <P>President Bush will donate his net author proceeds from PORTRAITS OF COURAGE to the George W. Bush Presidential Center, a non-profit organization whose Military Service Initiative works to ensure that post-9/11 veterans and their families make successful transitions to civilian life with a focus on gaining meaningful employment and overcoming the invisible wounds of war. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Portraits of Empires: Habsburg Albums from the German House in Ottoman Constantinople (Ottomanica: Voices, Sources, Perspectives)
by Robyn Dora RadwayIn the late 16th century, hundreds of travelers made their way to the Habsburg ambassador's residence, known as the German House, in Constantinople. In this centrally located inn, subjects of the emperor found food, wine, shelter, and good company—and left an incredible collection of albums filled with images, messages, decorated papers, and more.Portraits of Empires offers a complete account of this early form of social media, which had a profound impact on later European iconography. Revealing a vibrant transimperial culture as viewed from all walks of life—Muslim and Christian, noble and servant, scholar and stable boy—the pocket-sized albums containing these curiosities have never been fully connected to the abundant archival records on the German House and its residents. Robyn Dora Radway not only introduces these objects, the people who filled their pages, and the house at the center of their creation, but she also presents several arguments regarding chronologies of exchange, workshop practices, the curation of social networks and visual collections based on status, and the purposes of these highly individualized material portraits.Featuring 162 fascinating color images, Portraits of Empires reconstructs the world of Habsburg subjects living in Ottoman Constantinople using a rich and distinctive set of objects to raise questions about imperial belonging and the artistic practices used to articulate it.
Portraits of Irish Art in Practice: Rita Duffy, Mairéad McClean, Paula McFetridge & Ursula Burke
by Jennifer KeatingThis book mines the space where aesthetic expression meets lived experience for Irish artists Rita Duffy, Mairéad McClean, Paula McFetridge and Ursula Burke. Portrait essays woven with photographs, document each artist’s coming of age in Ireland and Northern Ireland, in the context of her emerging practice. As individuals, their work considers infringements on human rights, systemic violence, gender roles and the negotiation of figurative and literal borders and boundaries. Together, they interrogate past and present conflict and emergence from conflict, locally and globally. Their critical work is threaded with hope in the context of past and present political fragmentation. Works considered include Rita Duffy’s paintings, drawings and animation like Siege, The Emperor Has No Clothes and Anatomy of Hope; Mairéad McClean’s films No More, Broadcast and Making Her Mark; Paula McFetridge’s productions like convictions, staged at the Crumlin Road Courthouse, This is What We Sang, performed at the Belfast Synagogue and Belfast Quartered, A Love Story, a promenade through Belfast’s LGBTQ+ underground; and Ursula Burke’s sculptures like Bonfire, Blue Sphinx and Peach Caryatid, and embroidery like The Politicians Frieze.
Portraits of the Ptolemies: Greek Kings as Egyptian Pharaohs
by Paul Edmund StanwickAs archaeologists recover the lost treasures of Alexandria, the modern world is marveling at the latter-day glory of ancient Egypt and the Greeks who ruled it from the ascension of Ptolemy I in 306 B.C. to the death of Cleopatra the Great in 30 B.C. The abundance and magnificence of royal sculptures from this period testify to the power of the Ptolemaic dynasty and its influence on Egyptian artistic traditions that even then were more than two thousand years old.<P><P>In this book, Paul Edmund Stanwick undertakes the first complete study of Egyptian-style portraits of the Ptolemies. Examining one hundred and fifty sculptures from the vantage points of literary evidence, archaeology, history, religion, and stylistic development, he fully explores how they meld Egyptian and Greek cultural traditions and evoke surrounding social developments and political events. To do this, he develops a "visual vocabulary" for reading royal portraiture and discusses how the portraits helped legitimate the Ptolemies and advance their ideology. Stanwick also sheds new light on the chronology of the sculptures, giving dates to many previously undated ones and showing that others belong outside the Ptolemaic period.
Portraits of Violence: War and the Aesthetics of Disfigurement
by Suzannah BiernoffPortraits of Violence explores the image and idea of facial disfigurement in one of its most troubling modern formations, as a symbol and consequence of war. It opens with Nina Berman’s iconic photograph Marine Wedding, which provoked a debate about the medical, military, and psychological response to serious combat injuries. While these issues remain urgent, it is equally crucial to interrogate the representation of war and injury. The concepts of valor, heroism, patriotism, and courage assume visible form and do their cultural work when they are personified and embodied. The mutilated or disabled veteran’s body can connote the brutalizing, dehumanizing potential of modern combat. Suzannah Biernoff draws on a wide variety of sources mainly from WWI but also contemporary photography and computer games. Each chapter revolves around particular images: Marine Wedding is discussed alongside Stuart Griffiths’ portraits of British veterans; Henry Tonks’ drawings of WWI facial casualties are compared to the medical photographs in the Gillies Archives; the production of portrait masks for the severely disfigured is approached through the lens of documentary film and photography; and finally the haunting image of one of Tonks’s patients reappears in BioShock, a highly successful computer game. The book simultaneously addresses a neglected area in disability studies; puts disfigurement on the agenda for art history and visual studies; and makes a timely and provocative contribution to the literature on the First World War.
Portraiture (Oxford History Of Art)
by Shearer WestThis fascinating new book explores the world of portraiture from a number of vantage points, and asks key questions about its nature. How has portraiture changed over the centuries? How have portraits represented their subjects, and how have they been interpreted? Issues of identity, modernity, and gender are considered within a cultural and historical context.Shearer West uncovers much intriguing detail about a genre that has often been seen as purely representational, featuring examples from African tribes to Renaissance princes, and from 'stars' such as David and Victoria Beckham to ordinary people. In the process, she shows us how to communicate with the past in an exciting new way.
Portraiture and British Gothic Fiction: The Rise of Picture Identification, 1764–1835
by Kamilla ElliottExamples from British writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries show how portraits became a new mode of identity for the middle class.Traditionally, kings and rulers were featured on stamps and money, the titled and affluent commissioned busts and portraits, and criminals and missing persons appeared on wanted posters. British writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, however, reworked ideas about portraiture to promote the value and agendas of the ordinary middle classes. According to Kamilla Elliott, our current practices of "picture identification" (driver’s licenses, passports, and so on) are rooted in these late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century debates.Portraiture and British Gothic Fiction examines ways writers such as Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe, Mary Shelley, and C. R. Maturin as well as artists, historians, politicians, and periodical authors dealt with changes in how social identities were understood and valued in British culture—specifically, who was represented by portraits and how they were represented as they vied for social power.Elliott investigates multiple aspects of picture identification: its politics, epistemologies, semiotics, and aesthetics, and the desires and phobias that it produces. Her extensive research not only covers Gothic literature’s best-known and most studied texts but also engages with more than 100 Gothic works in total, expanding knowledge of first-wave Gothic fiction as well as opening new windows into familiar work.
Portraiture and Critical Reflections on Being (Routledge Advances in Art and Visual Studies)
by Euripides AltintzoglouThis book analyzes the philosophical origins of dualism in portraiture in Western culture during the Classical period, through to contemporary modes of portraiture. Dualism – the separation of mind from body - plays a central part in portraiture, given that it supplies the fundamental framework for portraiture’s determining problem and justification: the visual construction of the subjectivity of the sitter, which is invariably accounted for as ineffable entity or spirit, that the artist magically captures. Every artist that has engaged with portraiture has had to deal with these issues and, therefore, with the question of being and identity.
Portraiture and Photography in Africa
by John Peffer Elisabeth L. CameronBeautifully illustrated, Portrait Photography in Africa offers new interpretations of the cultural and historical roles of photography in Africa. Twelve leading scholars look at early photographs, important photographers' studios, the uses of portraiture in the 19th century, and the current passion for portraits in Africa. They review a variety of topics, including what defines a common culture of photography, the social and political implications of changing technologies for portraiture, and the lasting effects of culture on the idea of the person depicted in the photographic image.
Portraiture and Politics in Revolutionary France (G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects)
by Amy FreundPortraiture and Politics in Revolutionary France challenges widely held assumptions about both the genre of portraiture and the political and cultural role of images in France at the beginning of the nineteenth century. After 1789, portraiture came to dominate French visual culture because it addressed the central challenge of the Revolution: how to turn subjects into citizens. Revolutionary portraits allowed sitters and artists to appropriate the means of representation, both aesthetic and political, and articulate new forms of selfhood and citizenship, often in astonishingly creative ways. The triumph of revolutionary portraiture also marks a turning point in the history of art, when seriousness of purpose and aesthetic ambition passed from the formulation of historical narratives to the depiction of contemporary individuals. This shift had major consequences for the course of modern art production and its engagement with the political and the contingent.
Portraiture and Politics in Revolutionary France
by Amy FreundPortraiture and Politics in Revolutionary France challenges widely held assumptions about both the genre of portraiture and the political and cultural role of images in France at the beginning of the nineteenth century. After 1789, portraiture came to dominate French visual culture because it addressed the central challenge of the Revolution: how to turn subjects into citizens. Revolutionary portraits allowed sitters and artists to appropriate the means of representation, both aesthetic and political, and articulate new forms of selfhood and citizenship, often in astonishingly creative ways. The triumph of revolutionary portraiture also marks a turning point in the history of art, when seriousness of purpose and aesthetic ambition passed from the formulation of historical narratives to the depiction of contemporary individuals. This shift had major consequences for the course of modern art production and its engagement with the political and the contingent.
Portraiture, Gender, and Power in Sixteenth-Century Art: Creating and Promoting the Public Image of Early Modern Women (ISSN)
by Noelia García PérezThis exciting and wide-ranging volume examines the construction and dissemination of the image of female power during the Renaissance.Chapters examine the creation, promotion, and display of the image of women in power, and how the artistic and cultural patronage they developed helped them craft a self-image that greatly contributed to strengthening their power, consolidating their political legitimacy, and promoting their authority. Contributors cover diverse models of sixteenth-century female power: from ruling queens, regents, and governors, to consorts of sovereigns and noblewomen outside the court. The women selected were key political figures and patrons of art in England, France, Castile, the Low Countries, the Holy Roman Empire, and Italian city states. The volume engages with crucial and controversial debates regarding the nature and use of portraiture as well as the changing patterns of how portraits were displayed, building a picture of the principal iconographic solutions and representational strategies that artists used.The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, gender studies, women’s studies, and Renaissance studies.
Portraiture Unplugged
by Carl CaylorGood lighting is everything in portraiture. The right light sculpts our subjects, smooths the skin, evens skin tones, and helps create the feeling of a third dimension in a two-dimensional image. The gold standard of lighting has, for the better part of a century, been produced by artificial lights (hot lights or strobes) in the studio. These sources allow for precise lighting effects on demand. However, artificial light cannot match the beauty or ambience that gorgeous natural light creates--and studio lighting can break the bank. In part 1 of this book, Carl Caylor introduces readers to a failproof method for understanding, shaping, and harnessing natural light for dazzling results that rival studio-lighting looks. Using your powers of observation, an understanding of the physics of light, and employing a couple of inexpensive tools (reflector panels to bounce light and a gobo to block light), Caylor shows you how to make the most of the sunlight for indoor and outdoor location shoots--and even studio work. You’ll learn how to tweak the direction of light and manipulate lighting angles to re-create classic portrait lighting styles--short lighting, broad lighting, Rembrandt lighting, and more--that flatter and contour your subjects’ facial structures to make them look their very best. In part 2 of the book, Carl provides an in-depth analysis into the techniques he used to create 60 beautiful natural-light portraits in myriad locations and circumstances, producing a wide range of portrait looks. Readers will learn how to integrate other elements that are important to building an effective portrait--including prop selection, wardrobe, composition, expression, posing, and even planning for a top-notch, contrasty black & white shot. The text in this book, along with inspirational images, will coax many readers to enjoy a "back to basics” approach that will allow them to produce technically exquisite and profoundly artful, flattering portraits that will sell themselves to clients every time.
Portsmouth Cemeteries
by Glenn A. KnoblockPortsmouth Cemeteries, a photographic study of this city's cemeteries, uncovers a compelling history of the area from the Colonial era to the 1900s. These cemeteries provide a direct link to the past, where many stories are told in stone. The gravestones and monuments feature unusual works of art, and the inscriptions act as documents that preserve family histories, valiant military service, and memories of those lost at sea. Through the author's collection of photographs, readers can see how gravestones evolved over time and learn about some of Portsmouth's own practitioners in the art of stone carving.
Portsmouth Firefighting (Images of America)
by Steven E. AchillesIn September 1756, with only fire buckets, two hand tubs, and citizen volunteers safeguarding the Colonial seaport, Portsmouth decided to organize and regulate its fire protection. By 1852, the Portsmouth Fire Department boasted six suction engines and in 1864 entered the age of steam power when the first steam fire engine was delivered. Disastrous fires and a growing city required the department to modernize as it moved into the 20th century. The department's first motorized engine was purchased in 1912, and by 1921, there was a new central fire station along with a new gasoline-powered ladder truck. Through an exceptional collection of photographs, Portsmouth Firefighting richly illustrates the story and tradition of a fire department forever connected to its brave firefighters, their magnificent fire engines, and the spectacular blazes they fought.
Portsmouth Naval Prison (Images of America)
by Katy KramerThe Portsmouth Naval Prison, now vacant, sits at the far end of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey Island on the Maine and New Hampshire border. For over a century, "the Castle" or "the Rock," with its deceptively appealing exterior, has kept both visitors and New Hampshire residents in its thrall. Since its opening in 1908 to its decommissioning in 1974 and into the present day, myth and lore have surrounded this iconic building. For the 66 years it functioned, any prisoner who escaped was brought back dead or alive--or so it has been said. Only adding to the prison's mystique is its history of reform; particularly successful were the wartime restoration and rehabilitation programs. Although the prison's fearsome reputation is cemented in Darryl Ponicsan's The Last Detail, Portsmouth was a forerunner in many ways. Routine inside often reflected the latest advancements in the field. Yet, designed or deserved, the prison's legacy remains an intriguing mix of dread and redemption.
Portsmouth, Virginia (Images of America)
by Dr Robert AlbertsonLocated in heart of the Chesapeake Bay at the zero milepost on the Intracoastal Waterway, Portsmouth's five historic districts and its thriving downtown are living landmarks, reminding onlookers of the gracious living, perilous times, and exciting events that often played a crucial role in the life of the nation. Here the last Colonial governor of Virginia took refuge, and here Lord Cornwallis garrisoned his British troops before going to Yorktown, where his defeat gave birth to the United States. Here the first ironclad ship, the first battleship, and the first aircraft carrier were designed and built, and here the wounded from all of America's wars since 1830 have been brought to recover at Portsmouth's naval hospital. Vintage photographs within these pages capture the everyday lives of almost four centuries of residents. The ferries that connected Portsmouth to nearby Norfolk, the trains that made it the gateway to the South, and the city's center-its commercial district-all come alive through the images. Focusing on the Olde Towne historic district, the Naval Hospital, the Naval Shipyard, and the downtown area district, this volume provides a tour of the quaint structures of the oldest part of the city and preserves part of the nation's heritage.