Task 3: Research

for this task you will need to research into the contextual background of the portrait both historically and in contemporary practices.
you must research into 4 artists, ensuring that you are working from at least 2 different time periods.



artist 1

Hans Holbein the Younger


''A German painter, printmaker and designer, renowned for the precise rendering of his drawings and the compelling realism of his portraits, particularly those recording the court of King Henry VIII of England. He painted over a hundred miniature and full-sized portraits at Henry's court, which provide a remarkable document of the period. The son of artist Hans Holbein the elder, he learnt painting from his father. He spent some time working in Basel, Switzerland, before moving to London in 1526. Holbein became court portrait painter and Henry VIII’s fashion designer, a position he held until his death. He made designs for all the king's state robes, buttons, buckles and pageant weapons.''
Hans Holbein the younger

http://painting.about.com/od/famouspainters/ig/famous-paintings/Chuck-Close-Portrait.htm


Artist - Phuong Quoc Tri
Title - Portrait of a Woman 27
Medium - Oil on Canvas
Dimensions - 90cm x 110cm
Status - Sold Private Collection London

"The most desirable thing I want in my life is to paint", says Phuong Quoc Tri.

Born in Phan Rang, Central Vietnam (1976)

Learned to paint with his father

Having been through a difficult childhood, Phuong Quoc Tri has a hard viewpoint which can be seen very clearly in his paintings. He understands the struggle of day to day life in Vietnam, which is reflected in his paintings. Yet, never in a day does he put his desires to paint away. This has helped the artist's soul survive and become more and more fervent. Specializing in oil paintings, his style is unpredictable: light or strong brush strokes, bright or dark use of colors.

Sometimes he paints himself in the most desperate moments. Sometimes he paints ladies in feminine gestures. The main theme in his paintings reveals the artist's questions for life: how to survive, how to live with one's passion, and how to seek happiness. To become an artist, Phuong Quoc Tri traveled on a rocky road. He is one of Vietnam's most talented, self-taught artists.

 

toriizakaart





Artist -Vincent Van Gogh
Title -self portrait 1889
Medium - oil on canvus
Status -(Musee d'Orsay, Paris).

Vincent van Gogh, for whom color was the chief symbol of expression, was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland. The son of a pastor, brought up in a religious and cultured atmosphere, Vincent was highly emotional and lacked self-confidence. Between 1860 and 1880, when he finally decided to become an artist.

 van Gogh had had two unsuitable and
unhappy romances and had worked unsuccessfully as a clerk in a bookstore, an art salesman, and a preacher in the Borinage, where he was dismissed for overzealousness. He remained in Belgium to study art, determined to give happiness by creating beauty. The works of his early Dutch period are somber-toned, sharply lit, genre paintings of which the most famous is "The Potato Eaters" (1885). In that year van Gogh went to Antwerp where he discovered the works of Rubens and purchased many Japanese prints.

In 1886 he went to Paris to join his brother Théo, the manager of Goupil's gallery. In Paris, van Gogh studied with Cormon, inevitably met Pissarro, Monet, and Gauguin, and began to lighten his very dark palette and to paint in the short brushstrokes of the Impressionists. His nervous temperament made him a difficult companion and night-long discussions combined with painting all day undermined his health. He decided to go south to Arles where he hoped his friends would join him and help found a school of art. Gauguin did join him but with disastrous results. Near the end of 1888, an incident led Gauguin to ultimately leave Arles. Van Gogh pursued him with an open razor, was stopped by Gauguin, but ended up cutting a portion of his own ear lobe off. Van Gogh then began to alternate between fits of madness and lucidity and was sent to the asylum in Saint-Remy for treatment.
In May of 1890, he seemed much better and went to live in Auvers-sur-Oise under the watchful eye of Dr. Gachet. Two months later he was dead, having shot himself "for the good of all." During his brief career he had sold one painting. Van Gogh's finest works were produced in less than three years in a technique that grew more and more impassioned in brushstroke, in symbolic and intense color, in surface tension, and in the movement and vibration of form and line. Van Gogh's inimitable fusion of form and content is powerful; dramatic, lyrically rhythmic, imaginative, and emotional, for the artist was completely absorbed in the effort to explain either his struggle against madness or his comprehension of the spiritual essence of man and nature.

Artist - Joel Harris
Title - Elli-Bo 2011
Medium - Photoshop.

Joel Harris was born 1985 in Portsmouth. his father was a builder and supported the family until a divorce separated them. Joel lived with his mother who was diagnosed with breast cancer. He cared for his mother while she was ill. Though this didn’t help his school work. At 21 his mother died and this set him in a deep depression. He then moved in with his father who helped him deal with the loss. Joel is currently working on a college degree.

Elli-bo

Portrait painting

This portrait is of my class mate Elli she is a happy girl who loves cute things like cats. She has a teddy that she loves and takes around with her all the time. The background is blue with a pattern of coloured cats. Because her favourite colour is light blue. I have used colours that are present in the portrait to colour the cat pattern. I have used photo shop to paint this portrait. It was the first time I have used Photoshop to paint a portrait. And since I have painted this I have learned a lot about Photoshop so I feel like if I could repaint this it would look a lot better. I will use Photoshop for future projects and plan to become a concept artist.

Joel Harris.