A Project in Portraiture in Sculpture
Loading...
Date
1957-06
Authors
Widman, Lorraine Balmuth
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
The point of the portraiture problem, to me, lies in the ability of the artist to capture that which gives the person his "life". If so, the portrait must be not merely a physical replica of the person, but a selective choice and combination of the characteristics of that person. The portraitist must select these characteristics much as a caricaturist does, the difference being that the caricaturist emphasizes and separates these qualities in order to make the person grotesque, and by so doing eliminated subtlety, while the portraitist incorporates these characteristics into a total conception. The caricaturist divides while the artist unifies. The caricaturist is a journalist and is impersonal, while the artist is highly involved and personal. His feelings about his subject differ very much from the next artists, for his portrait reveals his attitudes and ideals. The portraits of Despiau, for instance, show an ideal which is highly sophisticated and reserved. He elevates the human over the animal by concentrating on the individual spirit with its infinite subtleties, and the mysterious inner qualities of each person. In contrast to Despiau, Epstein brings out our common earthiness and humanity, making the individual into a physical, as well as spiritual force.
Description
27 pages
Keywords
portraits