Fri Mar 04, 2011 at 07:00:00 AM EST
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( - promoted by RiaD)
From another of my favorite art blogs, Every Painter Paints Himself, comes this examination of different artists' representations of George Washington:
Portraits of George Washington by three different artists all resemble the artist. In each case, the President's lips and chin, and sometimes the nose, change to match the artist's.
Left: detail of "George Washington at Dorcherster Heights" by Gilbert Stuart
Right: detail of "Gilbert Stuart" by Charles Wilson Peale and Rembrandt Peale |
| slksfca :: Friday Open Thoughts: Painting the Self |
Left: detail of "George Washington before the Battle of Trenton" by John Trumbull
Right: Trumbull, detail of "Self-Portrait"
Left: detail of "Head of Washington" by C. W. Peale
Right: C.W. Peale, detail of "Self-Portrait with Angelica and Portrait of Rachel"
Striking, isn't it? One likely explanation (from another part of the same website):
Every time we recount a childhood story, for instance, we inevitably mix fact with fiction and, in so doing, "paint" our own reality. But it's not just our life-stories we paint but everything, from the image of our boss to the image of our basement. We each "paint" everything we experience. In fact, "painting" is the experience.
Here's how. Our senses take in meaningless lightwaves, soundwaves etc which our brains convert into something meaningful. The problem is our perceptual systems can only translate them through what we already know. We know what tomato soup looks, smells and tastes like so we all recognize it. Anything new, though, requires imagination. If we have neither experience nor knowledge of it and cannot imagine it either, we will not see it.
We all "paint" what we see. It's just really difficult to accept that we do which is why, given its importance to understanding ultimate truth, artists and scientists both try to explain it. Einstein said: "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
Welcome to Friday Open. Have a great weekend. :-) |
