Portraiture

Vincent Van Gogh

Frida Kahlo

Francis Bacon

Our links above investigate the variety of styles and techniques that artists choose to create portraits of themselves and their subjects.

Click on a picture for an evaluation of that artist's work.

• Artists use a wide range of media for portraiture, including drawing, printing, painting, sculpture, photography and multimedia.

• Some artists may wish display their artistic skill in capturing an exact likeness of their subject by using a very realistic painting technique.

• Some artists may wish to express their subjects inner personality by simplifying or emphasising the shapes, colours, tones or textures of the portrait for dramatic effect.

• Some artists may reduce their subject to abstract elements where the style or expressive power of the image is more important than a physical resemblance to the sitter.

• Backgrounds, locations or objects associated with the subject often have a strong effect on the way we interpret a portrait.