Most famous artists from the past have delved into the expression of self-portraits. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, it was not until the Early Renaissance in the Mid-15th Century that artists can be frequently identified depicting themselves as either the main subject, or as important characters in their work.

Why DID so many famous artists paint self-portraits?

Practice Makes Perfect
In early times this was the best way to master portraiture experience before working with the client.

Calling Cards
Portraiture Artists used self-portraits as a calling card, validating their skills. Much like people today use business cards.

Status
Famous artists could paint themselves into a setting which gave status to where they lived.

Document Their Life
A creative and tedious form of today’s selfies! Artists also wanted to document their life and how they changed over the years. For instance van Gogh painted around 36 self-portraits in only ten years. Rembrandt produced the most self-portraits throughout his career.

Looking Deeper
Picasso had some interesting thoughts as to why he painted self-portraits. He once said “Are we to paint what’s on the face, what’s inside the face, or what’s behind it?”

To Make Millions of Dollars?
Famous artists that created million dollar self-portraits probably never dreamed that someday their portraits would sell for millions. If only they knew at the time!

The following 5 famous self-portraits have sold for millions.

“Self-portrait” by Andy Warhol Sold for $27.5 Million

Andy Warhol’s stark red-on-black Self-Portrait, sold for $27.5 Million in 2011. Created with acrylic and silkscreen on canvas, the painting measures almost 9 square feet. It was created toward the end of his life in 1986 and shows the artist, with hair spiked, looking directly at the viewer.

Picasso’s “Self-Portrait Yo Picasso” by Picasso Sold for $47.9 Million in 1989

Painted in June 1901, Yo Picasso is the first of that year’s three self-portraits and shows the 19-year old Picasso viewing himself with pride and confidence. Over the years Picasso’s style developed and his self portraits became more abstract.

“Portrait of an Artist Without His Beard” by Vincent by van Gogh

Painted in 1889, “Portrait of an Artist Without His Beard” sold for $71.5 million in 1998 in New York City. It was the second highest price for a van Gogh at auction and the third highest price for any artwork ever sold at auction.

What made van Gogh’s “Portrait of an Artist Without His Beard” so unique was that it was the only self-portrait he painted of himself without a beard, and it is said to be his last self-portrait. He painted the picture for his mother, Anna Cornelia Carbentus van Gogh, for her 70th birthday while he was in an asylum. He wanted to reassure her that we was doing fine. Ironically he committed suicide soon after.

“Self Portrait with Monkey” by Frida Kahlo Sold for $1 Million

Frida Kahlo, Mexico’s most famous woman artist is best known for her self-portraits that express the emotional effects of pain, loss and tragedy in her life. This self-portrait painted in 1940 was painted during Frida’s one year divorce from her husband Diego. The stance in the painting is direct and serious. Purchased by “Madonna” in the late 1980’s, she has collected several of Frida’s Paintings. Read more here on other famous Frida paintings.

Self-portrait with Hunting Horn by Max Beckmann

German artist Max Beckmann painted “Self-portrait with Hunting Horn” in 1938 while he was in exile in Amsterdam after the Nazis branded him a degenerate artist.

The painting fetched 22.5 million in 2001.

In “Self-Portrait with Hunting Horn”, Beckmann depicts himself alone in a confined, narrow space holding a Waldhorn (a German hunting horn) in his left hand and wearing a black-and red-striped housecoat. The eerie contrasts of the painting tell a much deeper story, the German horn which was used as a symbol of romanticism in German art and literature.

While there are many million dollar faces, these are a few that show the variety that past famous portrait artists have produced.

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Born March 30, 1853, Vincent van Gogh lived a tumultuous life full of color, drama, passion, illness and loneliness. In a short period of ten years, Van Gogh made approximately 900 paintings, 36 which were self-portraits. Ahead of his time, he died never knowing the reach of his art and fame. He passed away at 37 after he shot himself (though some scholars believe he was shot by accident).

Many of his paintings became famous after his death. He is famous for bold post-Impressionist style and many are familiar with his sunflowers. However, he created many self-portraits which give a raw glimpse inside his troubled mental state and his unique self-perspective.

Most likely, van Gogh’s self-portraits are depicting the face as it appeared in the mirror he used to reproduce his face, i.e. his right side in the image that is in reality, the left side of his face. Shown above is a rare photograph of van Gogh taken in 1873 when he was 19. At the time he worked for the Goupil & Cie art dealership in the Hague. It is the only know photograph of van Gogh’s face.

Below are a few of his most interesting self-portraits…

Self Portrait, 1889: Believed to be Vincent van Gogh’s Last Self Portrait

Painted only months before his death, it is interesting to note that the background in the painting is reminiscent of Starry Night. Swirling brush strokes, movement and contrast, the background is restless behind the intense stare of Vincent. Attention is focused on his face, his features anxious and stern.

Self Portrait for Paul Gauguin – Confiscated and Sold by the Nazis

Vincent van Gogh, Arles, (1888,) gift; to Paul Gauguin, (1888-1897).

During the Third Reich regime in Germany, Vincent van Gogh paintings were stolen and/or destroyed by German authorities. The self-portrait above that was dedicated to Gaugin, was one of the works branded as Degenerate art by the Nazis, confiscated and sold. The winning bid for this work was $US 40.00 by Dr. Frankfurter.

The Bandaged Ear – Not What It Seems?

Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear, January 1889

Did Van Gogh really cut off his ear in the legendary act of self-harm and present it to a prostitute who is said to have fainted when he handed it to her? Well, a book published in Germany by Hamburg-based historians Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans, argues that Vincent van Gogh may have made up the whole story to protect his friend Gauguin, a keen fencer, who actually lopped it off with a sword during a heated argument. The historians say that the real version of events has never surfaced because the two men both kept a “pact of silence” – Gauguin to avoid prosecution and Van Gogh in an effort trying to keep his friend with whom he was hopelessly infatuated.

This painting is considered one of the most expensive paintings of all time (along with the self-portrait below to his mother). In the late 90s it sold for $90 million in a private sale.

Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (obverse: The Potato Peeler)

Spending much of his adult life in poverty, van Gogh could not afford to hire models. The above portrait actually consists of two portraits on one canvas. To save money on canvases he would frequently use both sides of the canvas. On the back side is “The Potato Peeler”.

“I purposely bought a good enough mirror to work from myself, for want of a model.”

Birthday Gift for Mother – “Portrait of an Artist Without His Beard”

Portrait de l’Artiste Sans Barbe (Self-portrait without beard), 1889

This painting was Van Gogh’s self-portrait, which he gave to his mother as a birthday gift. Van Gogh painted Self-Portrait without beard just after he had shaved himself.

What made van Gogh’s “Portrait of an Artist Without His Beard” so special was that he painted it for his mother, Anna Cornelia Carbentus van Gogh, for her 70th birthday not long before his suicide in 1890. At the time, van Gogh was ill in Saint Remy, France, and wanted to reassure his mother that he was all right. He painted himself with chiseled features, a clean-shaven face and an intense stare.

The self-portrait is one of the most expensive paintings of all time, selling for $71.5 million in 1998 in New York. At the time, it was the third (or an inflation-adjusted fourth) most expensive painting ever sold.

“I try more and more to be myself, caring relatively little whether people approve or disapprove.”

Vincent van Gogh painted over 30 self-portraits between the years 1886 and 1889. His collection of self-portraits places him among the most prolific self-portraitists of all time.

To see even more of Van Gogh’s portrait, check out the video below.

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Pablo Picasso is considered one of the most iconic artists of all time. The Old Guitarist is perhaps one of his most famous paintings from the Blue Period (1901 – 1904). The painting is expressive of the monochromatic style in which Picasso painted mainly in shades of blue and blue-green.

At the time of this painting in 1903, Picasso was very poor. His poverty gave him unique and emotional insights. It was also during this time that one of Picasso’s good friends had committed suicide and his feelings of sadness, melancholy and emptiness are expressed in his artwork.

Somber in color and subject matter, the painting we are about to look closer at is reminiscent of Francisco de Goya’s theatrical style.

The Old Guitarist – Composition Analysis

The Old Guitarist depicts an older haggard man on the streets of Barcelona, Spain. The composition expertly frames the mood and isolation in the painting.

In his early years, Picasso received formal artistic training from his father in figure drawing and oil painting, and expertly applies the composition rules of thirds. The rules of thirds dictates that if you divide any composition into thirds vertically and horizontally and then place the key elements of your image along these lines or at the junction the arrangement will be more dynamic.

Thorough composition, paint, subject matter and intuition, an uncomfortable disconnect is presented to the viewer of the painting.

In the middle of the composition, The Guitarists right arm and hand seem to suspend in mid air. Elongated fingers curve towards his right leg which wraps him in a cocoon like state. At the top right of the composition the fingers are elegantly positioned in action and elevated a bit higher then the shoulders as if reaching beyond the confinement of the space.

The angular composition behind him (which is later prevalent in Picasso’s Cubism phase) seem to close in on the Guitarist compressing him into a tiny space that feels airless. Dramatic dark’s and lights further accent the composition as the final touch of melancholy.

The Guitar – The Most Valued Possession

The guitar in The Old Guitarist is a curiosity in the painting. Centered in the composition, the empty eyes of the Guitarist (expressing his blindness) align vertically at the junction of the third with his nose and mouth downward and then sweeping upward from the elbow to the delicate hands which bring your eyes to the guitar. The monochromatic style takes a slight turn as the guitar is painted a warmer color.

The guitar is the bright spot in the painting which may symbolize the most important possession the man has.

Homeless street musicians in Barcelona relied on a small income that could be earned from their music. The guitar being the most valued possession of the Old Guitarist and the music being his escape.

Was the guitar painted by Picasso in The Old Guitarist from a long line of famous guitar markers in Barcelona – starting with Juan Estruch Rosell in the late 19th century?

We will never know the whole story behind the life of The Old Guitarist, however Picasso in all his genius presents a scene that evokes emotions and impacts generations.

Interested in more Picasso articles? You might like to see these pictures of  Picasso in his studio in the 1960’s.

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Rockwell’s idealistic presentation of family values is expressed in Freedom From Want. The family scene sums up the perfect idealism of the American family in harmony with each other. The painting depicts three generations of a family around a table at Thanksgiving. The father is standing at the head of the table as the mother is about to place a large turkey in front of him.

Embodying nostalgia for an enduring American theme of holiday celebration, this painting is one of the hallmarks of Rockwell’s career.

All of the people in the painting were friends and family of Rockwell in Arlington, Vermont, who were photographed individually and painted into the scene. Rockwell’s wife Mary is in this painting, and the family cook, Mrs. Thaddeus Wheaton is serving the turkey, which the Rockwell family ate that day. The nine adults and two children depicted were photographed in Rockwell’s studio and painted into the scene later.

Why did Norman Rockwell Paint Freedom from Want?

In January 1941, FDR delivered his State of the Union address in which he outlined his idea of the four basic human freedoms, which included:

• freedom of speech
• freedom of worship
• freedom from want.
• and freedom from fear.

To symbolize the Four Freedoms, Rockwell was chosen for his symbolic paintings. Rockwell spent six months painting the Four Freedoms, which were published in a series of Saturday Evening Post issues in 1943. The paintings were a instant success and defined Rockwell’s career. The original art is approximately 45.75 by 35.5 inches, and are now in the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Freedom from Want is considered one of Rockwell’s finest works. As one of the four paintings in the Four Freedoms, it is the one most often seen in art books with critical review and commentary. Although all were intended to promote patriotism in a time of war, Freedom from Want became a symbol of “family togetherness, peace, and plenty”, according to Linda Rosenkrantz, who compares it to “a ‘Hallmark’ Christmas”.

Norman Rockwell – A Quick Rundown

He was born in New York City on February 3, 1894 and died November 8, 1978. He is known to be talented at a young age, and he received his first commission at age 17!

Norman Rockwell illustrated American life for over 47 years at The Saturday Evening Post. He produced more than 4,000 original works in his lifetime. Most of his works are either in public collections, or have been destroyed in fire or other misfortunes.

Source: Wikipedia

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Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882-May 15, 1967) was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker; his style conforms to the movements of Modernism and Social realism. Hopper’s work is divided between lonely landscape visages and illustrations of subjects in isolation. Essentially, Hopper captures the ambiance of his subject’s mood through the arrangement of the color scheme. Hopper’s rise to eminence as a figurehead in American modern art will be gleaned in connection to his trademark aesthetic.

The art movement of social realism burgeoned in the 1930s amid the Great Depression and correlated with Hopper’s artistic affluence. At the turn of the twentieth century, Hopper began his career as an illustrator by enrolling in New York School of Art and Design. His mentors included Robert Henri and William Merritt Chase who were the important figures of the Ashcan school- an art movement that strived to convey city life in New York’s poorer regions. Norman Rockwell was among the famous artists involved in the Ashcan school. Hopper’s time spent in art school proved seminal, as he sought to translate the standards of the Ashcan school in a different light. Instead of following the paradigm of his peers and Mentors who detailed crowded and bustling spaces, Hopper shifted the focus of social realism into encapsulating the loneliness of living in the city.

Automat: The Looming Atmosphere of the City

For a short spell, Hopper sought employment as an illustrator after he finished his career in school. Hopper spent several years venturing across Europe and studying the tradition of French realist artists, such as Édouard Manet. Hopper was inspired by the French realists to lend his powers of observation towards evincing the lackluster isolation that lurks in the backdrop of incessant bright lights and city noise.

His famous works- such as ‘Automat’ (1927) and ‘Office in a Small City’ (1953) – channels the collective distress of capitalist modernity. Hopper fashions the exterior spaces in these portraits to signify the subject’s interiority. In Automat, the starkly green background silhouettes the female subject who forlornly studies the content of her beverage. A murkiness shades both the city street in the environment behind the café and the woman’s clothing, which associates the looming atmosphere of the city with her despondency.

Office in a Small City: Reality Over-saturated with Artificiality and Confinement

The alienation of post-world war two American business is translated in ‘Office in a Small City.’ Hopper portrays a minimalist visage of a man seated in his office while absent mindedly observing at the city skyline. A sense of drab unmitigated confinement materializes from the man’s vacant response to performing everyday business tasks. The everyman’s claustrophobic boredom in this picture alludes to a pallid cost of perusing the American dream, which is the insipid routine of modern life. Hopper conveys the effects of a reality oversaturated with artificiality and confinement. A concern for the question of what constitutes an examined life in midst of monotony persists in the body of Hopper’s work. Hopper’s eminence as a prominent voice in the Age of Anxiety– see Munch’s ‘The Scream’– is attributed with conveying the mental rigors, or lack thereof, during capitalist modernity.

Nighthawks – One of the Most Recognized Paintings in American Art

Nighthawks painted in 1942 in New York City (and sold within months for $3,000), expresses lonely moments in time. The empty and flat composition expresses the following:
Coldness – the time of day – late at night, cool dark shadows, empty streets, lifeless.
Disconnected – the unsmiling interaction between the bartender, woman and man seemingly avoiding eye contact as a protection of personal space.
Man in a dark suit also disconnected with his back to the large window illuminating the dark and deserted urban streetcape.

The characters living in their own reality in the same space, yet apart. The painting invites a narrative interpretation. If you are reading this, what is your narrative on the painting?

Other favorite works:

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In 1884, he showed what is probably his best-known picture, Madame X (the size of the painting enormous measuring 82 inches by 43 inches or nearly 7 feet tall). He was disagreeably surprised when it caused a scandal as a result of its sexual suggestiveness of her pose and the pail pasty color of her skin. Sargent was known to be outlandish and it is said that after meeting her socially, he become obsessed by her. He let it be known that he wanted to do “homage to her beauty” in a portrait.

He did one line drawing after another of her head in profile, made studies in pencil and watercolor of her relaxing on a settee in a low-cut evening dress, painted her in oil drinking a toast, and numerous profiles and studies.

Upon the unveiling of the painting and discouragement of her reception, he moved permanently to London. His work was too avant-garde to appeal immediately to English taste so he moved on and the turning point for Sargent’s career in England came when he showed his Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose (painted 1885-86) at the London Royal Academy.

The piece, undeniably one of Sargent’s masterpieces, incorporated Victorian themes and a calculated impressionist influence that depicted two girls lighting lanterns among flowers in spring. However there is much more going on in the painting then meets the eye. We will examine this at a another time!

Though he enjoyed the early recognition as a portrait painter in oils for a long period of time, he grew tired of the demands and never ending list of commissions. His painting changed focus for a more personal exploration and he began work in watercolors and landscapes.

His watercolors and style of work was on the brink of modernism and unconventional for the time. Disregarding contemporary standards, his watercolors were bold with loosely defined forms and vantage points. His watercolor work was also highly praised and he managed to make a name for himself as a watercolorist in addition to a painter.

Sargent passed away in his sleep on April 15, 1925 at the age of 69. He left behind a large body of work, including portraits, travel scenes, watercolors and impressionistic masterpieces that have defined his reputation into the current century; his works are still exhibited around the world.

I do not judge, I only chronicle.
-John Singer Sargent

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Before the Scream Painting – A Brief Backstory

Edvard Munch was born December 12, 1863 in a farmhouse in the village of Ådalsbruk in Løten, United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway. Often ill and kept out of school, Edvard would draw to keep himself occupied. He was tutored by his school mates and his aunt. His Father, Christian Munch also instructed his son in history and literature and entertained the children with vivid ghost stories and the tales of American writer Edgar Allan Poe.

In 1879, Munch enrolled in a technical college to study engineering, where he excelled in physics, chemistry and math. He learned scaled and perspective drawing, but frequent illnesses interrupted his studies. The following year, much to his father’s disappointment, Munch left the college determined to become a painter.

At this time he wrote in his diary:

I have in fact made up my mind to become a painter.

Self-Portraits – His Inner World

His self-portraits were a theme of expression throughout his career. They have been compared to Rembrandt. His first self-portrait (shown above) in 1881-82 is one of his very first surviving painting and completed at the age of 18.

Throughout his life, his work remained consistent in that it expressed both his inner world and the world how he viewed it. From what he felt to what he saw. His work expressed private pain and trauma to an expression of themes and events around him. One such event that he painted and expressed with intensity was the death of his young sister Sophie. The theme of death would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Despair

Munch often used color not for naturalist description but to convey feeling, anxiety and intensity. One of his earlier paintings that expressed anxiety through color (before The Scream) was Despair painted in 1892 (shown above). From this painting The Scream evolved.

The Scream

It’s interesting that The Scream was somewhat a wild child of Munch’s work. No other painting produced by Munch had the same look and intensity as The Scream did.

The Scream exists in four versions: two pastels (1893 and 1895) and two paintings (1893 and 1910). There are also several lithographs of The Scream (1895 and later).

In 2012, The Scream sold for 119.9 million to financier Leon Black an American private equity investor. The $119.9-million price set a record for the most expensive artwork sold at auction.

The Scream is Munch’s most famous work, and one of the most recognizable paintings in all art. It has been widely interpreted as representing the universal anxiety of modern man.

It departed from his earlier works in that the style was so harsh and coarsely applied. The mixed mediums – oils, gouche, tempura, pastel and pencil. The figure is devoid of identity and presence. It seems as if it’s frantically painted. The mouth forms a singular

O.

The wild red sky is an expression of the figures emotions: hopelessness and panic. The “loud, unending scream piercing nature,” comforts the viewer with emotions.

I Gave Up Hope

With this painting, The Scream, Munch met his stated goal of “the study of the soul, that is to say the study of my own self”. Munch wrote of how the painting came to be: “I was walking down the road with two friends when the sun set; suddenly, the sky turned as red as blood. I stopped and leaned against the fence, feeling unspeakably tired. Tongues of fire and blood stretched over the bluish black fjord. My friends went on walking, while I lagged behind, shivering with fear. Then I heard the enormous, infinite scream of nature.”

He later described the personal anguish behind the painting:

For several years I was almost mad… You know my picture, ‘The Scream?’ I was stretched to the limit—nature was screaming in my blood… After that I gave up hope ever of being able to love again.

Bordering on Insanity?

During the 1890’s and 1900’s Munch repeatedly defended himself against the charges of insanity and mental illness. However he had feared that he was genetically marked by mental illness from his father.

Munch wrote, “My father was temperamentally nervous and obsessively religious—to the point of psychoneurosis. From him I inherited the seeds of madness. The angels of fear, sorrow, and death stood by my side since the day I was born”.

Breakdown

In the autumn of 1908, Munch’s anxiety, compounded by excessive drinking and brawling, had become acute. As he later wrote, “My condition was verging on madness—it was touch and go.”

Experiencing hallucinations and feelings of persecution, he entered a clinic for eight months and received therapy which included diet and “electrification.” Munch’s stay in hospital stabilized his personality, and after returning to Norway in 1909, his work became more colorful and less pessimistic.

Later Years and Solitude

Munch never married and spent most of his last two decades in solitude at his nearly self-sufficient estate in Ekely, at Skøyen, Oslo. At this time he was a renowned and wealthy artist. Many of his late paintings celebrate farm life, including several in which he used his work horse “Rousseau” as a model. To the end of his life, Munch continued to paint unsparing self-portraits, adding to his self-searching cycle of his life and his unflinching series of takes on his emotional and physical states.

Upon his death in 1944 in Norway, at the age of 80, the authorities discovered—behind locked doors on the second floor of his house—a collection of 1,008 paintings, 4,443 drawings and 15,391 prints, as well as woodcuts, etchings, lithographs, lithographic stones, woodcut blocks, copperplates and photographs.

All his works of art were bequeath to the city of Oslo in Norway.

In May 2012, The Scream sold for $119.9 million, and is the second most expensive artwork ever sold at an open auction. (It was surpassed in November 2013 by Three Studies of Lucian Freud by painter Francis Bacon, which sold for $142.4 million)

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Ann Turner Cook (born November 20, 1926 – Died June 3rd, 2022)

The iconic Gerber baby illustration has been a familiar brand seen throughout the world. The face for the trusted baby food, propelled the Gerber brand forward.

However, not much has been shown on the actual artist/illustrator who was inspired to create the sketch of original Gerber Baby, Ann Taylor Cook. Keep reading to learn about Dorothy Hope Smith.

Ann Taylor Cook: Then and now, 4 months to age 95.

In 1927 when she was about 4 months old, her image was sketched in charcoal by their neighbor and friend artist Dorothy Hope Smith. Dorothy submitted a preliminary charcoal sketch to a Gerber baby contest. The sketch was created from a snapshot of Ann Turner. Dorothy’s unfinished submission was intended more as an inquiry as to what the age of the baby should be and what the ad size would be. Dorothy intended to finish the sketch if accepted. The judges loved it. They preferred the simplicity of the illustration compared to more elaborate entries.

Dorothy won $300 in the contest, selling the rights of her drawing to Gerber.

The drawing wasn’t intended to become the brand ‘face’ for Gerber. It was actually for a marketing campaign, however the public loved it so much that they even wanted to purchase copies of the sketch. Gerber was on to something big and the sketch of Ann Cook by Dorothy Hope Smith became a trademark.

Who was Dorothy Hope Smith?

Although today many may not know her name, her creation is household knowledge.
Dorothy was born October 1st in 1895 and died in 1955 at age 60. She studied illustration at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was a talented commercial illustrator specializing in babies and children. She was one of the “Ivory Soap Baby” illustrators for Procter & Gamble, illustrating children’s books for Putnam and several magazine covers. She married and her husband was also an Illustrator.

Her work represents an era of when advertising was mainly illustration based. She was also one of the few women Illustrators in a time when the industry was dominated by males.

Today you can find copies of the Gerber Baby prints (the same ones that were sold years ago) at auctions.

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Painted when Lucian Freud was 72, The Benefits Supervisor Expresses Raw Vulnerability

In celebration of Freud’s birthday in May (6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) let’s take a look at where the real talent was! Freud’s grandson Lucian Freud, the late British artist and figurative painter.  Freud got his first name “Lucian” from his mother in memory of the ancient writer Lucian of Samosata. His family moved to England in 1933 to escape the rise of Nazism. From 1942 to 1943 he attended Goldsmiths College, London. He served at sea with the British Merchant Navy during the Second World War.

His early work was inspired by surrealism and his friend Francis Bacon,  however Lucian is known for his nudes of regular people and much of his career was spent in relative obscurity.  In the last quarter of his life, however, his audaciously explicit portraits would intrigue the art world and sell for millions.

Lucian talented in his own right observed people on a much different level than his grandfather. He seemed to capture the essence of a person with his rough brush strokes, while his grandfather connected on an impersonal intellectual level.

Keen Eye Captures Fleshy Rawness in Benefits Supervisor Sleeping

Lucian with his keen artist eye was able to capture and express the vulnerable humanity of regular people. He seems to capture an essence and intimacy that is somewhat disturbing. His painting “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping” painted in 1995 (and sold in 2008 over 33 million dollars  – the world record for the highest price paid for a painting by a living artist at the time),  captures fleshy rawness and the discomfort of the sleeping woman, Sue Tilley.

Sue was an ongoing model for Lucian. She is quoted as saying in 2008:

“I’m not the ‘ideal woman’, I know I’m not. But who is? And he never made the skinny ones look any better. He picks out every single little detail.”

Benefits Supervisor Sleeping: “He made me look so horrible.”

The painting took months and the initial sitting had her posing, in great discomfort, prostrate on the studio floor – “and he made me look so horrible. I’m shaking now as I think of it”,  Sue said. Once “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping”,  got underway Freud bought the sofa for her to rest on. “It was lovely and comfy, and I just lay on it, really, for nine months. Even when Lucian worked on the background he insisted his model was present.

During the work, painted in daylight, Tilley showed up at Freud’s studio early to catch the first light. “I might arrive at 7am. Then we’d sit in the kitchen, have a little chat, have breakfast, a snack. The first session would be quite long, when we were both quite fresh and there weren’t many interruptions.”

“Sometimes he’d take me out for lunch, which I liked, and we’d work again in the afternoon. It was quite exhausting, just lying there. I know it sounds silly, but it was.”

The world record for the highest price paid for a painting by a living artist at the time.

In 1995 the life-size painting fetched $33.6 million during bidding at Christie’s auction house in New York.

Lucian died on July 20, 2011 and his paintings are among the most sought after.

Sources:
www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/apr/12/art

 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucian_Freud

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Pop art emerged on the scene with all it’s irony and parody. In a sense it was a mockery to the established art world and the Abstract expressionism movement.

Pop art instantly became popular and embraced commercial techniques, and heaven forbid machine-produced art! They boldly set themselves apart from the painterly, inward-looking tendencies of the Abstract Expressionist movement.

Enter Roy Lichtenstein, born in New York in 1923, he was classically trained at Ohio State University and earned a B.F.A and M.F.A. in art. He became a major force and leading figure in the Pop Art movement in the 1960s. His work defined the premise of pop art through parody. Since the early 1960s his prints have been included in important contemporary graphic-art exhibitions throughout the country.

Lichtenstein’s Most Famous Works

Whaam! and Drowning Girl are generally regarded as Lichtenstein’s most famous works, with Oh, Jeff…I Love You, Too…But, third.

The $95 Million Dollar Nurse – Wow Baby!

In 2015, Roy Lichtenstein’s Nurse went up on the auction block and fetched a staggering $95 Million a record price for a piece of American Pop Art. Besides the price of this masterpiece, is the curiosity of who bought this painting? A former taxi driver and self-made billionaire and his wife purchased the painting for their museum in Shanghai. Way to go!

Sweet dreams Roy as we celebrate your birthday which is on October 27th!

I’m not really sure what social message my art carries, if any. And I don’t really want it to carry one. I’m not interested in the subject matter to try to teach society anything, or to try to better our world in any way. ~ Roy Lichtenstein

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