A Portrait, Slant
Emily Dickinson is one of my favorite poets, but when she writes, "Tell all the truth, but tell it slant," it's frustrating to be able to follow only half of her advice. The problem is, there are a lot of truths; they are as innumerable as clouds in the skies. So it's impossible to tell more than a little truth about even one of them, let alone to tell all the truth about each. On the other hand, telling a truth -- but telling it slant -- is a different matter.
Truth is especially knotty for portrait painters, because truth is not what most sitters pay for. Usually portraits are concerned with surfaces: is the dress. or the suit, fashionable? Does the painting convey the sitter's social status? Equally important: is the portrait an accurate representation of the subject?
Eleanora di Toledo, Agnolo BronzinoWe can assume that this beautiful portrait of Lady Eleanora by Bronzino is accurate on all of these levels or he would not have been paid so handsomely to have painted it. Her dress, jewelry and her son are as important to the image as her face. The portrait reveals her likeness and her wealth. Her social status in the Medici court in Florence in 1545 is self-evident and needs no explanation.
But what if the subject is an elusive person by nature and his social status is not a concern? For example, of all my nine younger siblings, brother Dan is the most enigmatic. He's smart, loving, adventurous, funny and generous, an ideal brother. He's also deeply spiritual. But he's not inclined to say much, so even when he was a child there was an aura of mystery about him, which has continued throughout his life. I wanted to paint his portrait and suggest his inner life. But how?
Portrait of Daniel - Oil/canvas - 43 x 72 inches. One summer morning, I happened to see him reflected in a puddle of water on an asphalt driveway. Also reflected were the sun, and a tree and a corner of the house we grew up in years ago. Except for his shoes and the garden hose, everything was indistinct.
This was the "slant" I wanted. But in order for his indistinct reflection to make sense, i had to paint the shoes and the hose as accurately as I could.
Even so, many people who look at the painting often assume that it's upside down and turn their heads upside down in order to make sense of it.
Portrait of Daniel - Oil/canvas - 43 x 72 inches.I wish I could say this is a satisfactory portrait of Dan, but I don't think so. It may hint at the complexity of his character, or perhaps more accurately, at my inability to render that complexity in any depth. In other words, it's more slant than truth. And Dan continues to be as enigmatic, and as lovable, to me now as he was long ago when we were boys.
Link: https://johnmichaelkeating.com/2020/06/01/a-portrait-slant/
wonderful idea for his portrait!
Thank you, Romanie. It means a lot to have your comments and support as I get back into sharing work here. I may reach out with some more questions as I learn more...
As the truth, our identity is dispersed in many layers, sometimes contradictory, sometimes more fluid than defined. I think your portrait is more poetic, so it captures better all the subtle aspects which common portrait even those of the Medici's can't. Awesome work!!
Thanks for share in the World of Xpilar!!
Thank you kindly, @leveuf. I'm glad you enjoyed my post, and very much appreciate this community and the work you all put into it.
Your post was upvoted by the @art-venture account after manual review. Support of Visual Artworks and Photogrpahy on Steem by @stef1 and @art-venture
Thanks @stef1 / @art-venture. I am honored and happy that you liked the post, and really appreciate the upvote. I hope I can keep sharing content this fine community will enjoy!
Wow this is so creative
Thanks so much for taking the time to look, @ultravioletmag, and I'm happy you enjoyed the post. I like your work as well and am now following your blog. And you're a fellow Saatchi artist, looks like. I have some works there, too.
Thank you for your post. It was interesting to read it and while seeing the beautiful portrait of Eleanora di Toledo, Agnolo Bronzino and your thoughts about Artists who did portrait in the pasts, I can only agree that their job was not only to show what they see but to reflect the personality, their lifestyle and and life.
The same like nowadays when doing a photo, many would like to use editors and to improve what they see, luckily those tools available for everyone so they do not need to go to any professionals.
Talking about Dan, I can imagine his character as there are soem people who I know and I can match those features to t hem too. I like the idea to create such portrait and knowing why it is so it is then understandable why you did it this way. Thank you for your nice post John Michael.
You post is nominated for „@art-venture“ Support Program, @booming account upvote. Only the posts that are not cross posted, original and posted from Xpilar community page and using tag #art-venturehave priority. If your post gets approval, then you get upvote within few days. Good luck!
Thank you @art-venture for your perceptive comments. I really appreciate that you took the time to reply. You're right about Dan. He's a wonderful brother, but an elusive personality that's difficult to capture in a straightforward manner. Sometimes ambiguity is the best way, although Bronzino would have probably disagreed.
Oh, and thank you again for the nomination and the upvote. I'm glad to be part of the steem community.