Research point: Expressive landscape

Updated on 22 March 2017 (Harvard referencing and some content).

13 November 2016. Closest probably to transposing human states of mind into real world phenomena visible in landscapes were the German Expressionists.Their observations of the ever-changing mood found in landscapes relate directly to human emotion. Emil Nolde (1867-1956, Germany/Denmark) is famous for his wonderful elevated watercolour observations of the stormy sea of his home. In real life the intensity of these colours would be exceedingly rare to see, their presence in a work of art thus causes a raised awareness in the viewer (see e.g. a selection of related works (Pinterest, n.d.). He often uses a generally subdued background together with very carefully and cleverly selected areas of high intensity colour with enviable knowledge and ease, so that despite the deceptive casualness the result is always both a believable and highly emotional setting. Ernst Ludwig Kircher (1880-1938, Germany) was another founding member and outstanding representative of German Expressionism around the turn of the 19th/20th century. His style was much more graphic and harder than Nolde’s (probably owing to his being a printmaker, too). The painting “Graubünden Landscape with Sunrays” (Fig. 1) below, although very much in the Expressionist tradition, reminds me somehow of the votive tablets found in the Alpine region – especially the sunrays, which on rare occasions do appear in reality and which in religious paintings are interpreted as emerging from celestial beings resting on the clouds. Also Kirchner’s choice of viewpoint makes both for a noble real-life representation of the high mountains, helping to raise religious feelings in viewers familiar with this tradition  – see example of a votive tablet underneath (Fig. 2, photo unfortunately out of focus, but ideal for purposes of comparison):

Figure 1. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: “Graubünden Landscape with Sunrays”, media n.k., n.d.. Source: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

Figure 2. Votive tablet by unknown artist: “Dank für Genesung nach einem Holzunfall”, painting on wood, 1740. Source: [Anon] [Public domain] via Wkimedia Commons

In Symbolism, on the other hand, a movement starting in the late 19th century with Gustave Moreau (1826-1898, France), landscapes were filled with mythological creatures to stand for the universal human emotions such as anger, fear, love or hate (Myers, 2007). It was thus not the landscape, which was the primary transporting medium of an emotion, but the entities populating it. Moreau seems to have been exemplary for the movement with a great interest in ancient mythology. His “Death of Sappho” (Fig. 3) below is typical of his approach:

Figure 3. Gustave Moreau: “Death of Sappho”, oil on canvas, c. 1870. Source: Gustave Moreau (1826-1898) [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

Painter and designer Léon Bakst (1866-1924, Russia) was in line with Moreau’s approach, see for example his painting “Terror Antiquus” (Fig. 4) below. Being on the cautious side (caused by six years of Latin at school) regarding the title of the painting and its uncommented translation “ancient horror”, I tried to find out more about its meaning and it is explained as “the Dionysian force which fuels true art” (Davidson, 2000), hence the quiet despite the seemingly ferocious title.

Figure 4. Léon Bakst: “Terror Antiquus”, oil on canvas, 1908. Source: Léon Bakst (1866-1924) [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918, Austria) was an outstanding representative of Symbolism. I was unable, however, to find a landscape painted by him, which in my opinion would have qualified as symbolist. All his landscapes appear close to reality (my husband is from the Attersee region, where Klimt used to paint many of his landscapes and I have been to many of the locations). They do not seem to include symbols in the expected way, for example in “Beech Grove I” below (Fig. 5). Regarding composition: The incredibly beautiful light appearing in specks on the stems and foliage at the back of the young forest, and on some of the trunks in the middle ground, appears essential to me here by producing a horizontal counterbalance for the vertical stems. Of course the overall square format (which I tend to prefer myself) helps to quieten down any stress contained in a scene and reminds me of the necessity to think carefully about my own choices of support:

Figure 5. Gustav Klimt: “Beech Grove I”, oil on canvas, 1902. Source: Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954, Mexico) was a later representative of the Symbolist movement, who to me seems to take her symbols away from ancient to modern sources and somewhere near Surrealism. To my great joy I found her painting “Suicide of Dorothy Hale” (Fig. 6), since (by coincidence?) it ties in with the votive tablets I mentioned above in the section about Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and has been haunting its viewers ever since it was painted, telling the story of the never-solved mystery of the unlikely suicide committed by actress Dorothy Hale in 1938.

Figure 6. Frida Kahlo: “Suicide of Dorothy Hale”, oil on masonite, 1938. Source: Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) [Fair use] via Wikimedia Commons

A single landscape by her, painted in 1946, however seems to be in a category by itself. The landscape itself is interpreted as representing her broken body (Frida Kahlo Paintings, Biography, Quotes, n.d.).

16 November 2016. While both Expressionists and Symbolists remained with the real landscape without deviating too much from to the outward physical appearance, the Surrealist movement used – among many other approaches – imaginary landscapes with the aim to find ways of “unleash the subconscious imagination“. This goal for me immediately connects with the work of Sigmund Freud, whose discoveries rose to immense interest and popularity with intellectuals of the time (Tate, n.d.(a)). In the approach of historical painter and precursor to Surrealism Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978, Italy) landscapes do not appear to be at the centre of interest, but are rather used in a stage-like manner. They are mainly barren, desert-like, flat or rocky backgrounds, which by being inert allow a wealth of impossible things to emerge, happen, develop and transform, in the shape of “disordered collections of symbols” (The Art Story, n.d.(a)) so that there is an entry point into a dream-like world for every human mind. Which may be the main reason for the immense and ongoing popularity of surrealistic painting. De Chirico’s interest appears to have circled around the mythological elements of Ancient Rome and Greece, as e.g. in “The Disquieting Muses” (Fig. 7):

Figure 7. Giorgio de Chirico: “The Disquieting Muses”, oil on canvas, 1916-18. Source: Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978) [Fair use] via Wikiart

To me, the basic composition of landscapes used by Salvador Dali (1904-1989, Spain) (The Museum of Modern Art, n.d.) seems to have been greatly and very faithfully inspried by de Chirico, although his stages were populated by very different elements. In some of his works, though, the real coastline near his home in Catalonia (Cadaqués) served as the stage (Jones, 2007) as e.g. in his arguably most famous work, painted in 1931, “The Persistence of Memory” (The Museum of Modern Art, n.d.). In the glossary entry on “Surrealism” found on the Tate website (n.d.(a)) above there is an interesting documentary about a cooperation between Salvador Dali and the Disney Corporation (scroll down a bit) in making a surrealist film, which was discarded due to financial constraints after the war and rediscovered in 2008. This made me realise that one very weird and disturbing animated (childrens’!) film we have – “Le Roi et l’Oiseau” (“The King and the Mockingbird”) from 1980 (IMDb, n.d.) is exactly that, a surrealist painting come to life. The possibilities offerend by film appear to enhance the effects sought by the surrealists and no doubt their poineering approach is an immensely rich source to all types of visual art. Painter and sculptor Max Ernst (1891-1976, Germany) was very close to de Chirico and Dali in style and choice of subject, see e.g. “Ubu Imperator” (The Art Story, n.d.(b)), but also very recognizable his own, e.g. in the wonderfully agitated “L’Ange du Foyeur” from 1938 (Bunyan, 2013). Graham Sutherland (1903-1980, UK) again was inspired by religious motives and to a large extent by the landscape of Pembrokeshire, as e.g. in “Welsh Landscape with Roads” from 1936 (Tate, n.d.(b)). Painter and designer Paul Nash (1889-1946, UK) I already wrote about in a previous post (Lacher-Bryk, 2016). To me he feels the most authentic of the surrealist painters. There seems to be no artificiality in the choice of his objects, but rather an immediate connection with his concerns. For example see the haunting “Totes Meer (Dead Sea)” (Tate, n.d.(c)) painted in 1940/41.

In retrospect the term “expressive landscape” remains difficult to pin down. To me all landscapes are expressive by nature and no matter how reduced the visible content, it seems impossible to escape it. Enhanced expressiveness, however, that sort sought for and put to good use for a particular purpose, uses carefully chosen and/or altered landscape to stand for and enter into communication with a human condition and there are probably few other subjects in art, which lend themselves with similar ease to the transporting of universally understood messages.

References:

[Anon] (1749) Dank für Genesung nach einem Holzunfall [painting on wood] [online]. Österreichisches Museum für Volkskunde, Vienna. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Votivtafel_Maria_Kirchental_1740_%C3%96MV.jpg [Accessed 13 November 2016]

Bakst, L. (1908) Terror Antiquus [oil on canvas] [online]. State Russian Museum, St Petersburg. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Terror_Antiquus_by_L.Bakst_(1908).jpg [Accessed 13 November 2016]

Bunyan, M. (2013) Exhibition: ‘Max Ernst’ at Fondation Beyeler, Riehen, Switzerland [blog] [online]. Art Blart. Available at: https://artblart.com/2013/09/02/exhibition-max-ernst-at-fondation-beyeler-riehen-switzerland/ [Accessed 22 March 2017]

Davidson, P. (2000) “The Muse and The Demon in the Poetry of Pushkin, Lermontov, and Blok” in Russian Literature and its Demons [online]. Berghahn Books, New York, Oxford. Available at: https://books.google.at/books?id=yhoyRH7NIosC&pg=PA197&lpg=PA197&dq=the+Dionysian+force+which+fuels+true+art&source=bl&ots=5A2SZQaSum&sig=8E3E-8JAhBPSuEDg9ICm9as9HSg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-u6nT0OnSAhXjIJoKHa1ZDAwQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=the%20Dionysian%20force%20which%20fuels%20true%20art&f=false [Accessed 13 November 2016]

de Chirico, G. (1916-18) The Disquieting Muses [oil on canvas] [online]. Private Collection. Available at: https://www.wikiart.org/en/giorgio-de-chirico/the-disquieting-muses-1918-1 [Accessed 22 March 2017]

Frida Kahlo Paintings, Biography, Quotes (n.d.) Landscape, 1946 – By Frida Kahlo [online]. Frida Kahlo Paintings, Biography, Quotes. Available at: http://www.fridakahlo.org/landscape.jsp#prettyPhoto [Accessed 13 November 2016]

IMDb (n.d.) Le Roi et l’Oiseau [online]. IMDb. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079820/ [Accessed 13 November 2016]

Jones, J. (2007) The Riddle of the Rocks [online]. The Guardian, London, 5 March. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/mar/05/spain.art [Accessed 13 November 2016]

Kahlo, F. (1938) Suicide of Dorothy Hale [oil on masonite] [online]. Phoenix Art Museum. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Suicide_of_Dorothy_Hale.jpg [Accessed 13 November 2016]

Kirchner, E.L. (n.d.) Bündner Landschaft mit Sonnenstrahlen [n.k.] [online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Ludwig_Kirchner#/media/File:Kirchner_-_B%C3%BCndner_Landschaft_mit_Sonnenstrahlen.jpg [Accessed 13 November 2016]

Klimt, G. (1902) Beech Grove I [oil on canvas] [online]. New Masters Gallery, Dresden. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gustav_Klimt_-_Beech_Grove_I_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg [Accessed 13 November 2016]

Lacher-Bryk, A. (2016) Artist Research: Paul Nash [blog] [online]. Andrea Lacher-Bryk, Hallein. Available at: https://andreabrykocapainting1.wordpress.com/2016/10/17/artist-research-paul-nash/ [Accessed 13 November 2016]

Myers, N. (2007) “Symbolism” in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, August 2007. Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/symb/hd_symb.htm [Accessed 13 November 2016]

Moreau, G. (c.1870) Death of Sappho [oil on canvas] [online]. Private collection. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gustave_Moreau_-_Mort_de_Sapho.jpg [Accessed 13 November 2016]

Pinterest (n.d.) Art: Emil Nolde [image collection] [online]. Pinterest. Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/439734351093056325/ [Accessed 13 November 2016]

Tate (n.d.(a)) Surrealism [glossary] [online]. Tate, London. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/surrealism [Accessed 13 November 2016]

Tate (n.d.(b)) Graham Sutherland OM [online]. Tate, London. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/graham-sutherland-om-2014 [Accessed 13 November 2016]

Tate (n.d.(c)) Totes Meer (Dead Sea). Paul Nash

[online]. Tate, London. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/nash-totes-meer-dead-sea-n05717 [Accessed 13 November 2016]

The Art Story (n.d.(a)) Giorgio de Chirico [online]. The Art Story, New York. Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/artist-de-chirico-giorgio.htm [Accessed 13 November 2016]

The Art Story (n.d.(b)) Max Ernst. Ubu Imperator [online]. The Art Story, New York. Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/artist-ernst-max-artworks.htm [Accessed 13 November 2016]

The Museum of Modern Art (n.d.) Salvador Dali. Introduction [online]. The Museum of Modern Art, Now York. Available at: https://www.moma.org/artists/1364 [Accessed 13 November 2016]

The Museum of Modern Art (n.d.) Salvador Dali. The Persistence of Memory [online]. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Available at: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79018 [Accessed 22 March 2017]

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Research point: Artists’ self-portraits

Updated on 11 March 2017 (Harvard referencing).

8 August 2016. This task was relatively specific with a set of questions to be answered while looking at five or six self-portraits with a special appeal to me. As with my research for exercise 1 of this project I decided that I would concentrate on more unusual self-portraits.

The questions are:

1. Does the artist portray himself or herself as an artist?
2. What is the purpose of the self-portrait?
3. What impression is the artist trying to convey?
4. What impression is actually conveyed?

To set the stage for a complex subject: Jeanne Ivy , researcher at the University of Maryland summarizes her own findings as follows: “Self-portraits, we have found, can be carefully staged to show the audience only what the artist wishes to project, or deeply revealing, inadvertently displaying feelings of anguish and pain. Self-portraits have been used to test new techniques, make a signature mark, launch into self-study, remember the past and as a way to release emotion … What do artists find when they search the mirror? For some, the self-portrait is a cathartic experience, a letting go of pent-up emotions. For others, the process reveals new insights about themselves and their work. For all artists, the self-portrait is an exploration, an opportunity to see beyond the image in the mirror and begin to search into the soul.”(Ivy, n.d., the paper has unfortunately been taken off the web).

Which is not a big surprise really.
So, setting off to see what some famous artists did in that respect.

Between 1888 and 1889 Paul Gauguin (1848-1903, France) went through, what it seems, a self-conscious phase of self-portraiture, a corresponding quote of his on the National Gallery of Art website reading “the face of an outlaw . . . with an inner nobility and gentleness,” a face that is “symbol of the contemporary impressionist painter” and “a portrait of all wretched victims of society.” (National Gallery of Art, 2016), as expressed with great skill in his 1889 “Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake” (Fig. 1a). Vincent Van Gogh produced a portrait of his friend in 1888 (Van Gogh, 1888) (Fig. 1b). While the chosen angle is completely different, it appears to me that not only characteristic facial traits like the hooked nose and moustache were seen by them both in a similar way, but also the perception of Gauguin’s personality as described in the above quote seems to be shared by both of them alike. Both paintings do not show Gauguin at work, but his own piece seems to serve as a caricature removed from a certain time or place, while Van Gogh seemed more interested in capturing the mood of the moment. Without the background information I might gain the impression of a certain kind of arrogance, which is especially visible in the self-portrait. But when I look at what I produce myself in a similar situation, this impression may be false and a result of the particular circumstances self-portraiture comes along with.

Figure 1a. Paul Gauguin: “Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake”, 1889, oil on wood. Source: Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

Figure 1b. Vincent Van Gogh: “Portrait of Gauguin”, 1888, oil on burlap. Source: Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) [Public domain] via Van Gogh Museum

In 1906, Henri Matisse painted his “Self Portrait in a Striped T-shirt” (Fig. 2a). Although Matisse often depicted himself as a correctly attired artist, if not overdressed for the occasion, he appears quite relaxed here – focused on the task while not visibly at work (I have a shirt like that myself and I associate it with holiday feelings :o)). The website published by the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhangen describes the attire as that typical of the fishermen in Southern France (Aagesen, 2017). As co-founders of Fauvism, Matisse and André Derain (1880-1954, France) painted each other in 1905/1906 in Southern France (Tate, 2009). When comparing Matisse’s piece with that of his Fauvist colleague, one might guess that the relaxed attitude seems to have been part of Matisse’s nature.

Figure 2a. Henry Matisse: “Self-portrait in a Striped T-shirt”, 1906. Source: Henri Matisse (1869-1954) [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

Figure 2b. André Derain: “Henri Matisse”, 1905, oil on canvas. Source: André Derain (1880-1954) [Public domain] via Wikiart

When doing the vice versa experiment, comparing a self-portrait by André Derain (c.1903) and a portrait by Matisse (1905), (Fig. 3a and 3b) the same seems to be true. Both are full of movement, quite loose and relaxed, but probably not overly joyful.

Figure 3a. André Derain: “Self-portrait in the studio”, oil on canvas, c.1903. Source: André Derain (1880-1954) [Fair use] via Wikimedia Commons

Figure 3b. Henri Matisse: “André Derain”, oil on canvas, 1905. Source: Henri Matisse (1869-1954) [Public domain] via Wikiart

Despite the deplorable brevity of Egon Schiele’s life (1880-1918, Austria), a multi-layered relationship pervaded the artist’s friendship with Gustav Klimt (1862-1918, Austria). His famous “The Hermits” (Schiele, 1912) (Fig. 4) includes a whole world of emotion between the two (Leopoldmuseum, n.d.). Klimt on the other hand never painted a self-portrait in his long life, he is quoted to have explained this thus: “I am less interested in myself as a subject for painting than I am in other people, above all women.” (Blatty, 2015).

Figure 4. Egon Schiele: “The Hermits”, 1912, oil on canvas. Source: Egon Schiele (1880-1918) [Public domain] via Wikiart

The above examples are of artists, who shared the same experiences and interests over a long period of time and seem to have known each other extremely well. This might explain the consonance. In order to see whether the opposite might turn up in one place or another I tried to find for my final example a pair of painters, whose views of themselves and each other appeared to clash.

10 August 2016. Francis Bacon (1909-1992, UK) and Lucian Freud (1922-2011, Germany/UK) appear to have been one such pair, although they seem to have spent most of their lives in very close contact before their friendship ended (Gayford, 2013). On the Metropolitan Museum’s website Francis Bacon is mentioned to have said, in 1975, of his intention behind painting self-portraits: “I loathe my own face. . . . I’ve done a lot of self-portraits, really because people have been dying around me like flies and I’ve nobody else left to paint but myself.” (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.d.). This is quite evident in his “Three Studies for a Self-Portrait” (Bacon, 1979-80) (Fig. 5a). Lucian Freud on the other hand had a very realistic and friendly view of Bacon’s face (Freud, 1952) (Fig. 5b). Although the two artists shared their wild social lives and many views of the world, Bacon’s own life seems to have been shaken by tragedy more than Freud’s, which may make the difference.

Figure 5a. Francis Bacon: “Three Studies for a Self-Portrait”, 1979-80, oil on canvas. Source: Francis Bacon (1909-1992) [Fair use] via The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Figure 5b. Lucian Freud: “Francis Bacon”, oil on copper, 1952. Source: Lucian Freud (1922-2011) [Fair use] via Wikiart

And, once more, the vice versa experiment (unfortunately no larger public domain images are available): Bacon seems to have seem not just himself, but other people in the same light. First, a detail of Bacon’s drastic portrait of his friend in “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” (Bacon, 1969) (Fig. 6a) and Freud’s kinder view of himself, despite the black eye (Freud, ) (Fig. 6b):

Figure 6a. Francis Bacon: “Three Studies of Lucian Freud”, 1969, oil on canvas. Source: Francis Bacon (1909-1992) [Fair use] via Wikipedia

Figure 6b. Lucian Freud: “Self-portrait with Black Eye”, oil on canvas, c.1978. Source: Lucian Freud (1922-2011) [Fair use] via Wikiart

Not surprisingly, there are as many reasons for, and approaches to, self-portraits as there are in any other field of art. The only difference may be that our cultural background makes the access to oneself difficult for some. It is not everybody’s cup of tea to lay bare one’s soul for public scrutiny.

References:

Aagesen, D. (2017) Henri Matisse (1869-1954) Self-Portrait, 1906[online]. Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen. Available at: http://www.smk.dk/en/explore-the-art/highlights/henri-matisse-self-portrait/ [Accessed 8 August 2016]

Bacon, F. (1969) Three Studies of Lucian Freud [oil on canvas triptych] [online]. Private collection. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Studies_of_Lucian_Freud#/media/File:Three_Studies_of_Lucian_Freud.jpg [Accessed 10 August 2016]

Blatty, D. (2015) Gustav Klimt. Biography [online]. Bio. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/gustav-klimt-9366571#synopsis [Accessed 8 August 2016]

Derain, A. (c.1903) Self-portrait in the Studio [oil on canvas] [online]. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Self-portrait_in_studio_by_Andr%C3%A9_Derain.jpg [Accessed 8 August 2016]

Derain, A. (1905) Henri Matisse [oil on canvas] [online]. Private Collection. Available at: https://www.wikiart.org/en/andre-derain/portrait-of-matisse-1905 [Accessed 8 August 2016]

Freud, L. (1952) Francis Bacon [oil on copper] [online]. Tate, London. Available at: https://www.wikiart.org/en/lucian-freud/francis-bacon [Accessed 10 August 2016]

Freud, L. (c.1978) Self-Portrait With Black Eye [oil on canvas] [online]. Private collection. Available at: https://www.wikiart.org/en/lucian-freud/self-portrait-with-black-eye [Accessed 10 August 2016]

Gauguin, P. (1889) Self-Portrait With Halo and Snake [oil on panel] [online]. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Gauguin_-_Self-Portrait_with_Halo_and_Snake.jpg [Accessed 8 August 2016]

Gayford, M. (2013) Friends, Soulmates, Rivals: The Double Life of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud [online]. The Spectator, London, 14 December 2013. Available at: http://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/12/double-vision-7/ [Accessed 10 August 2016]

Ivy, J. (n.d.) Self-Portrait as Self-Study. The Exploration of Self: What Artists Find When They Search in the Mirror [online]. University of Maryland. Available at: http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.46625.html [Accessed 8 August 2016, no longer available]

Leopoldmuseum (n.d.) Egon Schiele, The Hermits [online]. Leopold Museum, Vienna. Available at: http://www.leopoldmuseum.org/en/leopoldcollection/masterpieces/51 [Accessed 8 August 2016]

Matisse, H. (1905) André Derain [oil on canvas] [online]. Tate, London. Available at: https://www.wikiart.org/en/henri-matisse/portrait-of-andre-derain-1905 [Accessed 8 August 2016]

Matisse, H. (1906) Self-Portrait [oil on canvas] [online]. Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen. Available at: http://www.henri-matisse.net/paintings/axb.html [Accessed 8 August 2016]

National Gallery of Art (2016) Paul Gauguin. Self Portrait 1889. Overview [online]. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Available at: http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.46625.html [Accessed 8 August 2016]

Schiele, E. (1912) The Hermits (oil on canvas] [online]. Private Collection. Available at: https://www.wikiart.org/en/egon-schiele/hermits-1912 [Accessed 8 August 2016]

Tate (2009) André Derain: Henri Matisse, 1905

Figure 1a. Paul Gauguin: “Self-Portrait with Halo and Snake”, 1889, oil on wood. Source: Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

Figure 1b. Vincent Van Gogh: “Portrait of Gauguin”, 1888, oil on burlap. Source: Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) [Public domain] via Van Gogh Museum

Figure 2a. Henry Matisse: “Self-portrait in a Striped T-shirt”, 1906. Source: Henri Matisse (1869-1954) [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

Figure 2b. André Derain: “Henri Matisse”, 1905, oil on canvas. Source: André Derain (1880-1954) [Public domain] via Wikiart

Figure 3a. André Derain: “Self-portrait in the studio”, oil on canvas, c.1903. Source: André Derain (1880-1954) [Fair use] via Wikimedia Commons

Figure 3b. Henri Matisse: “André Derain”, oil on canvas, 1905. Source: Henri Matisse (1869-1954) [Public domain] via Wikiart

Figure 5b. Lucian Freud: “Francis Bacon”, oil on copper, 1952. Source: Lucian Freud (1922-2011) [Fair use] via Wikiart

Figure 5a. Francis Bacon: “Three Studies for a Self-Portrait”, 1979-80, oil on canvas. Source: Francis Bacon (1909-1992) [Fair use] via The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Figure 6b. Lucian Freud: “Self-portrait with Black Eye”, oil on canvas, c.1978. Source: Lucian Freud (1922-2011) [Fair use] via Wikiart

Figure 6a. Francis Bacon: “Three Studies of Lucian Freud”, 1969, oil on canvas. Source: Francis Bacon (1909-1992) [Fair use] via Wikipedia

[online]. Thttp://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/derain-henri-matisse-t00165 [Accessed 8 August 2016]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (n.d.) Three Studies for a Self-Portrait [online]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/489966 [Accessed 10 August 2016]

Van Gogh, V. (1888) Portrait of Gauguin [oil on burlap] [online]. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Available at: https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0257V1962 [Accessed 8 August 2016]