M.A.
THESIS
The
Representation and Reality of the Self in Art
Chapter
2. Likeness as Representation of the Self
The
thesis that self-portraits represent, or express, the essential
self of the artist is founded on two assumptions:
(1)
there is the essential self;
(2)
the self can be visually represented as likeness.
In
the previous chapter I demonstrated that the source of the hypothesis
that there is an essential self can be found in Aristotle’s
philosophy. What I will demonstrate next is that Aristotle’s
philosophy can also be claimed as the source of the hypothesis that
self can be represented as likeness.
James
Douglas Breckenridge found in classical Greek sculpture and philosophy
the source of what he calls “true portraiture” - portraiture
which prefers depicting the individual over the superimposed ideal.
His thesis is that a favorable intellectual atmosphere was necessary
before the “true” portrait, the individualized likeness
could be created. [1] Breckenridge doesn’t claim that the
artists were students of philosophy, but that philosophers reflected
some general consensus of ideas on such matters as the significance
of the individual or the character of visual reality itself. [2]
He argues that the intellectual position which yielded such portraits
was most clearly formulated in terms of Aristotle’s metaphysics.
[3]
In
his analysis, Breckenridge compares sculpted portraits of Plato
and Aristotle. While the portrait of Plato uses superficial physical
likeness, the portrait of Aristotle uses the external physical form
to evoke the internal life of the man. [4] Breckenridge’s
thesis is that the difference in approach to the portrayal of these
two individuals may relate to the shift in Greek thought from Plato’s
idealism to Aristotle’s empiricism. [5]
Breckenridge’s
analysis of Aristotle’s philosophy yields the conclusion that
the only way in which the activity of the mind, or the feeling of
the soul, can be apprehended, is through their effect on the physical
appearance and movements of the body. In Breckenridge’s opinion
Aristotle did not abandon the older conception of an unchangeable
aspect of the personality, which Aristotle calls “mind”,
in contrast to the body linked to the soul: “Since the complex
here is the living thing, the body cannot be the actuality of the
soul, it is the soul which is the actuality of a certain kind of
body. (…) Soul is an actuality of formulable essence of something
that possesses potentiality of being besouled.” [6] Such an
attitude toward physical reality was necessary for the development
of portraiture. [7]
Therefore,
Breckenridge calls “Aristotelian” such an attitude toward
portraiture in which accurate representation of particular individual
likeness is more important than creation of idealized beauty. We
can find the same “Aristotelian” approach to portraiture
in the famous self-portraits of Holland’s great painter, Rembrandt
van Rijn. Rembrandt painted, etched and drew his likeness at least
seventy-five times over more than forty years, capturing his transformation
from a youth to an old man. He repeatedly altered his image with
costumes and dramatic light, sometimes acting as a character from
historical paintings and Biblical stories. The exact number of Rembrandt’s
self-portraits is a matter of contention, but it seems that he depicted
himself in approximately forty to fifty paintings, about thirty-two
etchings, and seven drawings. [8]
The
special quality of Rembrandt’s self-portraits, and portraits
in general, is founded in his ability to create an image of the
individual features of the sitter and create a strong psychological
presence. At the time when other artists were painting idealized
figures, Rembrandt was painting individuals.
Art
historians disagree on the motivation behind Rembrandt’s numerous
self-portraits. Some theories explaining Rembrandt’s self-portraits
as a commercial venture, because self-portraits were sellable at
that time. [9] Another explains self-portraits as a result of the
practice of using oneself as a model, which does not require hiring
a model. In the context of my thesis the most important theory is
that Rembrandt’s self-portraits were attempts to represent
the essential self.
There
are no primary sources from which we can ascertain Rembrandt’s
perception of "personality" and "self" save
his portraits and self-portraits. Most scholars up to about twenty
years ago interpreted Rembrandt’s remarkable series of self-portraits
as a sort of visual diary, a forty-year exercise in self-examination.
[10]
Jeanne
Ivy in her analysis of genre of self-portraits says, “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 (…) Each portrait is an exploration of the self.”
[11] She goes on to praise Rembrandt’s achievement: “While
Dürer and Parmigianino used the canvas to reflect their physical
appearance, later artists such as Rembrandt and van Gogh took the
self-portrait to a deeper level. Rembrandt created vast amounts
of self-portraits through intensive self-study. Van Gogh wrote in
a letter to his brother, “In Rembrandt’s portraits...it
is more than nature, it is a kind of revelation.” Rembrandt’s
self-portraits delve deeply into the psyche, they show a complex
personality, strong emotions, and a chronicle of circumstances through
life.” [12]
Discussing
the self-portrait Rembrandt painted in 1628, Susan Fegley Osmond
notes that it was “a meditation on shadow and substance both
physical and metaphysical; it seems to say that ultimately "I"
am a mystery, the unknowable… Even to oneself the inmost soul
is a mystery.” [13] She is assuming that there is an “inner
soul”, self, and that even if its representation is beyond
reach of an image, its existence is not in question.
Comparing
Rembrandt’s traditional portraits to contemporary portrait
painted by Chuck Close, Linda Nochlin states that there is no representation
of the essential self in Rembrandt’s self-portraits and portraits
-- just clever usage through staging and lighting of the figure
deceiving the audience that there is an essential self: “Rembrandt
is not a realist but a trickster, tricking you into thinking that
Jan Nix pulling on his glove is the essential, the profound, the
transcendent Jan Nix, quintessential Dutch-burgher-with-a-soul,
the artist’s dazzling technique seducing you with a few well-placed
shadows around the eyes, the meaningful glance, the astute concatenation
of glazes around the mouth. All Rembrandt’s sitters look deep
and soulful and surely they weren’t: this was just Rembrandt’s
signature style: you paid your guilder and you got your profundity.”
[14]
I agree
with the position that Rembrandt’s self–portraits do
not represent the essential Self. In my opinion the interpretation
of self-portraits as representation of the essential self is false,
because it is based on the false assumption that there is an essential
self. I will next discuss Wittgenstein’s refutation of essence.
..............................
1.
ibid., 14.
2.
ibid., 123.
3.
James Douglas Breckenridge, Likeness, Conceptual History of Ancient
Portraiture (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press,
1968), 120-128.
4.
ibid., 120.
5.
ibid., 120.
6.
Aristotle, De anima, II 2 (414a)
7.
James Douglas Breckenridge, Likeness, Conceptual History of Ancient
Portraiture (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press,
1968), 123.
8.
Susan Fegley Osmond, “Rembrandt’s Self-Portraits”
[article on-line] (The Mind and I Magazine, Washington, : News World
Communications, Inc., 2000, accessed 9 March 2002); available from
http://worldandi.com/public/2000/january/rembrandt.html; Internet.
9.
ibid.
10.
ibid.
11.
ibid.
12.
Jeanne Ivy, “The exploration of Self: What artist find when
they search in the mirror” [article on-line] (Baltimore, Maryland:
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County, accessed 9 March 2002);
available from
http://www.research.umbc.edu/~ivy/selfportrait/back.html;
Internet.
13.
ibid.
14.
Linda Nochlin, “On Nancy (1968)” [article on-line] (Art
in America, 1999, accessed 9 March 2002); available at http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1248/2_87/53868145/p2/article.jhtml?term=%2Bself-portraits+%2Bessence;
Internet.
..............................
|