Portrait Artists

Portrait Artists Charles White was an African American artist. He was born in 1918 in Chicago. He worked mostly in black and white and sepia drawings, lithographs, and paintings. His work is renowned among Social Realist and African American artists. White is often remembered for his WPA (Works Progress Administration) murals.

His detailed style and line work highlights the beauty of African American culture and people. His wife, Frances Barnett, was another well-known and respected African American artist. He taught at the Otis Art Institute from 1965 until his death in 1979.

Yasunari Ikenaga was born in Japan in 1965. Her paintings and drawings are of stereotypically beautiful women in dreamy poses and atmospheres. Her work often showcases detailed textiles and intricate patterns. Primarily, she uses Japanese mineral pigments to paint her figures. Her use of classic *nihonga gives her drawings and paintings a feeling of timelessness.

 Nihonga means Japanese style- paintings. This term was coined in the Meiji period of Imperial Japan. The style usually includes silk brush ink paintings and drawings in shades from white to black.

Albert Lynch was a Peruvian artist born in 1851. He went to school in Paris and studied at L'École des Beaux-Arts. He showed his work in the 1900 World’s Fair and one a gold medal. His primary media were pastel, gouache, and watercolor. He also occasionally painted in oil. Lynch’s favorite subjects to paint were modern women. The period known as the Belle Époque (Beautiful Era) occurred in French history, starting in 1871. Albert Lynch’s work corresponds with this era’s emphasis on French beauty. He also illustrated books including The Lady of the Camellias, Le Père Goriot, and La Parisians. He died in Mónaco in 1950.