Portraits of Sculptors in Modernism
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Konstvetenskapliga institutionen Portraits of Sculptors in Modernism Författare: Olga Grinchtein © Handledare: Karin Wahlberg Liljeström Påbyggnadskurs (C) i konstvetenskap Vårterminen 2021 ABSTRACT Institution/Ämne Uppsala universitet. Konstvetenskapliga institutionen, Konstvetenskap Författare Olga Grinchtein Titel och undertitel: Portraits of Sculptors in Modernism Engelsk titel: Portraits of Sculptors in Modernism Handledare Karin Wahlberg Liljeström Ventileringstermin: Höstterm. (år) Vårterm. (år) Sommartermin (år) 2021 The portrait of sculptor emerged in the sixteenth century, where the sitter’s occupation was indicated by his holding a statue. This thesis has focus on portraits of sculptors at the turn of 1900, which have indications of profession. 60 artworks created between 1872 and 1927 are analyzed. The goal of the thesis is to identify new facets that modernism introduced to the portraits of sculptors. The thesis covers the evolution of artistic convention in the depiction of sculptor. The comparison of portraits at the turn of 1900 with portraits of sculptors from previous epochs is included. The thesis is also a contribution to the bibliography of portraits of sculptors. 2 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor Karin Wahlberg Liljeström for her help and advice. I also thank Linda Hinners for providing information about Annie Bergman’s portrait of Gertrud Linnea Sprinchorn. I would like to thank my mother for supporting my interest in art history. 3 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 5 1.1. Purpose and Research Questions................................................................................. 5 1.2. Limitations .................................................................................................................. 6 1.3. Theory and Method ..................................................................................................... 6 1.4. Previous Research ....................................................................................................... 7 2. Diversity of Styles .............................................................................................................. 8 2.1 Realism ........................................................................................................................ 9 2.2 Impressionism ........................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Post-Impressionism ................................................................................................... 14 2.4 Cubism ...................................................................................................................... 15 2.5 Symbolism ................................................................................................................. 16 2.6 Expressionism ........................................................................................................... 19 2.7 Futurism .................................................................................................................... 19 3. Self-Portraits ..................................................................................................................... 20 4. Group Portraits ................................................................................................................. 22 5. Relationships between Painters and Sitters ...................................................................... 24 6. Facets of Portraits ............................................................................................................. 25 6.1. Gestures, Poses, Expressions .................................................................................... 25 6.2. Artistic Dress ............................................................................................................. 26 6.3. Background ............................................................................................................... 28 6.4. Attributes ................................................................................................................... 29 7. The Sculptor in the Studio ................................................................................................ 31 8. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 32 9. Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 34 9.1 Literature ................................................................................................................... 34 9.2 Internet Sources ......................................................................................................... 38 10. List of Figures ............................................................................................................... 41 4 1. Introduction 1.1. Purpose and Research Questions The portrait of sculptor emerged during Renaissance due to elevation of the status of the sculptor. The sitter held a statue that indicated the sitter’s occupation. Giovanni Battista Moroni's portrait (c.1552-1553) (fig. 46) depicting the sitter holding a marble torso is the earliest certified rendering of a sculptor in Renaissance painting, if the subject of the portrait is correctly identified as the sculptor Alessandro Vittoria.1 Portraits of sculptors with attributes of profession is still a subject of contemporary art and, as examples, I want to mention Anatoly D. Lukashenok’s portrait of the sculptor V. P. Nebogenko from 2009 and the portrait of the sculptor O. Zakomorny by Dmitry Slepushkin from 2016. My interest in the subject of portraits of sculptors was prompted in art history course at Uppsala University, where I did a brief comparison of Paolo Veronese’s portrait of the sculptor Alessandro Vittoria and René Avigdor’s portrait of the sculptor Auguste Rodin. But I was surprised that there was no published work dedicated to the portraits of sculptors. As the next step I wrote the essay The Evolution of Portraits of Sculptors from the Sixteenth Century to the Nineteenth Century, where only four portraits from the second half of the nineteenth century were analyzed. This thesis has focus on portraits of sculptors at the turn of 1900. Time period considered in the thesis is partially based on time period used by Richard Brettell in his book Modern art 1851-1929. Brettell choose 1929, since it is the year of the public opening of the Museum of Modern Art that “institutionalized modernism as the official mode of representation of the twentieth century”.2 I moved starting point to 1870, since Naturalism emerged in 1870s, and looked for portraits of sculptors between 1870 and 1929, which represented modern art movements and had indications of profession. The goal of the thesis is to identify new facets that modernism introduced to the portraits of sculptors. The thesis covers the evolution of artistic convention in the depiction of sculptor. I include in the thesis the comparison of portraits at the turn of 1900 with portraits of sculptors from previous epochs. I think the thesis is also a contribution to the bibliography of portraits of sculptors, since there is a little research in this area. 1 Luba Freedman. ‘Titian's “Jacopo Da Strada”: a Portrait of an 'Antiquario”.’, Renaissance Studies, 13:1 (1999), p.30. 2 Richard R. Brettell, Modern Art 1851-1929: Capitalism and Representation , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, p.7. 5 1.2. Limitations Drawings, paintings and prints are explored in this thesis. Thus, portraits in sculpture and photographs are not included. In my opinion the subject of photographic portraits of sculptors deserves a separate study. The main focus of the thesis is 60 artworks created between 1872 and 1927. The most of the portraits analyzed in the thesis are produced by European artists, but several pieces of art created by American artists and Mexican artist are mentioned. I do not claim that these 60 portraits is complete set of modernist portraits of sculptors with professional attributes at the turn of 1900. Such claim would not be possible anyway, since there are non-exhibited portraits in museums and private collections, which are difficult to find. 1.3. Theory and Method I extensively use Erwin Panofsky’s iconographic/iconological analysis. The analysis consists of three levels. First level is pre-iconographic analysis that is based on interpreter’s personal experience and does not assume knowledge of literary sources.3 According to Panofsky in this level the interpreter should identify pure forms that are “carriers of primary or natural meanings” that define “world of artistic motifs”.4 This level is required in analysis of portraits of sculptors, since even the recognition of a shape as a sculpture could be tricky. I consider the gesture, the pose, the expression and the dress of the sitter. The second level is iconographic analysis. The goal of this level is to identify the story and characters depicted in the image.5 The second level considers “secondary or conventional subject matter”, and analysis artistic motifs are connected with themes or concepts.6 In this level I look at literary sources to get information about depicted subjects in the portraits and sculptors’ artworks. In the third level, iconological analysis, the viewer should illuminate