The Lessons Taught through Curious Portrayals of Artists Themselves

     Jan Steen’s painting, The Dissolute Household, portrays a highly detailed, naturalistic, comic scene of a household. After both a quick glance and spending some time examining the many details of the scene, it is quite obvious that the household is a mess and has fallen into utter chaos. Scholars agree that Steen painted himself, not obscurely, into many of his paintings. Why would Steen choose to insert himself into his artwork in an unflattering light? There are numerous examples of artists painting themselves, either in self portraits or more obscurely into their art, in such a way to elevate their own status (e.g. Albrecht Durer’s Self-Portrait, Clara Peeter’s Still Life With Golden Goblets, and Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas). This trend makes sense as it can be a form of self promotion and “proves” the talent of the artist. Yet, other artists have, like Steen, painted themselves into their art in such a way that does not obviously elevate their status as an artist but rather shows a side of themselves that is not overtly beneficial for their public image. This gallery explores several of these works in which the artist includes themself in their work in such a way that deviates from the trend of cultivating their public image, serving a different purpose that the viewer must interpret in light of the context of the times and the artist’s life.

Jan Steen, The Dissolute Household, ca. 1663-64, Oil on canvas, 1982.60.31 

In this piece, Steen paints himself directly into the middle of the disarray of the household portrayed. He is the male figure in the center of the painting, grinning and looking directly at the viewer while linking fingers with the maid behind the back of the lady of the house. His gaze confronts the viewer about the mess around him and causes one to wonder why Steen would purposefully make a connection between this chaotic scene and himself.

Caravaggio, David with the Head of Goliath, c. 1610, Oil on canvas, Galleria Borghese, Rome

The title of this painting alerts the viewer to the Biblical narrative that sets the scene for the subject matter of this piece by Caravaggio. David is the young, faithful man who takes down the giant, Goliath, who mocked and reviled the God of Israel. After killing him with a stone to the forehead, David cuts off Goliath’s head with Goliath’s own sword. While David and Goliath are easily identifiable in this painting, Goliath is additionally a cleverly crafted self portrait of Caravaggio himself. Why would Caravaggio purposefully equate himself with the villain of this narrative?

Michelangelo, Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel, 1535-1541, Fresco 

In this classically-styled painting, Michelangelo portrays the last judgement in great detail. He takes the time to also paint himself into the scene of angels, demons and humans. He is the husk of a man held by St. Bartholomew just to the right of the center of the painting. This portrayal has ties to Greek mythology and Michelangelo makes several implications about his own hubris as an artist. This portrayal is not flattering at all, and it calls into question Michelangelo’s purpose in painting his own vice into this scene.

Gustave Courbet, The Desperate Man (Self-Portrait), 1843-1845, Oil on canvas, Private Collection 

This painting is more clearly a self portrait than others in the galley where the face of artist is more obscurely incorporated into their artwork. Courbet portrays himself in this piece with great emotion seen in his facial expression and the gesture of his arms and hands. This alerts the viewer that something is wrong with Courbet, despite the lack of additional contextual evidence in the frame itself. The title illuminates more precisely the emotion shown on Courbet’s face. Why would Courbet choose to represent himself as a “desperate man” to viewers of his work? How does this affect his public image and how people view him as both an artist and a person?

Egon Schiele, Self-Portrait, 1911, Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paper, 1984.433.298ab 

This self portrait of Egon Schiele strays from straight representation and leaves much to be considered by the viewer in terms of what exactly is happening in this scene. As a self portrait in particular, this portrayal piques interest in what Schiele is trying to inform viewers about himself. His body is unhealthily thin, the colors used are naturalistic yet inconsistent, his facial expression is hard to read and he does not have a right hand. Why does Schiele portray himself in such a way that is difficult to understand, inciting confusion and concern for his well-being?

Salvador Dalí, Soft self portrait with grilled bacon, 1941, Oil on canvas, Town Hall of Figueres, on permanent deposit at the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres 

This self portrait strays quite far from representation, landing comfortably in the realm of surrealism as is common of some of Dalí’s work. While the face is recognizable as that of a man’s face, there are many aspects of this work that complicate the scene and make it an unnaturalistic portrayal. What does the face dripping off the supports mean? Do the gaping holes for eyes have a deeper meaning? Why is there a strip of bacon on the pedestal? How do all of these elements contribute to Dalí’s purpose in creating this as a self portrait specifically, rather than portraying an unknown man?

References:

Camara, Esperanca. "Last Judgment - Essay By Dr. Esperanca Camara". Khan Academy.

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/high-ren-florence-ro

me/michelangelo/a/michelangelo-last-judgment.

Chapman, H. Perry. "Jan Steen's Household Revisited." Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the

History of Art 20, no. 2/3 (1990): 183. doi:10.2307/3780742.

Frantis, Wayne. "Jan Steen." In Dutch Seventeenth-Century Genre Painting Its Stylistic and 

Thematic Evolution, 208,209, 212. Yale University Press, 2004.