Self Portrait a Art Type

      A painting, drawing, or sculpture or other work of art showing the artist himself.










             Self-portraits have been a method of self-exploration since humans first gazed at their own reflection in a pool of water. With the invention of the mirror came an even stronger fascination to capture one's likeness. And even within the past ten years, the public's fascination with the way an artist sees him/herself has led to exhibitions like the National Self-Portrait Collection in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.


            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. Whichever way artists choose to construct their images, they are each forced to study their own personas both physically and emotionally.

                  What do artist's find when they search the mirror? For some the self-portrait is 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.

Still Life A Art Type.

A drawing or painting of an arrangement of non moving, nonliving objects , such as fruit, flowers, or bottles.
Usually, a still life is set indoors and contains at least one man-made object, such as a bowl or vase.

Over the centuries artists have chosen the subject of still life for a variety of reasons: to reflect the status of their owner, be it humble or haughty; for their symbolic meaning which reveals a hidden story or idea; to capture the natural beauty of transient object like a flower or fruit; to demonstrate the artist's skilled painting technique; or as a controlled structure to express the abstract qualities of the visual elements.

Traditionally, still life is the drawing and painting of items such as fruit, flowers and household objects, which are usually arranged on a table top.

Willem Kalf painted still life which reflected the opulent lifestyle and status of their owner.

Chardin showed us that there is great beauty in the humble household objects that surround us.

Henri Matisse intensified our experience of fruit, flowers and exotic artifacts with his expressive use of color.

Juan Gris used still life to experiment with the way we perceive objects in space and time.

Still life as a subject has provided a platform for artists of different eras to explore their relationship with the world of objects that surround us.

As our world evolves, new products, artifacts and modern media will continue to suggest new avenues for the stylistic development and reinvention of still life as a subject in art.