Art has evolved transitioning from the Athenian high classical approaches to the Pergamon existential art depicted in ancient Greek during the Hellenistic period. Notable artists who can be used to show the transitioning of art are Rembrandt, Pollock, and Van Gogh, who made art using existential realism and radical abstraction. Clark Rembrandt, in his self-portraits, personalizes existential realism while encompassing pictorial naturalism in such a way that the paintings were a mirror reflection of his life. In these self-portraits, Rembrandt attempts to represent his journey where he painted them while looking at himself. The self-portraits are intimate and carefully observed, which depicts Rembrandt as an artist who was looked at himself with honesty (“ Rembrandt, Self-Portrait,” 2014) . In the self-portrait "Rembrandt Self Portrait 1659", the artist makes brushstrokes that are significantly displaying every wrinkle and imperfection on his face, which may be interpreted as showing the social distance, sadness, and reservation the artist was going through. It is worth noting that during this period, his wife had passed on, and later he was declared bankrupt. As such, it may be concluded that Rembrandt creates a perfect balance of a psychological and pictorial approach to his portraits.
Rembrandt's self-portraits exhibit varying moods ranging from resigned, tragic, and humoristic moods. The movement of his brushstrokes is intent on bringing out the character bringing out the exact shape of his face without modifying it. Subsequently, Rembrandt uses his brush to set the paintings’ tone, mood, and shape as well as color to emphasize that each individual ought to be accepted the way they are ( Toteva, Legaspi Ramirez, & Rosenbaum, n.d.) . Thus, Rembrandt's self-portraits are a depiction of his movement in life from being a philosopher-king to a hollow-eyed, worried, and apprehensive individual who has passed through the phases of artistic grandeur to bankruptcy with humility.
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Van Gogh was an outstanding Dutch post-impressionist artist who advanced Rembrandt’s existential realism artistic style to communicate his tortured life symbolically. Having worked on paintings that did not have distinctive vivid colors, van Gogh later incorporated light and color in his new artistic technique to produce artwork regarded for its bold colors in addition to expressive, impulsive, and dramatic brushwork that would influence modern art (“ Van Gogh, Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gauguin”, 2011) .
Van Gogh's "self-portrait dedicated to Gauguin" is an example of the style that Gogh created characterized by vivid colors. In his letter to Theo, his brother and financier, Gogh describe the self-portrait as "all ashen gray against pale Veronese." He further indicates that he has exaggerated the brown color of his coat into the purple with his head modeled in light colors ( Toteva et al., n.d.) . Van Gogh's self-portrait is incredibly modern, noting that it is done in colors that had not been used at the time, thus creating value for the portrait. The strokes of Van Gogh’s brush are heavy, rough, and oversized
The self-portrait has an abundance of feelings and expressions surrounding the experiences he had during the time of their painting. It is worth noting that his brother, who was an art dealer, had, on several occasions, disapproved of some of his paintings, noting that they lacked in liveliness. Also, Van Gogh was notably unsuccessful in his life is considered as a failure and a madman who would spend time in psychiatric care. Rough and oversized brush strokes from his delicate hands seemingly point out to the challenges that Van Gogh was facing from psychotic episodes and delusion as well as neglecting his physical health eating poorly and drinking heavily.
Unlike Gogh and Rembrandt, Pollock adopted the modernist radical abstraction in his artwork. Pollock's drip technique involved splashing liquid paint on the medium of his artwork, thus creating what was termed as action painting. Unlike other artists who used artist's paint, Pollock employed household paints in what he termed as a natural influence resulting from need. Pollock’s technique can be seen to indicate his directness in artwork, noting that dripping was liberating and allowed him to make his paintings from different angles. Pollock utilizes his entire body by moving all over his painting, creating rhythm and spontaneity, which is critical in helping him create freedom from representational qualities in his work. Also, the dripping technique while utilizing his whole body has an impact on creating flow for Pollock's work, which renews itself with freshness. Further, Pollock uses not only his hands but also his feelings and mind to follow and direct the dripping paint tenderly to produce subtle artwork. Subsequently, Pollock's work emphasizes expression rather than perfection that would have been achieved through other forms of painting. Pollock’s body movement allows him to create fluctuations and express his feelings instead of the views of society. The technique adopted by Pollock shows his volatile and wild as well as reclusive personality, noting that he struggled significantly with alcoholism (“ Why is that important? Looking at Jackson Pollock”, 2012) . It is worth noting that his technique is exhibiting his technical sophistication characterized by elemental human experience which contributed largely to redefining art during Pollock’s era.
References
Rembrandt, Self-Portrait. (2014, February 22). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFMFH8Nf0Zw
Toteva, M., Legaspi Ramirez, E., & Rosenbaum, R. (n.d.). Abstract Expressionism. Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism . doi:10.4324/9781135000356-remo19-1
Van Gogh, Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gauguin. (2011, October 1). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqSpWPONekE
Why is that important? Looking at Jackson Pollock. (2012, September 30). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT0SHjOowLA
