2024-03-31 13:20:33
National Museum Cardiff decided to explore the question “Are self-portraits the forerunners of modern selfies?” at the new exhibition “The Art of the Selfie”, built around the painting “Portrait of the Artist” (1887) by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh.
As Day.Az reports with reference to foreign media, the painting is being exhibited in Wales for the first time.
“Self-portraits and selfies are two different things, but they have something in common: they are both used to show who you are as a person,” the museum said in a statement on its website. “Of all the ways we document our lives, selfies have become a popular method of self-expression and individualism. The works on display demonstrate the different ways in which artists have chosen to define themselves in the same way we present and share our images today.”
The artist’s portrait on display is on loan as part of a deal with Paris’ Musée d’Orsay, which previously asked to borrow Renoir’s “The Blue Lady” for its upcoming exhibition “Paris 1874: The Invention of Impressionism.”
Kate Davies, director of collections and research at the National Museum of Wales, commented to the Guardian that: “The Blue Lady was painted in 1874, so it made sense to allow her to return to her home country and spend a holiday with old friends.” The Museum of Wales took the opportunity to suggest: “…if you take one of our iconic works, could you reciprocate and send something truly meaningful, one of your star objects?”
It is known that over the course of his creative life, Van Gogh created about 35 self-portraits, many of which he painted because he was strapped for cash and could not afford to hire a model. Despite these circumstances, the artist poured his whole self into these bright, colorful works of introspection, which he saw as a means of conveying certain inexpressible qualities of his inner world.
“I am looking for a deeper resemblance than the one that the photographer managed to obtain,” Van Gogh once wrote to his sister. And in a letter to his brother, he added: “People say – and I am quite ready to believe it – that it is difficult to know oneself , but it’s also not easy to draw yourself.”
The Art of the Selfie exhibit features nearly a dozen works that demonstrate how various artists, including Rembrandt, Brenda Chamberlain, Francis Bacon and Bedwir Williams, approached the task of depicting themselves in their work.
One of the self-portraits featured is by Anja Paintsil, a contemporary artist who draws on her Welsh and Ghanaian heritage. Her contribution is a textile piece depicting her as Blodewwedd, a flower character from Welsh folklore. The work gives “a different perspective on what a self-portrait can mean,” Don Bowden, Wales’ undersecretary for culture and sport, tells BBC News. “It’s a really small exhibition and so intimate that you have time to delve into the works. There are only 14 of them.” works, but each of them reveals its own view of the world.”
The Art of the Selfie exhibition will be on view at the National Museum Cardiff in Wales until 26 January 2025.
Subscribe to our WhatsApp channel and stay up to date with the main news!