Many artists liked to write self-portraits - you have to immortalise your favourite self somehow, and you can't always find a suitable model, unlike a mirror. However, some famous artists, perceived the world quite unique, which is reflected in their self-portraits. We will talk about the most unusual ones in this article.
Salvador Dali. Soft self-portrait with fried bacon
The genius Salvador Dalí painted a self-portrait in the style of his favourite surrealism. And it can be interpreted in different ways - some find a reference to Michelangelo's famous fresco "The Last Judgement", on which he depicted himself as a skinned sinner, others - it is a reflection of the artist's image in public opinion - everyone has his own idea of Dali, so it turns out something vague and amorphous, which is held only by the crutches of eccentric actions.
Mauritz Escher. A hand with a reflecting sphere
Maurits Escher wanted to be an architect all his life, but had to paint pictures. However, he did it in his own style - he depicted what could not be in principle, becoming a master of all sorts of optical illusions that fascinate and delight, but at the same time cause a desire to pinch his hand. Escher could depict waterfalls flowing upwards from the bottom, strange buildings whose existence violates physical laws and silhouettes of white fish and black swans passing into each other. His self-portrait is still relatively "normal", but only by the standards of the rest of the artist's works.
British artist Lucian Freud wrote pictures very realistic and at the same time often repulsive. Decorativeness, beauty - this is not about Freud's work, he was more interested in showing the truth of life, moreover, in the understanding of the artist himself. He preferred beautiful models to textured ones and painted them without any embellishments, trying to capture the soul and inner world through the naked body.
Lucien Freud. Sleeping Social Worker
Such, for example, is the painting "Sleeping Social Worker" - it was sold at auction for $33.6 million to Roman Abramovich. It depicts Sue Tilley, weighing 127kg, who actually worked in social work. When they met, Freud was fascinated by her body as it matched his ideas of "interesting" and offered to pose for his paintings. There were 3 of them in total, and the work on each one lasted about 9 months - Freud painted slowly and thoroughly, and his sitters had a hard time as they had to be in the right pose for several hours every day. But still many people agreed because they wanted to work with a famous artist and make history like Big Sue did.
Lucien Freud. Leigh Bowery
One day she went on holiday and was sunbathing on the beach. Freud was very unhappy and had to stop posing until her skin took on its usual "pale British" appearance. However, Sue was not left in the lurch - after almost three years of posing, Freud gave her several of her sketches, one of which she sold for £26k. Sue worked in her speciality until 2015, when she retired, opened a small café and fondly remembered the time she spent on Freud's couch.
Lucien Freud. Artist at work, reflection
Freud painted his self-portrait at the age of 73, but he looks older on it, perhaps because he lived a life that was far from the most righteous - he drank a lot, fought, played betting, and his relationship with women was not judged only lazy. It is known that he became the father of 14 children, and this is only officially recognised, and how many of them were actually, no one knows, perhaps even Freud himself.
The aesthetics of "decay and decay", characteristic of Freud's paintings in his self-portrait is displayed to the fullest extent. The artist's gaze is faded, it seems that he is just trying to remember why he is standing in the middle of the room like this.
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author of the article Mikhail Fedorin
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