After visiting the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, three paintings particularly caught the eye. With a focus on the development of American portraits from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century, the first painting that stood out was Paul Revere, by John Singleton Copley, created in 1768. The next portrait is Self-Portrait, by Ellen Day Hale, which was painted in 1885. This painting represents the development that American artists were undergoing through the nineteenth century. Lastly, Woman In a Fur Hat, by Gretchen Rogers, painted in 1915, shows evidence of the advancement of portrait paintings in the twentieth century. These three portrait paintings represent the symbolism, culture, and style of each of their own time periods.
The first aspect that stands out in the painting Paul Revere, by John Singleton Copley is the actual man who is located in the middle of the painting. The man is painted squared to the viewer with a slight tilt of his head to the viewer’s right and is seated at a deeply polished table with a dark mahogany color. The background, behind Revere in the painting, is completely black darkness. Paul Revere, is wearing a white, button-up linen shirt with a forest green sweater vest. The white shirt, riddled with folds on the fabric encaptures a realistic feel from the shadows painted and the shirt remains unbuttoned. On the green vest are gold buttons that also are unbuttoned. Revere is painted with his right elbow resting on the table which connects up his forearm to his pointer finger and thumb which are carefully posed on his chin giving him a curious look. The other arm is resting on the table in front of him, while his hand surrounds a silver teapot that rests upon a seemingly brown leather pad that he uses to complete details in his work, while silversmithing. This teapot is one of the main focus points of the portrait because of the bright reflection used to grab the attention of the viewer. Upon the polished table where he sits there are two metal silversmithing tools with brown handles. Along with these tools, lays a pencil which is painted in a classic yellow pencil color. Copley paints Revere’s cheeks with a rosey red color and even captures the stubble of his beard that is most easily seen on the chin and above the upper lip. Revere is painted with curious looking dark colored eyes and brown colored eyebrows that seem to bridge upward, giving him a more curious look.
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Copley uses multiple techniques to make specific features prominent in this painting. The use of brightness and shadows give the viewer the notion that there is light being projected from the left side of the painting. The use of shadows within the ripples of the linen shirt and on the right side of Revere’s face also give an idea where the light is coming from. Copley also utilizes reflections in this painting to represent the quality and beauty of the table that Revere sits at, and the teapot that is currently being worked on. Copley’s use of texture is also a feature to examine, as he is able to show the light airiness of the white linen shirt, and the shine that a linen shirt would have when light is projected onto it. The texture on the table Revere sits at gives it that polished look, along with the reflection of Revere’s white shirt.
Along with the realistic feel of the materialistic items painted by Copley, Revere’s face in the painting encapsulates most of the symbolism represented. This painting seems as if Copley catches Revere as he is looking up while in the middle of his work. It seems fitting that Revere is dressed in such informal attire because he is working, but it feels staged in a sense that he wouldn’t be working at a table that is so smooth and shiny. The purpose of this painting is to show off Revere as a hardworking, and curious man. Copley presents a painting of a man that is dressed in informal attire, which is very unusual for the period of time. At this time, it was common practice to have portraits painted while a person was dressed in the best clothing a person owned, with the fanciest jewelry they owned to show their wealth and prestige. Copley and Revere decided to take a different route and show the working side of a man during this period. The most profound mood that is presented in this painting is curiosity. Revere’s facial expression along with the way his thumb and pointer finger are placed underneath his chin portray the curiosity that Revere was experiencing at the time.
Paul Revere, by John Singleton Copley is not necessarily representative of its time period although Copley was one of the most prominent artists at the time. Copley said “was it not for preserving the resemblance of particular persons, painting would not be known in the place” (Flexner 30). Copley utilized his training of figurative realism, but also added a patriotic side to his work which can be seen in his painting of Paul Revere. He treasured portrait paintings and this type of painting would continue to develop through color, shading, lines, textures and other characteristics that give portraits the complex symbolic meaning they hold.
In Self-Portrait, by Ellen Day Hale, there is a backdrop that is a light, seafoam green color on the right side of the painting that fades into a darker form of the seafoam color when approaching the left side of the painting. In the background, one can identify every brush stroke, including the small accents of whites and reds that look like small flowers. Also, in the background, there are small circular bronze-colored items that are randomly placed all throughout. Ellen Day Hale, who features herself in this portrait is located slightly left of center in the painting from the viewer’s point of view. Hale seems to be sitting down and resting her right arm on a chair with her forearm hanging out in front of her parallel to the ground. Hale displays herself in this self-portrait with an oversized black robe. The robe has large arm sleeves that hang low from her wrist, and there is a noticeable fabric that is protruding from the inside of the sleeve. In front of Hale on the left side of her body, she paints a black ostrich feather-fan that looks similar to the texture of her robe. Hale paints a large, black, top hat on her head that reveals her straight bangs that fall over half of her pale forehead. Hale paints her face with slightly closed eyes and pursed lips. The dark colors of the background, Hale’s robe, and hat are very strong. These dark colors bring out the pale light colors used to paint her face and hand, making them the highlights of this self-portrait.
Ellen Day Hale uses color to exude a strong mood from this painting. It is a dark mood that coincides with the colors used on her coat. Along-side this dark mood, there is an elegant feeling that provides a feeling of movement. This feeling is brought forth by the background. Moving from a darker blue to a lighter blue in a fading manner with light and streaky brush strokes emits a type of movement to the viewer. Hale uses light and shadows on her own face and neck in the painting to show that light is coming from the upper left corner of the painting. While her own face is shadowed, that same use of shadowing is even slightly noticeable on the coat that she is wearing.
Hale was known for painting with strength. Strength, meaning that her paintings are very bold, straightforward and confrontational. Hale presents a feeling of insecurity in a way by using the ostrich feather fan to cover up so much of her body. Hale doesn’t center herself in the middle of the painting to be able to include this large fan. It could be that she is flaunting her beautiful fan but something makes it feel as if there is insecurity while she was presenting herself in a portrait. This portrait styled painting along with Hale follows the Impressionist art form which is characteristic of that time period. Impressionism focuses mostly on painting an image where you can see the movement that would have happened before the painting, up until it freezes which is where the painting is captured. She was also a student of the new art school that was created in America, giving American artists a wider range of understanding of art.
Woman In a Fur Hat, by Gretchen Rogers is a self portrait. It has a very grainy background with a white wall and and streaky brown floor to the right of Rogers who is located in the middle of the painting. Rogers’ body in the painting is facing the viewers left, her head is tilted toward the left, and she has a good, upright posture. She is wearing a dark brown-colored coat that has a large fur piece that seems to be draped over her shoulders. Rogers paints this fur with small brush strokes which bring out each and every hair of the fur. Rogers presents herself wearing a white turtleneck and you can only see the portion of the turtleneck at the top of her neck. Rogers paints a large-brimmed, black hat covered in similar fur to that on the coat. This fur covers all of the hat but the brim. On top of the fur on the hat is a popping, red rose looking piece. This red rose stands out compared to the rest of the subdued colors in this portrait. Rogers choses to use very pale colors for her face with a slight dusting of rose-colored cheeks. Rogers presents herself in the painting with a very serious but intelligent looking face.
Rogers uses texture in a multitude of ways to bring a realistic feel to this painting. The background is painted with a grainy texture, and the bottom of Roger’s coat is painted also very grainy and fuzzy. This gives a strong focus to the more clear texture that is used on her face. The use of color can not be overlooked as Rogers uses dark and dull colors throughout most of the painting. The lines used to outline her own face in the painting provide contour and it makes her face a distinct and noticeable feature.
The purpose of this self portrait is for Rogers to show herself in a subtle but confident manner. Rogers reflects her time period because of the realism that she presents when painting herself. This painting was most likely created while looking in a mirror and with that, Rogers is able to provide a mood with the facial expression and body language that is shown. This painting is characteristic of its time because it became more and more important for artists to attend art school. Most American artists at this time followed what was being taught in art schools, and at this time period there was a strong focus on realism.
The theme of portrait paintings can be examined and compared in each of these artworks. A portrait, has a definitive subject matter, which is the person in the painting, but has an ever- changing form over time. Where a portrait can change over time is the form, where trends and focuses change over time. The characteristics of portraits from the eighteenth century, through the 20th century, are shown in these paintings. Paul Revere, by John Singleton Copley reflects the style from the time in which it was created, although representing a bit of a different approach, as it does not show Revere in the most lavish manner. Self-Portrait, by Ellen Day Hale follows an Impressionist route and focuses on the movement within the painting. Woman In a Fur Hat, by Gretchen Rogers takes a more realistic approach, as in the early nineteenth century, artists began to focus more on depicting realism within their paintings. While these differences are mostly accounted for by differences in the time periods and trends in effect at those times, there are still many similarities between these paintings. As time went on, Hale must have known of Copley’s portraits, and Rogers must have known of Hale’s and Copley’s portraits. With a different focus on the trends of each time, the influences from prior artists do not go unnoticed throughout the centuries of changing portrait paintings. Each of these artists use the characteristics of color, texture, lighting, shading, and line drawing which unveil the symbolic meanings presented in the paintings.
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