Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • Contact Us
  • Podcast
  • Newsletter
  • Fantasy Collecting Game
  • AMMpro

What's the Point of Portraits?

August 27, 2009 by Marion Maneker

Michael Archer makes a case against portraiture in the Guardian recently:

Why does mention of portraiture make me snort with derision? For the sitter, to have one’s portrait painted is to indulge in a preposterous bit of self-aggrandisement, while to be a jobbing portrait painter is to exercise the lucrative employment of one’s skills in a manner that has nothing to do with contemporary art. To champion portrait painting is to hark back to a 19th-century view of what matters in art, just as to visit the National Portrait Gallery is to enter an archive of social history rather than an art gallery. But isn’t there something perverse about this view? […] portraiture, seems to be much less secure in its status. The act of commissioning a portrait is something few of us will do – it being restricted to those with more money than is good for them. There are more photographic images of individuals around than ever before – perhaps because of that, and the ease with which still more can be generated, the idea of producing a composed portrait strikes me as increasingly pointless. Even when we do encounter such a thing, we don’t always assume that what we’re looking at is a portrait. […] The figure in history is what matters. As with landscape, portraiture becomes pertinent when it breaks out of its straightjacket and offers something more than a tastefully composed and skilfully executed representation of someone. This is not to say that painting can’t matter in either landscape or portraiture, it’s just that it can no longer be a necessary and sufficient condition.

Portrait Art Has Never Been More Pointless (Guardian)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • When $40m Is Not a Lot of MoneyWhen $40m Is Not a Lot of Money
  • Australian Banker Doubts His Whiteley’s AuthenticityAustralian Banker Doubts His Whiteley’s Authenticity
  • Sotheby's Ends Amsterdam Sales; Curtails MilanSotheby's Ends Amsterdam Sales; Curtails Milan
  • Regrets About Warhol's MJ PortraitRegrets About Warhol's MJ Portrait
  • Rothschilds Offer Rembrandt Portraits for €150m, France Lets Them GoRothschilds Offer Rembrandt Portraits for €150m, France Lets Them Go
  • ArtList’s 5 Art World Updates: National Gallery Reacts to Protests & Paris, Amsterdam to Share RembrandtsArtList’s 5 Art World Updates: National Gallery Reacts to Protests & Paris, Amsterdam to Share Rembrandts
  • Print
  • Tweet

Filed Under: General

Advertise on Art Market Monitor with Nectar Ads

Top Posts

  • Christie's $30m Rothko from 1954 for May
  • What's Peter Halley's Market Telling Us?
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Barney Ebsworth Dies at 83
  • MoMA Gets an Ofili from Cohen; Bradford from Griffen; Hendricks from Dubin
  • Global Cities Are Aging as Young Get Priced Out
  • Vernissage TV: Art Cologne 2018
  • Heritage Comic Auction in May Aims for Record
  • Podcast
  • Newsletter


  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • Art Loans
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Advertise on Art Market Monitor