
His conceptual approach to portraiture is also seen in his combination of visual data from photography with the traditional medium of oil paint to create visually Modern portraits. Michael Danoff, Chuck Close, Donald Farnsworth, and Brad Pitt in front of Close’s 2009 tapestry portrait ‘Brad’ at Pace Wildenstein, New York (2009) Sotolux, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons In some of his earlier works, the artist blurred the representation of his models to emphasize alternative lenses of reading portraiture. Close explored portraiture through a direct and honest confrontation with the sitter. Portraiture, Modern art, and Contemporary artĬhuck Close was a renowned Modern portrait artist who captured the essence of many popular celebrities of the 20th century. Below, we will introduce you to the top 12 most famous Modern portrait artists to date whose works will be historicized in the genre of Modern portraiture. With the advancement of technology and the invention of alternative mediums, artists have intuitively carried on the genre of portraiture into the 21st century to produce some of the most imaginative and bold portraits one might see in the Modern era. The Top 12 Most Famous Modern Portrait Painters of All Time There are many angles from which one can examine and present a portrait, which has been interrogated by many famous portraiture artists throughout art history. Portraiture also exposes not only the sitter but the artist’s view of the sitter. The act of portraiture is intimate for various reasons aside from introducing the viewer to the model and recontextualizing the sitter such that they are exposed to the audience in an exhibition context. Modern interiors of the Old City Hall of Dusseldorf (taken in 2020) Velopilger, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Gaining cognizance about the language used in portraiture as a practice is of utmost importance since many artists have applied terms such as “subject” to refer to the model or individual behind a portrait and can infringe on the lines of alienating the artist from the artwork as well as creating a disconnect with the model involved and somewhat “objectifying the individual”. Portraiture in the Modern and Contemporary era has often been featured in art forms such as photography owing to the digital age that we find ourselves in. The art of portraiture is an intimate art form that highlights the relationships and value between the artist, the viewer, and the “subject”. 3.3 What Are the Different Types of Portraits?.3.2 What Makes Traditional Portraiture Different From Contemporary Portraiture?.2 The Top 12 Most Famous Modern Portrait Painters of All Time.
