To analyze the mental conditions and representations of Van Gogh and Rembrandts paintings through their self-portraits

• Main Authors: ZHUO ZHI YU, 卓之玉
• Other Authors: Kun-Cheng Hsu
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/98145789903065977238

碩士 === 中國文化大學 === 藝術研究所美術組碩士在職專班 === 95 === For centuries painters have lived by drawing portraits; some painters still do today. There are two reasons for the portrait painting being so popular. The first is so that the person can leave their real look for the next generation. The second is so others can appreciate the portrait and know what the past person looked like. The portrait is not only a personal need, but also a collective. For example, during the 16th and 17th century, in many Dutch societies, the officer of charity, the city councilman and the members of the surgeon union used to hire a painter to draw the portrait collectively. To the people who had a portrait, it looking like him is one thing, but how it reflects his social class is the most important for the public affair. The difference between a portrait and a self-portrait is the protagonist reflection of the painter himself. Every self-portrait can be considered as kind of self-exposed, the artist chooses a particular dress and posture to present what he wants to act for the audience. For several centuries, countless painters cultivated it in this creative subject and left innumerable self-portrait paintings. The artistic professor of Chinese Culture University, Doctor Hun-Chen Hsu has mentioned that; 「For a painter, the best way to examine his progresses is by self-portrait, it is convenient and saves on money. Even more, it is a record of him growing up and his painting skill.」 This method of expression records ones growing up trail and is very economic and substantial. This thesis studies the two of the greatest artists in Holland, Rambrandt van Rijn(1606-1669) and Van Gogh (1853-1890). They both painted their self-portraits by watching themselves in the mirror. Although these two people have created a large number of self-portraits, there is a big difference in the creation of the paintings themselves. Rambrandt drew almost one hundred self-portraits to record his life. In more than 40 years of his career, from youth to death, he used different methods of painting, such as Oil painting, Etching and Eclipse print as a way of writing his autobiography. On the other hand, during the decade of him being a painter, Van Gogh draws more than 40 self-portraits in a prolific three and a half years, Most of the self-portrait artists are considered as serious, deep dark people. Both Rambrandt and Van Gogh are typical examples, though we will find Van Gogh has a very different character to Rambrandt as all of his self-portraits are from the same period.