1 Looking at Faces - Research point 1

Lucien Freud

 John Minton by Lucien Freud,  1952
40cm x 25.4 cm, oil on canvas,
Royal College of Art, London 

It is interesting to observe how Freud's painting method changed over time, as did Rembrandt's (see below),  from smooth almost translucent finish (as in the portrait (right) of John Minton) to the  thick, sculptural impastos of his later work. Though Freud built up some surfaces materialising in a more gritty almost rocky quality, maybe he did more scraping off and re-building with the paint. 
The painting to the right is a typical example  of Freud's earlier painting style. The brushwork looks smooth and refined with very fine detail, emitting an overall soft, translucent quality. The green in the top and grey from the background are reflected in the face. The sitter’s expression is sad and mournful, perhaps yearning .The head is tilted down slightly to one side. The eyes appear glassy, even tearful – as though he could have lost a sixpence and found a penny. Fine grey wisps of head and eyebrow hair are indicated in profusion with fine brush strokes.

John Minton Self Portrait,
c. 1953 Oil on canvas, 35.6 x 25.4 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London

Minton Self portrait the expression is again sad looking and the head downcast. The application on the face is relatively smooth - finely outlined contours of feature in pinkish and ochre tones, colours reflected from the background. The face is thin and angular. The long narrow proportions of the picture format echo the mood and proportions of the sitter. Only the upper torso is visible. The top appears to have been painted quickly and spontaneously. White painted scumbled over dark red underpainting quite roughly. The shirt collar and other outlines completed in both dark and light paint. In contrast with the textured unfinished looking appearance of the clothing the background is very, smooth, refined and neutral.

 Lucien Freud – Self portrait 1985. Head and shoulders. As with all Freud’s self portraits there is a confident and determined and intense expression. It is meticulously painted. Freud had a way of painting the skin in intricate detail as if he was looking under the skin, not just the surface.  This is a good example of this mature style - thick impasto paint has been applied to the face and has an undulating almost rocky appearance compared to the smooth background. The head appears to be lit from above as the left side of the face is in shadow. The neck and the left upper torso are shaded by the face. Because the background in nondescript, it bring the face into focus. The whites of the eyes look dull as they are also in shadow. He appears to be looking away even though it is a self portrait.
http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/lucian-freud/reflection-self-portrait-1985
Other (later) self portraits in various techniques:
http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/lucian-freud/interior-with-hand-mirror-self-portrait
http://uploads5.wikipaintings.org/images/lucian-freud/self-portrait.jpg

Francis Bacon by Lucien Freud this is painted in a similar fashion to John Minton's portrait.

Freud by Francis Bacon and Bacon Self Portrait Bacon did several portraits of his friend and contemporary. If some of Freud's work looks slightly unsettling, Bacon takes things to another level: Bacon's portraits contain tortured distorted images, features removed in places and exagerated in others. The whole head is contorted as if inner torment is made visible on the outside. In 'Three Studies for Portrait Lucien Freud' 1964 could be, for instance, describing various forms of mental torment, perhaps three stages of a  breakdown,  a migraine or a shift in personality.
On this link there are numerous portraits of Lucian Freud by Francis Bacon and a couple of Bacon by Freud http://www.ananasamiami.com/2011/06/francis-bacon-lucian-freud.html

This one links up to another page on the same blog featuring portraits of various sitters by Freud
http://www.ananasamiami.com/search/label/Lucian%20Freud

Leon Kossoff Self Portrait c1952
Very intense looking  caused by such a closed in view.  Yet the face appears quite anonymous maybe due to the  quite generalised looking facial features. Very thick paint, possibly smeared on in places. The combination of dark tones with acrid yellows under splashes of dull red seem to result in a sickly looking, perhaps troubled mood. A dramatic effect overall,  which I find quite mesmerising.
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/self-portrait-looking-up-78681
Leon Kossoff by Frank Auerbach c1951:http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/auerbach-portrait-of-leon-kossoff-l02669
This one has a similar atmosphere to the self portrait (above) in that the colour and tonal balance is very similar and the features generalized. The face is lit from the left but the background appears to be in darkness. Although the head here is again in close up it doesn't possess the intensity of Kossoff's. This must be due to the fact that the sitter's gaze is this time directed downwards and not at the viewer, looking rather brooding and introspective. The paint is also applied thickly but more smoothly and the overall effect is comparitvely calm.

Derain Self Portrait in Studio c 1903

Andre Derain, Self Portrait in Studio c. 1903

Oil on canvas, 422 x 346mm (16 5/8 x 13 5/8") 

National Gallery of Australia. 

Sydney only

The depicts himself in the act of painting, even caught in the act. The brushwork is very free and executed in a simplified way. Complementary colours of blue and orange are used widely. It is almost abstract in nature.
Derain has placed himself over to one side and in the background of the other side, a quite detailed cabinet and articles positioned above it. Everything looks well balanced - complementary colours, the shapes, sizes and directions of elements.  His pose is slightly tilted to the top left corner and the direction of line created by the edges of the furniture and walls behind in a diagonal flow from the lower left to top right. His dark suit and colourful palette are counterbalanced by the position of the small dark articles at the top right and the large cabinet on the right. The paint appears to have been applied more flatly than in his portrait by Matisse (below). As in Matisse's portrait though, Derain uses juxtaposed complementaries extensively, but in slight contrast, here, dark muted browns and blues are also used. It looks as though the orange and blue have been muted by the addition of a brown or by their respective complementary ie. orange to blue and blue to orange.
After 1905 , Derain began to use saturated colours influenced by the strong light and by Matisse,  while on holiday with him in the South of France.

Portrait of Andre Derain by Henri Matisse:

Andre Derain by Henri Matisse c. 1905, 

Oil on canvas, 394 x 289 mm, 

Tate Gallery, London

Looking at  the way the brushmarks and colour have been applied, this is to me so typically Fauvist. Two sets of complementaries are used - red against green on one side  and  blue next to orange on the other. Because the cool blue and greens are located in the background the warm colours in the head are brought into focus. The paint, thickly applied on the face, looks as though a brush loaded with paint of more than one colour was used ie. red and yellow. Other areas seem to be painted loosely  and the artist's top, with simple long strokes. The white of the background shows through in places helping I think, to bring sparkle and balance to the composition. Positioning of the upper torso to the left with the head tilted to the right also contribute to the balanced effect.

http://uploads4.wikipaintings.org/images/suzanne-valadon/self-portrait-1883.jpg

Rembrandt and his studio
His paintings are so often suffused in a delicate haze, giving a gentle quality to his subjects. In the later paintings the surface of the flesh and clothing look much more solid and three dimensional.

Rembrandt self portrait c1628-29
oil on oak panel
22.6 x 18.7 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Jan Lievens portrait
of Rembrandt  van Rijn c1629
oil on panel, 
57 x 44.7 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

It is interesting to see the way other artists from Rembrandt's workshop have portrayed him: in both portraits the finer details aren't as pronounced as in Rembrandt's own versions. They are on the whole, softer looking and, I think, kinder to the man than he has been to himself. Considering the later portraits were done around a similar time, Rembrandt has portrayed himself as much older looking: he looks an old man - his face is very life worn, yet alert and cheerful, but he has a marked stoop. In the other portrait he is much more upright, his face looks younger and quite astute.

Rembrandt by Studio of Rembrandt c1660-69
oil on canvas 76.5 x 61.6 cm
National Gallery of Victoria,
Melbourne, Australia

Rembrandt self portrait c1662
oil on canvas, 82.5 × 65 cm 
Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum.