Seeing Ourselves

In her fifth book, social art historian Borzello has ""tried to make sense of what I was seeing by treating the self-portraits as painted versions of autobiography."" Borzello has chosen vivid self-portraits of women from middle ages to the present that reveal cultural characteristics of an era as well as ideographic inclusions of the artist's perception of herself. As in every autobiographical sketch, imagery is selective. Thus many portraits of earlier centuries are modeled on those of male painters, palette on one arm, brush poised in the other, both indicating serious intent. But despite this earlier evidence of fine self portraiture, it was not until the late 19th century that art began to be recognized as a legitimate and significant field for women. Borzello's text, accompanied by the 240 well-chosen illustrations (100 in color) is a history of the marked separation of male/female domains in daily life, as well as women's ability to skirt prevailing male traditions and portray an inner life that transcended domesticity. The transition from subtle details--the setting the portraitist chose for herself, the style of dress and hair, the placement of her hands--to the startling freedom of 20th-century imagery that revealed women artists as ""independent and unshackled by conventional notions of feminine behavior"" is arresting. The visual manifestation of how women see and represent themselves may seem elusive, but Borzello does a fine job of illuminating the subject, without overly simplifying it. (July)