cover image PORTRAITS: A History

PORTRAITS: A History

Andreas Beyer, . . Abrams, $125 (416pp) ISBN 978-0-8109-4539-5

From lavish portraits of kings and queens filled with symbols of wealth and prosperity, to erotically charged portraits of mistresses and lost loves, to searching and poignant artist self-portraits, German art historian Beyer traces a "panoramic history" of the art of portraiture, accompanied by fine reproductions and numerous close-up details. Since, as the author says, "there is in fact no real theory of the portrait," he attempts to remedy that lapse: innovations in portraiture are linked to innovations in painting generally, and Beyer stresses the fact that the effort to represent a human being in art very much addresses the centuries-old question of the role of art in life. Did the portrait artist capture the "essence" of the person portrayed, or did they also paint in idealized human features in order to link the portrait to classical, or divine subjects? Does the essence of a person involve precise reproduction of facial features, like a photocopy, or, as in Imi Knoebel's abstract "portrait" of four women, can that essence be represented by colored rectangles? At times, these questions sparked such agitation that, as in the case of Goya's portrait of the duchess of Alba, a suspected subject of a portrait could be exhumed years after his or her death to be compared to the painting. Beyer includes most of the famous portraits, including the Mona Lisa, among the 290, somewhat dark color reproductions here (including many 11"×13" full-bleeds); some lesser-known portraits could have happily been substituted for multiple close-ups of the masterpieces. When Beyer discusses the importance of Rembrandt's lifelong series of self-portraits, for instance, he only includes one early and one late self-portrait. And while the text is chronological, it does not provide clear overviews of regional trends, themes, or schools. Nevertheless, Beyer's thoughtful and original scholarship does much to establish portraiture as a worthy and compelling subject. (Dec.)