Self Portrait and commercial aspect of art

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by VALERIE MARGOLIS on October 27, 2009 at 21:57

Was this question prompted by Elizabeth Lowry's review in the TLS of "A Face to the World", by Laura Cumming?
According to Lowry - Cumming discusses, among other things, Durer's "Ecce Homo" frontal self-portrait as a fusion of art & artist; contrasts between Rembrandt and Courbet, and a comparison of Tracy Emin with Schiele.

Permalink Reply by Valery Koroshilov on October 28, 2009 at 0:42

My question, mentioned above, bears no relation to Lowry-Cumming review "A Face to the World".
I'm afraid, I am not familiar with this text, but I would be very interested to read it. What is the TLS, please.

Permalink Reply by VALERIE MARGOLIS on October 28, 2009 at 1:18

Valery Koroshilov said:

My question, mentioned above, bears no relation to Lowry-Cumming review "A Face to the World".
I'm afraid, I am not familiar with this text, but I would be very interested to read it. What is the TLS, please.

The TLS is the "Times Literary Supplement", and is published in London. This article is in the Oct. 23, 2009 issue.

Permalink Reply by Valery Koroshilov on October 28, 2009 at 12:17

Thank you, Valerie. I looked it up. I found the review surprisingly empty of any critical content, such as an argument or assessment, or even an impression, which one normally expects from that kind of text. However, the book seems to be worth acquiring. I am placing the link to the text of the review here, in case someone else would like to make themselves familiar:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/t...

Permalink Reply by Marty McCutcheon on March 25, 2010 at 13:20

"Would it be true to consider the genre of Self Portrait the most non-commercial and least opportunistic of all genres?"

I've never really considered ranking entire genres according to perceived levels of commercialism or opportunism. Can you help me understand, Valery, why doing so might be important?

Permalink Reply by Valery Koroshilov on April 4, 2010 at 21:28

I am afraid, you are absolutely right, Marty - there is no importance in this issue whatsoever. Everything the artists produce has two aspects: the money and the art. In that particular moment (when the above-mentioned question has been raised) I started working on my self-portrait, and one of those aspects incidentally attracted my attention. I just wanted to air it, - one never knows what one can come up with. For instance, "A Face to the World", suggested here by Mrs Margolis, was a good find for me, - I have read it now, and I know "our question" is discussed there at length.
My apologies for the delay with the reply.

Permalink Reply by Marty McCutcheon on April 8, 2010 at 5:00

No apologies necessary, Valery. I'm glad your question led to a good read.