Sperone Westwater Presents a Survey Of Portraits & Self-Portraits

Written by Alfred Constable Wednesday, 18 January 2012 01:24

New York City.- Sperone Westwater is pleased to present "Portraits/Self-Portraits" on view at the gallery until February 25th. The exhibition features portrait and self-portrait paintings by notable European and American artists from the sixteenth century to the present. This survey includes Old Master paintings from Italy, France, England, and The Netherlands, as well as works by modern and contemporary artists. The breadth of the works in "Portraits/Self-Portraits" demonstrates that portraiture has been an on-going and reoccurring theme in art history, especially in Western culture, for centuries. The earliest portraits were created to illustrate physical or material attributes of the sitter, which historically included  nobility, family, friends, lovers, and the self. According to Angus Trumble, Senior Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at the Yale Center for British Art – who has written the essay for the "Portraits/Self-Portraits" catalogue – in the seventeenth century, the focus of portraiture shifted to capturing the character or essence of the person.

Since the Renaissance, there has been a dichotomy between what portraits – many of which were commissioned – represent or elucidate versus the “likeness” of the sitter. Portraits can depict a person’s wealth, power, piety, occupation, time period, cultural and personal interests, as well as emotional states.

The exhibition also acknowledges new scholarship on works from the sixteenth and seventeenth century. "Portrait of a Gentleman" from the mid-sixteenth century was recently attributed to Michele di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio (Florence 1503-1577), the Italian painter of the Renaissance and Mannerist style whose workshop was one of the most important artist’s shops in Florence during this time. In contrast, the painting "Portrait of a Young Gentleman" by Jacopo Negretti called Palma the Younger (Venice 1548-1628) has a warmer palette, reminiscent of Tintoretto or Titian’s works. A primary portraitist for the Florentine court in the sixteenth century, Jacopino del Conte’s "Portrait of a man with gloves" is a half-length frontal view of an austere looking man holding gloves, and it has a refined and elegant dark palette. "A Young Soldier" (1624) by Theodor Rombouts (Antwerp 1597 – 1637) is one of the artist’s few dated paintings, and it captures the soldier’s emotional state. Other historical masterworks include those by Leandro da Ponte known as Leandro Bassano (Bassano 1557 – Venice 1622), Nicolas de Largillière (Paris 1656  – 1746), Richard Van Bleeck (The Hague 1670 – 1733 London), to name a few.

Juxtaposed with these paintings are contemporary works that reflect movements in portraiture painting over the last century. Francis Picabia’s "Portrait de Suzanne" (1942) depicts his lover in a view that was perhaps taken from a photograph. Her makeup and hair indicate the fashion of the time, while her face and posture indicate an emotional state of unease. Pablo Picasso’s "Tête de Femme" (1943) is painted with vibrant colors and bold brushstrokes in the artist’s signature flat, Cubist style. Andy Warhol’s "Self-Portrait" (1986) illustrates the artist’s characteristic “fright wig” and his exploration of identity including artist as star, while Kim Dingle’s "Group Portrait" (2011) explores multiple depictions of the artist. In Susan Rothenberg’s "Memory of 1951 (SelfPortrait)", 2011, the artist identifies herself with a toy blue monkey she was given by her parents when she was hospitalized as a child. Tom Sachs’ "Krusty" (2011) elevates the status of a cartoon character from Pop culture as it becomes the subject of not only a portrait, but a self-portrait painting.

Sperone Westwater Fischer was founded in 1975, when Italian art dealer Gian Enzo Sperone, Angela Westwater, and German art dealer Konrad Fischer opened a space at 142 Greene Street in SoHo, New York. (The gallery's name was changed to Sperone Westwater in 1982.) An additional space was later established at 121 Greene Street. The founders' original program showcased a European avant-garde alongside a core group of American artists to whom its founders were committed. Notable early exhibitions include a 1977 show of minimalist works by Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, and Sol Lewitt; seven of Bruce Nauman's seminal early shows; eleven Richard Long exhibitions; and the installation of one of Mario Merz's celebrated glass and neon igloos in 1979 -- part of the gallery's ongoing dedication to Arte Povera artists, including Alighiero Boetti. Other early historical exhibitions at the Greene Street space include a 1989 group show, "Early Conceptual Works," which featured the work of On Kawara, Bruce Nauman, Alighiero Boetti, and Joseph Kosuth, among others; a 1999 Fontana exhibition titled "Gold: Gothic Masters and Lucio Fontana"; and selected presentations of work by Piero Manzoni.

From May 2002 to May 2010, the gallery was located at 415 West 13 Street, in a 10,000-square foot space in the Meatpacking District. Renowned American artists Bruce Nauman and Susan Rothenberg have been with Sperone Westwater since 1975 and 1987, respectively. They are joined by established and internationally-recognized artists, including Guillermo Kuitca, Richard Long, Malcolm Morley, Evan Penny, William Wegman and Not Vital, as well as a younger generation of artists like Bertozzi & Casoni, Wim Delvoye, Kim Dingle, Charles LeDray, Tom Sachs, Jan Worst and Liu Ye. Sperone Westwater also has in its inventory work by Carla Accardi, Alighiero Boetti, Lucio Fontana, Heinz Mack, Piero Manzoni, Mario Merz, Otto Piene, Julian Schnabel, Richard Tuttle, and ZERO Group. In September 2010, Sperone Westwater inaugurated a new Foster + Partner designed building at 257 Bowery in New York. Today, almost 35 years after its conception, the gallery continues to exhibit an international roster of prominent artists working in a wide variety of media. Visit the gallery's website at ... http://www.speronewestwater.com

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