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Indepth Arts News:
"REFLECTIONS ON THE ARTIST: SELF-PORTRAITS AND PORTRAITS
"
1999-10-08 until 2000-01-02
National Gallery of Canada
Ottawa, ON,
CA Canada
A fascinating exhibition of close to 200
prints, drawings, and photographs that explores how artists represent themselves and each other.
Renowned artists such as Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas, M. C. Escher, Etienne Carjat, Lisette
Model, and Edward Weston will be featured. The exhibition presents a wide spectrum of content and
medium, spanning almost four centuries, from 1600 to 1998. While the majority of works are drawn from
the Gallery's permanent collection, a small selection of important loans is also included. The exhibition is
on view until
2 January 2000.
Visitors to the exhibition will have a wonderful opportunity to observe a captivating and diverse selection of
portraits, some light-hearted and humorous in tone, others more serious and reflective in nature, said
Pierre Théberge, Director, National Gallery of Canada. Through these images, we can observe how artists
present and view both themselves and other artists, and examine their roles as creators.
Among the highlights of the exhibition which illustrate this variety and diversity are a brilliantly spontaneous
and richly worked etching of 1639 by Rembrandt entitled Self-portrait Leaning on a Stone Sill, and a fluid,
somewhat spare 1934 etching by Picasso entitled Rembrandt and Veiled Woman; a whimsical
self-portrait drawn by Group of Seven artist Arthur Lismer as well as his 1933 portrait of a fellow artist and
her omnipresent menagerie entitled Emily Carr with Her Monkey and Dogs; and Berenice Abbott's
sensitive portrait of photographer Eugène Atget and her own compelling self-portrait entitled Portrait of the
Artist As a Young Woman. Special features of the exhibition are Genetic Self-portrait, a visually arresting
installation of fifty-four photographic prints by Gary Schneider which explores the self through a
representation of the body, and selections from the series Iconography by Anthony van Dyck, one of the
great treasures of the National Gallery's print collection. The roster of Canadian and international artists
also includes Milton Avery, Marc Chagall, Marcel Duchamp, Walker Evans, Lee Friedlander, Yousuf Karsh,
Käthe Kollwitz, Ozias Leduc, Nathan Lyons, Arnaud Maggs, Egon Schiele, and Edward Steichen.
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