The document defines a portrait as a work of art representing a specific person, usually showing what they look like and revealing something about their personality. Portraits can be made in any medium and have existed since prehistoric times. Examples of portraits throughout history are provided from various cultures and artistic periods, showing how portraits have been used to represent individuals and explore concepts of identity.

2. What is a Portrait?

3. What is a Portrait?
Why do we make images of ourselves and others?

4. What is a Portrait?
Why do we make images of ourselves and others?

6. por•trait
noun
|ˈpôrtrət; -ˌtrāt|

7. por•trait
|ˈpôrtrət; -ˌtrāt|
noun
1. a work of art that represents a specific
person.

8. por•trait
|ˈpôrtrət; -ˌtrāt|
noun
1. a work of art that represents a specific
person.
portraits usually show what a person looks
like as well as revealing something about
the subject’s personality.

9. por•trait
|ˈpôrtrət; -ˌtrāt|
noun
1. a work of art that represents a specific
person.
portraits usually show what a person looks
like as well as revealing something about
the subject’s personality.
portraits can be made of any sculptural
material or in any two-dimensional
medium.

10. Rhinoceros, man, and bison. Lascaux, France,
ca. 15,000-13,000 B.C.E.

11. Rhinoceros, man, and bison. Pech Merle Cave,
France, ca. 23,000 B.C.E.

12. Handprint, Chauvet Cave, France
ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.E.

13. M.C. Escher (Dutch)
Hand with Reflecting Sphere, 1935

14. Gabriel Orozco (Mexican)
My Hands are My Heart, 1991

17. Gabriel Orozco (Mexican)
My Hands are My Heart, 1991

18. Falcon Reliquary (Egyptian)
ca. 600-350 B.C.E.

19. Falcon Reliquary (Egyptian)
ca. 600-350 B.C.E.

21. Damien Hirst (German)

22. Damien Hirst (German)
For the Love of God, 2007 A.D.

23. Damien Hirst (German)
For the Love of God, 2007 A.D.
a platinum cast of a real human
skull encrusted with 8,601
diamonds

24. Damien Hirst (German)
For the Love of God, 2007 A.D.
a platinum cast of a real human
skull encrusted with 8,601
diamonds
cost 14 million pounds to
make, allegedly sold for 50
million pounds - this would
make it the most expensive
work of art ever sold

25. Damien Hirst (German)
For the Love of God, 2007 A.D.
a platinum cast of a real human
skull encrusted with 8,601
diamonds
cost 14 million pounds to
make, allegedly sold for 50
million pounds - this would
make it the most expensive
work of art ever sold
teeth are real human teeth

26. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)
Self Portraits, 1889

27. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)
Self Portraits, 1889

28. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)

29. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)

30. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)
Paul Gauguin (French)

31. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)
Paul Gauguin (French)

32. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)
Paul Gauguin (French)

33. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)
Paul Gauguin (French)

34. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)
Paul Gauguin (French)

35. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)
Paul Gauguin (French)

36. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)
Paul Gauguin (French)

37. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)
Paul Gauguin (French)

38. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)
Paul Gauguin (French)

39. Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch)
Starry Night, 1889

42. AND
IT
WAS
ALL
YELLOW

43. Albrecht Durer (German)
Self-Portrait at 22, 1493

44. Albrecht Durer (German)
Self-Portrait at 22, 1493

45. Albrecht Durer (German)
Self-Portrait at 26, 1498
Self-Portrait at 22, 1493

46. Albrecht Durer (German)
Self-Portrait at 26, 1498
Self-Portrait at 22, 1493

47. Albrecht Durer (German)
Self-Portrait at 26, 1498
Self-Portrait at 22, 1493
Self-Portrait at 28, 1500

48. Noah Kalina (American)
Noah K. Everyday 2000-Present

49. Noah Kalina (American)
Noah K. Everyday 2000-Present

50. Cindy Sherman (American)
Self Portraits, 2012 & 1981

51. Cindy Sherman (American)
Self Portraits, 2012 & 1981

54. Bayeté Ross Smith (American)
Our Kind of People, 2010

55. Bayeté Ross Smith (American)
Our Kind of People, 2010

56. Bayeté Ross Smith (American)
Our Kind of People, 2010

57. The “Our Kind Of People” series examines how
clothing, ethnicity and gender affect our ideas about
identity, personality and character.
The subjects in this work are dressed in clothing
from their own wardrobes. The outfits are worn in a
style and fashion similar to how that person would
wear them in daily life.
I have kept the lighting and facial expressions the
same in each photograph, changing only the clothing
and race. Devoid of any context for assessing the
personality of the individual in the photograph, the
viewer projects her or his own cultural biases on
each photograph.

58. Bayeté Ross Smith (American)
Our Kind of People, 2010

59. Bayeté Ross Smith (American)
Our Kind of People, 2010

60. Bayeté Ross Smith (American)
Our Kind of People, 2010

61. Bayeté Ross Smith (American)
Our Kind of People, 2010

62. Bayeté Ross Smith (American)
Our Kind of People, 2010

63. Leonardo da Vinci (Italian)
ca. 1512

64. Leonardo da Vinci (Italian)
Mona Lisa, ca. 1503-1506

65. Salvador Dalí (Spanish)
The Persistence of Memory, 1931

67. I DON’T
DO
DRUGS.

68. I DON’T
DO
DRUGS.
AM
DRUGS.
I

69. Salvador Dalí (Spanish)
The Persistence of Memory, 1931

72. Leonardo da Vinci (Italian)
Mona Lisa, ca. 1503-1506

73. Salvador Dalí (Spanish)
Self Portrait as Mona Lisa, 1954

74. Frida Kahlo
(Mexican)
Two Fridas, 1939

75. Frida Kahlo (Mexican)
The Little Deer, 1946

76. Ron Mueck (American)
Mask II, 2001

86. Ron Mueck (American)
Crouching Boy in Mirror, 1999-2000