The Arts and Primary Sources

There are so many possibilities here! This has me thinking about the NPG's elements to writing a museum label as well as pairing portraits for an exhibit. I'm wondering if pairing portraits might include some of the same skills as curating a primary source collection. Great things to think about! Thank you for sharing Mary Johnson !

I am fascinated by how drawn we are to portraiture, especially self-portraiture. I am sure many of you have seen how taken people are with the Google face match app, which matches our "selfie" to a portrait from a museum collection.

When I shared the idea of searching loc.gov for self portraits, I had no idea the next Picture This blog post from Prints & Photographs would be about that very topic! Here's the link: https://blogs.loc.gov/picturethis/2018/01/profiling-portraits-the-art-of-the-self-portrait/

Mary, I just came online to share this link and am so glad you beat me to it. It was a great post when thinking about what the creator wants to say about the primary source they are creating. I loved how Kristi Finefield tied these sources to the modern day selfie. There is no question that there are intentions in how people represent themselves in these photos today, so why wouldn't the same be true for self-portraits from the past.

Hi Tom - thank for the comment here and on the post! And thanks for picking up my push to get folks to think about intention when viewing any image, as it adds a new layer of meaning every time.

Yes, I enjoyed that post - something students can connect to!

Thanks for the comment - it's great to hear you see a good use for the post with students!

Thanks for linking to the post, Mary! You must have been reading my mind! I'm so pleased my posts about portraits have proven to be such good fodder for conversation and planning. I have more portrait posts planned, so keep an eye on Picture This!

Students might apply some interesting analysis of the Obama portraits added to the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian. Researching the artists and looking at past Presidential portraits will certainly add to the discussion both for history and art students. Also access Tom Bober blog post in Teaching with the Library of Congress Reading Portraits: Analyzing Art as a Primary Source and apply those questions to the Presidential and First Lady Portraits.

Presidential Portraits First Lady Obama

The one thing I was most fascinated about when watching the unveiling today was the poses of both Obamas. As you mention Cheryl Davis , comparing these to other work by the artist as well as pas presidential and first lady portraits may reveal some insight into how the artist and the sitter want to be identified based on their poses.

Testimonials

Overview

More Information