Hello. This is the portrait I picked out. Wow. What a cool portrait.
To start off, the Portrait Gallery was very beautiful. I had a very peaceful time and found myself trying to mimic the facial expressions of every sitter I saw. I think it makes me more in tune with my facial control. I think there was also a great variety of classical and contemporary art.
Anyways, the painting I chose is titled Thomas Ades and was painted by Phil Hale. The portrait was made as a collaboration of the two, that being the sitter and the painter.
Shortly after the title, we see ‘b.1971.’ While the painting was made in 2002, the theme of the sitter’s outfit does align with the time slot of the 70’s. The lighting and stark contrast between the man’s suit and the background create an unsettling aura, and give the viewer almost a sense of distress. When it comes to composition, the sitter is posed in a quite distorted way, with his hands being shaped incorrectly, and his posture being very unnatural in the chair. The painting is almost at an angle that is unnatural to a viewer’s eye. It’s not quite a bird’s eye view, but as if we are looking from the corner of the room.
To me, the sitter is very sad in this. Not only sad, but feeling broken in a way. His mouth is slightly agape, and his eyes are focused downwards, indicating a lack of presence. The background adds a contrast of minimalism. The room around him is very barren, and we don’t see much of his surroundings, besides the chair he is sitting in and a coffee table in front of him. There is a glass on the table in front of him that is empty, but placed on the very edge of the table. This indicates that a drink has been finished and creates an idea of a depressing life.
I would NOT wanna step into this portrait, dude. If I did, that room probably smells like must and stink dude that dude is not taking care of himself. There’s very little light, so it would be very creepy to see a man with contorted hands sitting there in the dark, and overall, I would feel gross and weirded out. Cool painting though.
Theatre in London U of A 