Portrait of Michelle Obama

I like the pose. I loathe the light blue background. I don't like the the artist's coloring of the First Lady -- it's too grayish, and the execution of the face doesn't convey Michele Obama's mature attractiveness. The dress takes up way too much space.

?charleton Noooo, the flourish of color from the dress is what makes the portrait. That re-framing also messes with the rule of thirds.

That one of Jackie strikes me as rather creepy, for example. She looks like nightmarish, ghastly doll.

If the purpose of portraiture is to create a physical likeness of a person, that of Michelle Obama probably doesn't meet that purpose

They are characterized by sharply defined forms, neatly organized compositions with clearly defined spatial arrangements, some with an almost mathematical precision and symmetry, generalized lighting, equal attention paid to all areas of the canvas, an absence of expressive brushwork, and an overall flatness and linearity. A current, compelling theory about the look of folk portraits is that they matched the face of the neatly and geometrically farmed agrarian landscape. In any case, it is important to recognize that folk artists worked according to criteria set by their rural clientele. As a group, the portraits describe socially reticent sitters eager to record a likeness but shy of declaring personality and emotion. Elements of pride and class status are apparent but circumspect. Portraits record lasting traits and conditions (some are even memorials to the dead), rather than transitory mannerisms and situations.

Freud was a hyper-realist

style resemblance

Mrs. Obama wore a gown by Milly that featured a geometric print. “It reminded me of the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian’s geometric paintings,” said Sherald. “But Milly’s dress also reminds me of the quilt masterpieces made by the women of Gee’s Bend, a small black community in Alabama.”

Like a debutante on a skin-flick set facing her first moneyshot

The gown (in the painting) is thought to be a nod to Milly's support of Planned Parenthood.

However. This image seems to be a little better.

They seem only a bunch of closely-packed leaves, curiously unattached to any tree.

but portraits are more about getting at something deeper about the person than mere physical resemblance.

Milly is a fitting choice for Obama's portrait wardrobe, not only because it matches her fresh yet approachable style, but also because the designer is similarly passionate about women's rights and female empowerment.

Smith has been a Planned Parenthood supporter for years and even designed a T-shirt to benefit the organization last fall. Her Fall 2017 collection, presented in the wake of the 2016 election, was about rising up from a dark, "fractured" place. Even her Fall 2018 collection, which debuted last week, was inspired by "love, inclusiveness and the desire for equality."

What has been gotten at in the hideous portrait of HMQEII?

What Freud did, of course, as regular users of this site will recognize, was paint the Queen as his alter ego, giving her his eyebrows, his small eyes, his deep facial folds and, most oddly, his brick-like chin. Painted, of course, in his characteristic style, the Queen is Freud. Other masters, from Fouquet in the 15th century onwards, have done likewise. Royalty in almost all spiritual traditions is a symbol of purity that artists use as they see fit. Freud here, like his predecessors, has depicted his monarch as the monarch in his mind.

Donald

A hedge, perhaps, and not a tree.

What Freud did, of course, as regular users of this site will recognize,

Judith's expression is just too dumb on this one.

The gown (in the painting) is thought to be a nod to Milly's support of Planned Parenthood.
— Cavacava

In what way???