WHAT IS PORTRAITURE?

As a class or group, discuss the meaning and significance of portraiture in art. You may wish to look at different examples of portraits throughout history or explore the WHO ARE YOU webpage. Use the following prompts to support the discussion:

• What is a portrait?
• What are some examples of portraits that you know of or have seen?
• Why are portraits created? For example, to celebrate, to remember, as an expression of admiration or love, as a gift, etc.
• What can a portrait tell us about a person, time and/or place?

BEFORE YOUR VISIT

Explore the WHO ARE YOU webpage to view highlighted works from the exhibition:

• What do you notice about these portraits? Identify some similarities and differences.
• Which portrait captures your attention. Why?
• What questions or wonderings might you have about portraiture and the exhibition? What are you curious to find out?

DURING YOUR VISIT: MAKE CONNECTIONS

Exploring connections and relationships between the artist, sitter and viewer can often give us new perspectives on a portrait. In groups of 3, have students select a portrait and explore this connection or relationship. Read the artwork label and use the following prompts to support discussion:

• Identify the artist.
  List 3 things about them.

• Identify the sitter.
  Traditionally, the sitter refers to the person, or people, represented in a portrait.
  Throughout this exhibition you may notice that the traditional notion of a ‘sitter’ may not apply to each work. If this is the case for your selected work, identify what the subject might be, or focus of the artwork.
  Describe how the sitter or subject is depicted in the portrait?

• Identify the viewer.
  This will be you and your peers! Take turns to share your thoughts and opinions of the artwork, including what you find interesting, any personal connections you find in the work, and what you would like to learn more about.

• Now, try and make connections between the artist, sitter/subject and viewer.What stories or perspectives are communicated through the artist and sitter/subject?
  What role do each of them have in creating meaning in the portrait?
  How does the viewer respond or engage with the portrait? Does this differ between each viewer? Why/why not?
  What is the role of the viewer? How do they contribute to the overall meaning, or representation, of the portrait?
  Are there any personal connections for you with this portrait? If so how does it add to your understanding of the portrait?

This theme examines the connection between identity and the land on which we live, and reflects on the relationship between artists, sitters and the environment.

Within this theme, you will see the work of First Nations artists, whose work explores a deep cultural and spiritual connection between Country and self. You’ll also encounter the work of artists telling stories of colonisation and migration that are bound to Australia’s history.

The connection between land and identity holds great significance within Australia. Whether we were born in Australia or arrived from somewhere else, this connection is particularly relevant to our understanding of who we are and how we relate to others.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Who are THEY?

Kaylene Whiskey is a Yankunytjatjara artist from Indulkana, a remote Indigenous community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, South Australia. Her painting, Seven Sisters Song 2021, is likely to be the first you see in the exhibition. Painted on a South Australian road sign, it colourfully celebrates heroic women, pop culture idols, and traditional Anangu culture.

• What symbols and images do you see in Kaylene Whiskey’s painting? Why do you think Whiskey included them?
• How does Whiskey’s choice of materials connect the work to the theme Person and place?
• Looking at the painting, how do you think Kaylene Whiskey connects or feels about her environment?

Look closely at Marshal Claxton’s An emigrant’s thoughts of home, 1859, and the portrait of Monga Khan 1916 in Peter Drew’s Aussie poster series, 2016. Placed side by side in the Gallery, both works reflect experiences of migration to Australia.

• In what ways are they similar, and how are they different?
• Why do you think each artist chose to portray these people?
• Think about the sitters in these portraits. Where is their “place” and what do you think it means to them?

Who are YOU?

• How have the places in which you have lived and grown up shaped you? How would you depict these places and their impact in a self-portrait? Compare your ideas to someone else in your class.
• Think of a relative or friend who is older than you. For example, your mum, uncle, cousin, family friend, grandfather. How have the places in which they have lived shaped them? How would you depict this in a portrait? Compare your responses from the previous task.

Self-portraiture is unique in that it creates a moment in which the artist and sitter are one. This theme explores self-portraiture as a method of self-reflection for the artist, granting the viewer intimate access and revelation into the artist’s psyche.

A typical way for the artist to portray themselves, or other artists, is in the role of ‘the artist’, including in the work a visual clue to their profession – for instance holding a brush or paint palette – or showing themselves at work in the studio. As part of an investigation of self, these representations can also communicate the complexities of status and gender. This selection of works explores what the artists intend to reveal or exclude about themselves through their self-representations, considering the environment in which the artists are placed, and the props and imagery they choose to include in their works.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Who are THEY?

• Give students time to freely explore the space. Ask them to stop at a portrait that captures their attention. Look at this portrait for 30 seconds and consider the following questions: Why has this portrait captured your attention? What might the artist and/or sitter be trying to communicate with you?

• Compare and contrast self-portraits by artists, Nora Heysen (1911- 2003) and John Brack (1920-99). What might these self-portraits reveal about the artists’ identities? In what ways are they similar and different? How does their pose or facial expression influence the viewer’s impression of the artist?

• Spend time looking at Sir William Dargie’s, Albert Namatjira, 1958. Learn more by reading the exhibition label and accessing the National Portrait Gallery’s resource.
  This painting is not a self-portrait of the artist, Sir William Dargie CBE (1912-2003), rather a portrait of fellow artist Albert Namatjira (1902-59). What is revealed about Namatjira through this portrait? Consider visual clues and symbols used in the painting.
  How does this portrait connect to other portraits in this section of the exhibition?

Who are YOU?

• Draw or create a series of self-portraits that reflect different moods or feelings. For example, happy, tired, worried, excited. How can you depict each mood or feeling? Consider art elements such as shape, line and colour.

• Draw a self-portrait that represents your identity WITHOUT incorporating your physical features. What aspects of your personality, culture, interests, values or opinions can you symbolise in your self-portrait?

The relationship between artist and sitter can be very intimate. An artist may spend hours observing and recording subtle behaviours and characteristics in a sitter that are fleeting and sometimes otherwise unnoticed. More than outward appearance, a portrait can reveal a subjective interpretation of how a person’s inner character is seen.

The nude portrait exposes, quite literally, how one is seen in their most vulnerable state. Within this section, you will see works that hint at understandings of belonging and detachment through uncovering how we attempt to fit in or stand out. This theme reflects the complexities of relationships, and the many ways love and affection, and conversely, isolation and vulnerability are expressed.

Please be aware that as there is a higher concentration of artworks depicting nudes in this section. Teachers are advised to navigate this part of the exhibition with discretion.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Who are THEY?

• Compare and contrast John Longstaff’s portrait, The young mother, 1891 and William Frater’s, The artist’s wife, 1915. Use the following prompts to help guide discussion: How does each portrait connect to the theme of intimacy and alienation? Could they represent one, or both? Discuss.
  What techniques does the artist use to convey the relationship between the artist and/or sitters?
  What other emotions or feelings are portrayed in the portraits?

• Look at the photographic portraits in Simon Obarzanek’s 80 Faces series, 2002. Whilst taking these photographs, the artist spent only five minutes with each sitter without getting to know them.
  Prior to sharing this information with your students, ask them to guess how long Obarzanek spent with each sitter when capturing their image. Encourage your students to explain their guesses. Then, discuss the artists’ technique. Does this surprise you? Why or why not?

The following questions consider the place of the nude in art and can be used at your discretion.

• Some artists have chosen to depict their sitter/s nude. Why? What significance might the nude figure represent within this theme?

• Select and compare one work depicting a nude figure and one with a clothed figure. How are they revealing in their own way? What does this tell us about the sitters?

Who are YOU?

• Think of a person in your life. Reflect on your unique relationship with that person. How would you show that relationship in a portrait?

• Consider the following statement as a group:
  An artist must know a sitter intimately to represent who they are in a portrait.
  Do you think this statement is true? Why or why not?

This theme relates to who we might be inside and out. On the outside, one can choose which parts of themselves they wish to project. However, within a person’s psyche live memories, dreams, instincts, fears and fantasies. In this way, our inner and outer selves are inextricably linked and both constantly evolving.

Reflecting the human experience of the mind and body in portraiture, we see works which project aspects of our inner and outer identities. A true artistic likeness can only ever be approximate, and the attempt to accurately depict one’s outer self is only one possibility of portraiture. Beyond this, by teasing out other aspects of the genre, it becomes possible to uncover the depths of our inner worlds.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Who are THEY?

• Look closely at Bill Henson’s three photographs of Simone Young, 2002.Do you know who the sitter, Simone Young, is? Young is a renowned conductor.
  Describe Young’s poses in each photograph. What might this tell us about the sitter?
  Why do you think Bill Henson chose to represent Simone Young this way?
  As viewers, what can we learn about the sitter by looking at this series of portraits? What remains a mystery?

• Find 12 untitled self portraits (set 3), 1990 by Mike Parr. View this artwork at a distance, then, at closer proximity. How does each portrait look similar? How does each portrait look unique?
  Describe the way Mike Parr has used lines to express moods and emotions in this series of portraits.
  What do you think these portraits convey about Mike Parr’s inner world and outer self? What makes you say that?

Who are YOU?

• Reflect on who you are, inside and out. What thoughts, feelings or memories do you have? What do you look like? How do you act or interact with people? Is how you feel or think the same as how you express yourself? Discuss.

• Fold a piece of paper in half. On one side, write adjectives to describe your appearance, such as physical traits. On the other side, write adjectives that describe what can’t necessarily be seen, such as personality traits, emotions, likes/dislikes and dreams. Choose three words from each side and create a drawing that incorporates each word.

While portraiture has many functions, it is often thought that its primary role is to document the lives of individuals who are celebrated and familiar, or who are representative of a certain place at a certain time. This section of the exhibition diverges from the historical association to biography, history, publicity and fame within portraiture, and presents works that lend themselves to multiple interpretive angles and connections with identity, culture and others.

This theme honours the sitter portrayed in each portrait, emphasising who is remembered and who has been forgotten. It examines the notion of “the icon” in Australian culture, the formation of national identities and how we construct and celebrate them.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Who are THEY?

Give students time to explore the portraits in this section of the exhibition.

• Which sitters do you recognise?
• How has the artist depicted these sitters as ‘icons’ or significant identities?

Vincent Namatjira’s Australia in black and white, 2018, and Julie Dowling’s Federation series: 1901-2001, 2001, are artworks comprised of many individual portraits. While Namatjira’s work features the faces of some of Australia’s most well-known public figures, Dowling’s work includes the faces of her own family members.
Look at both series of portraits and consider the following questions:

• Compare the way the artists have chosen to portray their sitters. What similarities and differences do you notice?
• What might this reveal about the artists’ feelings towards the sitters?
• How do their individual styles affect the way you feel about and respond to the sitters in each series?

Assign your students the role of a journalist or news reporter to interview one of the sitters. Think of five questions to ask the sitter to learn more about them.

Who are YOU?

• Think of an important figure you could portray in a work of art. Why have you chosen this person? What materials would you use, and why? How would you portray them?

• Whose portrait would you add to this theme of icons? It might be a portrait of someone famous, someone who has made a significant contribution to society or someone important to your community. Explain your answer to a partner.

WHAT IS PORTRAITURE?

Based on what you have seen and learnt throughout the exhibition, list responses to the following sentence stems: ‘Portraiture is…’ and ‘Portraiture is not…’
Use these responses to create a whole class definition of ‘portraiture.’

DEBATE

Consider the following statement: A good portrait of someone must look like them.
Do you agree or disagree?

• Hold a class debate, allowing students to voice their opinions and reasoning.
• Ask your students: Has your experience of the exhibition changed the way you view portraiture?
  Why or why not?

I USED TO THINK…NOW I THINK…

After visiting the exhibition, support students to evaluate the learning and knowledge gained throughout the exhibition and the theme of portraiture.
Have students complete the following sentence stems and record their responses on a T-Chart:

• I used to think…
• Now I think…

Reflect on your responses:

• What new learning or discoveries have you made?
• How has your thinking changed?