November 14th, 2013

I really admire this piece for the concept of portraiture, as well as the technique and pose presented in the piece. I really like this portrait, because it captures emotion in a unique way. The style to me is very significant to the piece. The portrait itself shows all of the detail that a portrait should (lens reflections, shading to give the piece a bit of depth, etc.), yet the style of the piece itself is still a bit flat (shading is present, yet there is lack of detail.). I admire this technique and style combined with the pose of the figure, because I feel that the lack of having too much detail creates an emphasis on the pose and the emotion that the subject itself is portraying, which I feel is very significant to the success of this piece. I also think that the blue hue chosen for the background combined with the red conveys emotions of anger and sadness - which works very well with the expression of the subject. Typically when we think of individuals who are upset or angry, they tend to cover their faces in frustration or because of sadness. I really admire this piece and I think the portrait itself is great.

Image derived from: Katz, Alex. Ted Berrigan. 1967. Painting. Art ObservedWeb. 14 Nov 2013. <http://artobserved.com/2010/01/go-see-kleve-germany-a-forty-work-retrospective-of-the-alex-katz-at-museum-kurhaus-kleve-through-feb-21-2010/>.