American 20th-21st Century Portraits and Figurative Art

 

The Albuquerque Museum says:

"Figurative art describes any form of modern or contemporary art

that references the natural world

and particularly the human body."

 

(above:  John Singer Sargent, Self-portrait, 1906, oil on canvas, 30 x 25 inches, Collection of Self-Portraits in the Uffizi Gallery. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

 

Introduction

This section of the Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO) catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "American 20th-21st Century Portraits and Figurative Art." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in TFAO's Resource Library are listed at the beginning of the section. Clicking on titles takes readers directly to these articles and essays. The date at the end of each title is the Resource Library publication date.

After articles and essays from Resource Library are links to valuable online resources found outside our website. Links may be to museums' articles about exhibits, plus much more topical information based on our online searches. Following online resources may be information about offline resources including museums, DVDs, and paper-printed books, journals and articles.

We recommend that readers search within the TFAO website to find detailed information for any topic. Please see our page How to research topics not listed for more information.

 

 

Articles and essays from Resource Library with most recent listed first:

2014-2016

2009-2013

2007-2008

2006

2005

2004

2002-2003

1998-2001

 

 

(above:  John Singer Sargent, Mrs Henry White, 1883, oil on canvas, 87 x 55 inches, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

 

From other websites:

Figurative Painting - Celebrities and Entertainers

Figurative Painting - Children and Families

Figurative Painting - Fantasy

Figurative Painting - Miscellaneous

Figurative Painting - Nudes

Portraiture - Artist Self-Portraiture

Portraiture - Celebrities and Entertainers

Portraiture - Children

Portraiture - Miscellaneous

 

Books:

Celebrity Caricature in America by Wendy Wick Reaves, Yale University Press, 1998. Amazon.com says:",,,Reaves contends that this modern caricature - with its abbreviation, provocation, wit, figural distortion and dissonant colour contrasts - was a type of portraiture that captures the essence of the times and influenced other arts. Celebrity caricature had appeal to an audience hungry for emblems of the emerging urban culture. This book accompanies the first comprehensive exhibition on celebrity caricature, which will open at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, USA in April 1998."

 

(above: Thomas Hart Benton, Self-Portrait with Rita, 1922, oil on canvas, National Portrait Gallery, Washington. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

 

Go to Figurative and Portrait Art: 18-19th Century, 19-20th Century, 20-21st Century

Return to Topics in American Representational Art

 

TFAO extends appreciation to Rick Delanty for suggestions of content for this page.

 

TFAO catalogues:

TFAO's Distinguished Artists catalogue provides online access to biographical information for artists associated with this state. Also, Search Resource Library for online articles and essays concerning both individual artists associated with this state's history and the history of art centers and museums in this state. Resource Library articles and essays devoted to individual artists and institutions are not listed on this page.

*Tag for expired US copyright of object image:

Links to sources of information outside of our web site are provided only as referrals for your further consideration. Please use due diligence in judging the quality of information contained in these and all other web sites. Information from linked sources may be inaccurate or out of date. TFAO neither recommends or endorses these referenced organizations. Although TFAO includes links to other web sites, it takes no responsibility for the content or information contained on those other sites, nor exerts any editorial or other control over them. For more information on evaluating web pages see TFAO's General Resources section in Online Resources for Collectors and Students of Art History.

 

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