Self Portraits and the Evolution of Selfies as Seen on Two Fridas

In this paper, the theme of the presentation of self and female self-portraiture is being studied and evaluated along with certain works of art. The first work to compare is Judith Leyster's, Self Portrait which is a Dutch Baroque painting created in 1630 with oil on canvas and is now located at the Museo de Arte Moderno, in Mexico City. The image shows Judith Leyster casually sitting and painting a violin player. The second work is, Frida Kahlo's The Two Fridas is a Surrealist painting created in 1939 with oil on canvas and is now located at the National Gallery of Art, in Washington, DC. The Two Fridas shows two images of Frida showcasing the “old Frida” versus the “new Frida.”

Artists have chosen to work on Self Portraits to portray how they see themselves or showcase a certain moment in their life. These two portraits show how Self Portraits are used by artist to present an introspective into their struggles and their world. Today’s ability to share anything in an instant, allows us to use Selfies as a substitute for Self Portraits. As we move into an over socialized world, how we present ourselves is even more important because it is shared with some large amounts of people at once. It is possible that we are losing touch with ourselves and our identities by allowing all of our self-portraits to be analyzed and share to the world instead of being used as a window into ourselves. The self-portrait and the selfie are two separate, though at times overlapping, efforts at establishing and embellishing a definition of one’s self. (the Iris)

Taking a look at Leyster's, Self Portrait and you can see in the play with shadows and colors that the image is representative of the Baroque era. The main attraction in this painting is her face. You can look at her dark eyes staring back at you, and the confidence exuding from them. The way she holds the paintbrush looks like she is holding a wand and she will make magic on the canvas. It is said that she used to compare painting to making music and she shows the musician in her painting astutely showing herself in the same status. The momentary quality of the portrait and the vigorous brushwork echo the work of Frans Hals Haarlem’s most celebrated portrait painter. (National Gallery of Art) Frida's portrays two views of herself the traditional woman that she was for her husband and the modern Frida. The colors that you see are bright and have very little shadows. The imaginary is visceral, as she shows the two hearts connect two one another. The two artists showcase their life at the moment through the self-portraits, but they differ much more the two paintings have very different color palettes and motifs.

Judith's work is from the Dutch Baroque era, Dutch paintings of the period reflected deliberate attention to detailed observation, especially everyday objects and activities. (MindEdge) Art has always been used to portray artist feelings or their environments status. Leyster's Self portrait was notable at the time she was a great artist, and it was very rare to see a woman so talented in the 1630s. Three years after she painted this portrait Leyster 'entered the Saint Luke's Guild of Haarlem as an independent master.' (NGA) She was praised before the painting and her title. Judith painting helped show the world that truly skilled women artist were out there, by her creating a marvelous self-portrait she showed that it could be an everyday thing, with the smile and playful eyes.

Frida's work is from the Surrealism era, which emphasized art with a large amount of imagination resembling dreams. The year she painted this canvas she was divorced from Diego Rivera. Before she married Rivera in 1929, she wore the modern European dress of the era, evident in her first self-portrait where she dons a red velvet dress with gold embroidery. With Rivera’s encouragement, Kahlo embraced attire rooted in Mexican customs. (Frida Kahlo) When reviewing Frida's The Two Fridas, you can see that the main social standard that is being defied is Frida's understanding of the traditional woman and the woman she sees her self as. The painting was created soon after her divorce. 'Throughout their marriage, given Rivera's strong nationalism, Kahlo became increasingly interested in indigenism and began to explore traditional Mexican costume, which she wears in the portrait on the left.' (The Art Story) In both portraits the women are looking straight out of the canvas almost like they are looking right at the viewer, I can only attribute this to the defiant nature of both women. Both portraits show that women have been trying to find the best way to depict themselves to the world. Women in the world, especially in the art world have been struggling to find their way and success in the world.

These two images show how the two women were finding success in their world. During both of their times, women were not seen as qualified to do much of anything. One way is like Leyster's in which she chooses to be the center of attention and the other where Kahlo shows how lonely and broken she was. In Leyster’s time period women were not regarded as talented artists, for her time she was one of the most qualified female artist known. She was so talented she went on to teaching her own students and having her own school. For Frida at the time she was struggling with the social structures that were posed onto women. In 1947, this painting was purchased by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. The purchase price was 4,000 Pesos (about $1,000) for the painting and an additional 36 Pesos for the frame. That was the most Frida was ever paid for a painting during her lifetime. Both women and pieces of work still have an influence on the contemporary world, these two images show women existing in a world that challenges them in several different ways.

A good example for this is a very famous selfie by Tyra Banks in which she is not wearing any makeup. The image shows her with no makeup or retouching, her message to her followers was '…You deserve to see the REAL me. The REALLY real me. #RawAndReal.' The image truly shows the real her, the image shows from her clavicle to the top of her head. Tyra is wearing a black headband pushing back her undone hair. Tyra is not wearing any makeup, her eyebrows are unkempt, and she is making a small smirk. With that message, it shows that some people are trying to show their real self in different ways through social media. (Instagram, Tyra Banks)

As these two women show their growth in the paintings, Tyra banks is a good example of a selfie that has moved many into moving towards their path. Leyster had to compete in an industry-owned my men, she was renowned for her art skills. Frida has tragedy all around her life and still managed to communicate to the world through art. Tyra Banks picture brought attention to the fact that many of us keep putting our 'best face' forward when posting to social media instead of trying to show the real them. We will continue to produce self-portraits as a mean of showing ourselves and other how we want to be seen and how we are.

Humanities helps us better understand human relationships and appreciate diverse ways of viewing the world, qualities that are greatly valued in any career as we interact with others and experience differing outlooks and approaches to life. Challenging the perceived notions of historical, cultural, and social identity helps us grow and develop a better understanding of our current world. When we understand the social practices of the past we can understand the cultural context in which societies led themselves. Humanities shows a certain of social continuity that helps us build on top of previous cultures, much how the artictic movements developed. Artist have a large responsibility in helping us view and capture our own society in the right way. Artist are known to be impacted by their current culture, either by portraying current social issues or by impacting society with their art and causing society to react. All artist should try to achieve a certain view on the culture and try to portray it to the viewer as a need to connect. Self Portraits and selfies are continuously growing with the society and how we are choosing to portray our current world.