The Unrequited Gaze in Portraiture / 6 October - 30 October 2010

To view a portrait is to begin to understand something of the sitter - their interests, lifestyle and the age in which they lived. Portraits also display the skill of the artist in capturing a likeness while providing a way for the sitter to put their mark on the world and leave something of themselves behind.

How then are portraits to be viewed if the gaze is unrequited? If the painted, photographed, constructed and drawn images of the sitters either stare in to the middle distance or avert their eyes completely - what are we, the viewer, to learn?
When the purpose of the portrait is to invite an attempt at understanding - what does it mean when the sitter remains detached?

To have the sitter not return the viewer’s gaze requires the viewer to look for other methods of connection. We can learn a lot about the subjects from their pose, especially in Sofia Tekela-Smith’s busts, the clothing of Hongi Hongi by George French Angas and setting as in the Burton Brothers’ image of Guide McKinnon. Here, information on personality, time and lifestyle all come to the fore.

However, what should also be an important consideration is the artist’s purpose when capturing a likeness. To view a portrait where the artist intentionally averts the sitter’s gaze and their hand is so strongly evident in the creation of a work such as Toss Woollaston’s Shona Buchan it is impossible not to understand something of the artist, as well as their art.

For more information please contact the gallery.