All art is autobiographical

As a second year A Level student, having studied centuries of art and artists, it seems like a natural conclusion to come to that all art, as a form of history, has happened before. It is a fact which enables study, for if an artist was an island, it would be very hard to get any analysis done. It also makes this study infinitely more interesting, when every now and then you experience the little frisson of excitement that accompanies linking one artist or artwork to another. However, it is also an enormous burden on the shoulders of anyone trying to create their own artwork, or indeed feel good about themselves at all.

Throughout my study of art, I have addressed this issue, which seems to be inextricably linked to every theme that I have been given, but for this project I want to explore it explicitly. It seems like a natural choice to look inwards for answers, given the fact that it is not only a deeply personal concern for me, but that, as Federico Fellini said, 'All art is autobiographical'- throughout the centuries artists have created work drawing on their own concerns, which I think must include anxieties about their own legacy compared to that of others.

Thus I will look at these concerns of mine in the context of art history. Inspired by artists like Dexter Dalwood and Wilhelm Sasnal, I am going to compare family photographs with artworks, exploring how art history has shaped our understanding and creation of images. To do so I am going to look at both visual similarities- composition, colour and characters- and the similarities in context and themes behind them.

But I don't just want to look at my own photographs- I want to create a picture of a microcosm of society that represents a macrocosm of humanity.

This is my request to anyone who reads this: Please send me your photos! I am looking for pictures in the following categories:

• Mother and child



• Siblings in matching outfits



• Newborns



• Group portraits



• Snowmen



• Kisses



• Teddy Bears



• Dressing up

If you have any photos like these, or any which you think look like an image from art history, please send them to portraitstudent@aol.com. If you can provide details, please include:

• The age of the people in them


• The year or roughly the time they were taken


• Any story behind the photo

Please don't send any photos that you or any of the people in them would not wish anyone to see. I would like to display them in my exhibition at the end of my project, and perhaps post the best ones on this blog, so:

a. You must be happy for me to do so

b. They must be appropriate for me to do so

(what I am basically saying is, please no nudity!)



I will follow up this post with some of the comparisons I have made myself already to give some examples, and some information about the artists I have based this work on.