Portraiture and Critical Reflections on Being

This book analyzes the philosophical origins of dualism in portraiture in Western culture during the Classical period, through to contemporary modes of portraiture. Dualism - the separation of mind from body - plays a central part in portraiture, given that it supplies the fundamental framework for portraiture's determining problem and justification: the visual construction of the subjectivity of the sitter, which is invariably accounted for as ineffable entity or spirit, that the artist magically captures. Every artist that has engaged with portraiture has had to deal with these issues and, therefore, with the question of being and identity.

Euripides Altintzoglou's practice explores the correlation of being, politics, and change. He is the co-editor (with Martin Fredriksson) of Revolt and Revolution: The Protester in the 21st Century (Oxford, UK). His work has been exhibited internationally in private galleries, public museums, and biennales. He currently holds the post of a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art and Photography at the Wolverhampton School of Art est. 1851, University of Wolverhampton.

1. Introduction 2. Narcissus' Legacy: The Origins of the Western Portrait & the Emergence of Dualism 3. Rembrandt's Dilemma: The Introduction of Cartesianism in 17th Century Dutch Portraiture 4. Picasso's Solution: The Crisis of the Honorific & the Clash of Subjectivities 5. The Turning of a Blind (Third) Eye: The Critique of the Honorific in Radical Forms of Contemporary Portraiture 6. Epilogue: Vicious Circles