Portraits Under Images And Metaphors

Portrait has a long-standing tradition in the world history of art.As a practical function,portrait appeared rather early in China.Portrait in early period is inseparable from the essence of "vivid & lifelike".It is a form of image depiction of figures in real life,which is supposed to convey the figure's spiritual temperament.Western portraits mainly revolved around people and God for religious service until Renaissance;the emergence of the Renaissance led the upholding of the humanism spirit,the transformation from divine to human nature,and the recognition of the value of beings.Inevitably,art field was also affected and started to against the theocratic,thereby breaking through from the feudal thought and religious shackles.Portrait was increasingly popular among nobilities and masses.It started to depict the realistic character and to pursue the intrinsic sublimation of spirit.Whether in China or Europe,the portraits in early stage were inseparable from the category of "like-unlike”.Today,with the invention of photography,accompanied by the development of digital network media,image transmission and consumption have changed the way people view the world with an irresistible force.Electronic equipment is able to scan portraits to identify individuals;human face is now the “recognition code" of one's identity as a symbol,and portrait has seen new development in the era of Internet.Indulged in visual images,people's thinking mode and visual habits are more and more affected by the mass media.The application of image media has become a common working method of contemporary artists;visual images such as photos,videos and images have gradually become "references" for the works.It is undeniable that these image elements,which are drawn from different media,play a critical role in painting,and the portrait painting has changed dramatically.The difference between the reproduction concept of today's portraits and the western portraits in the past lies in that the former pays less attention to the reproduction of the characters,and seeks for exploring the value system hidden behind the images through the reconstruction of the images.It considers painting itself as the foundation of exploration;images are not superior to painting,but serve as the complement to the creation of portraits.Today,when art forms are in blossom,how to find a foothold in the avant-garde or in the traditional direction is bound to require the artist to enrich the inner spirit,and to explain the practical significance of the works.The metaphor in art is to be in accordance with the specific social relationship and to play an important role in making its works more profoundBased on the combination of Owen Erwin Panofsky's third-level iconology and metaphor rhetoric,this paper interprets portrait works of four artists from China and Western countries,and interprets the intrinsic spiritual value from the perspective of the image selection and the different types of metaphors hidden in the images.The integration of image and metaphor can be used as an entrance to interpret metaphor by image analysis.Reversely,this can interpret how metaphor is produced in images,so as to analyze the application of image metaphor in painting works,which can enable "viewers" to interpret the works more accurately,to feel the artists' inner heart more closely,and to gain a more profound understanding of oneself;at the same time,it is conducive for us to apply ourselves.Understand how to skillfully integrate the familiar objective image with personal experience,and to merge them into the creation;merry up metaphor and creation without a trace.When looking at the several artists in-depth,I gained more information,which made me clear about how different artists apply contemporary media images to set out their own artistic propositions.And I got a hang of how to make selection among a considerable amount of complicated images,so that I can figure out my unique oil painting language in personally creation.