An investigation of child portraits developing from the 20th century to the day in the context of the concepts of reflection and expression

The concept of reflection, which developed after Plato and Aristotle claimed that art is mimesis, suggests that the concept of reality in painting is expressed with objectivity. Expressionism, which develops when the artist put forward her own subjects, creates and original and broad platform in the art of painting, delving into the depths of individual experiences and expressing personal emotions. Children's faces, expressed with objective reality under the influence of cultural changes in societies, present the emotional depth of children by including both formal and expressive subjective interpretations of artists in the modern art process that developed after the invention of photography in the 20th century. Nowadays, portraits have become a theme in which concepts are explained, and children's portraits give social and cultural messages with their formal and symbolic expressions. In this thesis, it is aimed to analyze how the physical and emotional characteristics of children are represented through portraits in painting by examining the child portraits that have developed from the 20th century to the present within the framework of the concepts of reflection and expression. This research is important in terms of revealing how child portraits function not only as a form of artistic expression but also as a reflection of the socio- cultural structure of the period. In the study where qualitative research technique was used, data was obtained by document analysis. Sources that conduct research on world art; books, articles and theses were examined, and the works of the painters who shaped the history of art were examined according to the characteristics of their periods and a working method was created. The 20th century is an important period in which psychological reality and expressive expressions of artists developed, going beyond physical reality in portrait paintings. For his reason, the study was limited by examining the artists and their works in the modern and postmodern periods. As a result, in child portraits that have developed from the 20th century to the present, artists move away from the classical portrait tradition and turn to more orijinal, experimental and emotional forms of expression. This evolution creates a visual language that reflects not only the physical appearance of children's portraits, but also their emotional, psychological and social aspects. By reflection their individual experiences and the socio-cultural dynamics of the period through child portraits, artists contribute to a deep and comprehensive discussion of the importance of children in society.