The portrait phenomenon with expressive language in contemporary art

The history of portrait dates back to old ages. The painting of portrait, which was developed in time, has constantly come across with change-transformation in terms of material, technique, expression and form. The portrait was shaped as a form of expression within the branches of art such as painting, photography, ceramics, literature and sculpture. It is difficult to say that the development of portrait is on the same plane in plastic arts. However, none of the art branches has been identified with the portrait, but the literature and painting. As it is known, the theme of painting is classified as figure, nature and still life and their sub-derivatives. The portrait painting, which was developed in the figure, demonstrated significant development in time. Most artists have painted portraits as a means of expression. These artists were influenced by the political, political, economic, social, religious and philosophical mentality of country and period they were in during performing their works. As it is known, it has been possible to come across with the portrait in the art of painting since the earliest centuries. However, the portrait demonstrated its real development in Europe. In this study, the portrait as a significant type of expression and a theme topic within the Contemporary Art of Painting was investigated. In this present study, evaluations were performed giving examples of the artists who were considered as pioneers in their periods on the art of portrait. These artists looked for the ways to reflect their impressions, the emotions, which the model evoked in them, in their works, while these artists were faced with the physical identity of the individual they chose as the model during the portrait formation process. The artist aims to reflect the emotional state and inner world of the model s/he portrays to the canvas. Perhaps, this is the most obvious side that painting portraits is a quite difficult choice in the art. In the introduction section of this study, it was focused on the aim and the hypothesis of the study, the concept of portrait, the types of portrait and the development phase of the portrait. In the first section, the historical development of the portrait was mentioned. In the second section, the portrait phenomenon in the Contemporary Art was handled in terms of the most important representatives in this period. These selected portraits were investigated in many ways. In the third section, personal applications on portraits and their plastic values were evaluated handling their psychological background. In the result section, the reached findings were presented.