Portraits Philosophy Questions

1.What strikes you most prominently about this portrait? 2. How do you think Sargent felt about Madame X? 3. Do you think this is a beautiful painting? What accounts for its beauty 4. If you discovered that this painting caused a scandal, how would that change your understanding of it?      1. What features of this portrait stand out? 2. How do you think Matisse felt about the woman in the portrait? 3. If you discovered that the woman was Matisse’s wife, how would that affect your understanding of the painting? 4. Is this painting beautiful? Is Mme. Matisse beautiful? Does that matter?       Michael Borges Study, Kehinde Wiley, 2008      

6.  Jean-Paul Sartre, the famous Existentialist philosopher, thought that the “look of the other” was always objectifying. Based on the paintings you have looked at, do you think that painters necessarily objectify their subjects? Do we always objectify others? Is that necessarily a bad thing? Does this claim apply any differently to a self-portrait? Justify your answers.

 

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