Self Portrait With Calavera Analysis

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For the art review I chose a piece of art that is located in the El Paso Museum of Art and is called “Self-Portrait with Calavera.” This piece was made by a local, deceased, El Paso artist named Luis Jimenez. I chose this piece because it was very different from Luis Jimenez previous works of art and the rest of pieces in the museum in itself. It was made using etching in the year 1996. This portrait is part of the museum’s permanent contemporary collection. Luis Jimenez is known for sculptures that were influenced by his Mexican heritage. They were large in size and bright in color. “Self-Portrait with Calavera” is an interesting piece because it is so different from his previous works. Unlike his previous work, the self-portrait is small …show more content…

The first element I was able to notice is the rhythm that it has. The first focal point to catch my attention was the shirt. It is the only part of the portrait where color was used. The color of the shirt then moved my attention to the second focal point, the eyes. The eyes are substantially darker than the rest of the portrait. The color of the shirt contrasts the darkness of the eyes. The darkness of the eyes also leads you to the last focal point, the nose. At first glance the nose just appears to be completely black but upon closer inspection you can see the shape of the nose and all the lines that were used to create it. After closely looking at the nose I the noticed the next element, lines. The entire portrait was made out of lines. Each and every line varied in width, direction, and length. The lines were used in an abstract manner since it was used throughout the entire portrait. The following element I noticed was the form of the portrait. While looking at the face of the portrait I noticed that the cheekbones looked as if they were popping out of the frame. I then noticed how the lines were used to shade the outline of the entire body making it appear to be three-dimensional. The next element that became obvious after further inspection was the balance of the portrait. The symmetry and proportionality of the skull is what gave the portrait balance. The features of the face were proportional to each other and the face was symmetrical on both sides of

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