Stylistic Approaches in Portraiture Painting: Analysis of Selected Portraiture by Contemporary Kenyan Artists

Abstract

Portraiture painting remains an important and popular sub-genre in art where artists paint portraits as a response to various motivations. Some artists paint for the fun of it, or what is often referred to as art for art's sake, where they are more captivated by the flow of vivid colours, tones and textures which they capture with their brushstrokes to study pertinent aspects of the face; others wish to study the likeness of their subjects in detail as they appear on the reference photographs; others are interested in the narrative that they perceive to be apparent in the portrait; others are interested in particular facial expressions that denote certain human feelings. These expressions are incorporated in their portraits to draw attention to given circumstances and emotions such as anger, despair, joy, scepticism, displeasure or anxiety as the case may be. Others are obsessed with the peculiarity of facial details and the study of absolute likeness or even surpassing likeness to create hyperrealism. Others do not think that these absolute details are necessary and are only interested in those aspects that capture the transient face. In all these motivations, there is one common denominator that is often the foremost motivational factor; the individual artist’s stylistic approach. Whatever reason or motivation for embarking on portraiture, the major driving factor is always the application of personal style. In this regard, whether the personal style is hyperrealism, realism, abstract, expressionism or even stylized, artists work within the realm of their personal styles that make them feel comfortable and helps them not only to meet their immediate artistic objectives but to enjoy their work. Artistic styles are different in approach but aim to achieve the same goals in different ways. Subsequently, artists respond to these styles differently and utilize those that they subscribe to in order to meet their artistic objectives. Likewise, the respective audiences or viewers also respond to these styles differently, such that in any circumstance, there is no style that is superior to the other as such, since each style appeals differently to the multitude of viewers and meets its purpose within its own stylistic confines. In examining portraiture, what is ultimately important is to determine whether painted portraits carry the impetus in their own right as works of art to elicit certain desired responses from the audience. It is also important to examine the extent to which the artist’s intent is significant in this elicitation. This paper examines portraiture from different Kenyan artists to determine their stylistic approaches, their particular motivations and the essence of such varied approaches in the comprehension of the purpose of painted portraiture. The paper also examines whether, in this context, the portraits featured carry a visual message. The paper examined selected portraits from a number of practising Kenyan artists in Nairobi, Kenya where many of them are based. The portraits featured do not necessarily cover all styles of portraiture.