Sandra Kisters

This book offers trans-historical and trans-national perspectives on the image of “the artist” as a public figure in the popular discourse and imagination. Since the rise of notions of artistic autonomy and the simultaneous demise of old systems of patronage from the late eighteenth century onwards, artists have increasingly found themselves confronted with the necessity of developing a public persona. In the same period, new audiences for art discovered their fascination for the life and work of the artist. The rise of new media such as the illustrated press, photography and film meant that the needs of both parties could easily be satisfied in both words and images. Thanks to these “new” media, the artist was transformed from a simple producer of works of art into a public figure. The aim of this volume is to reflect on this transformative process, and to study the specific role of the media themselves. Which visual media were deployed, to what effect, and with what kind of audiences in mind? How did the artist, critic, photographer and filmmaker interact in the creation of these representations of the artist’s image?

The Lure of the Biographical zooms in on the supposed relationship between the art and the personal image of artists. The book explores how visual artists use their personal history and image to make a name for themselves, and how they try to control how their artistic output is interpreted. At the same time, it investigates how other parties such as art critics, biographers, photographers, filmmakers, art historians and art dealers link artists’ lives to their work. The framework for studying the (self-)representation of artists focuses on the textual and visual means used by artists as well as others. Through three detailed case studies of the image and work of French sculptor Auguste Rodin, American painter Georgia O’Keeffe, and British painter Francis Bacon, the book demonstrates what mechanisms and strategies are at play in creating the artist’s image, from the nineteenth to the late-twentieth century, and, in addition, proposes a model for future research into questions of (self-)representation.

The interview format, both in written form and on film, suggests that artists know best how their work should be treated, exhibited, and explained. Its general premise is that knowing the artist’s intention is necessary to understand the work of art. Even if this intention if not fixed or fallible, and the artist will not always be willing to give an explanation, it is still regarded as a vital primary source. This chapter by Sandra Kisters focuses on two opposing documentaries: Gerhard Richter Painting (2009) by Corinna Belz, and Francis Bacon and The Brutality of Fact (1985) by Michael Blackwood. In the former, the main focus is on the artistic process, the “interviews” are short questions filmmaker Belz asks Richter (1932), while the artist looks at his own paintings, evaluating them, deciding whether or not they need an extra layer of paint, often applied with a squeegee. In the latter, the artistic process of British painter Francis Bacon (1909–1992) is totally absent, although...

The focus of this paper and case study is the public art Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, which will open in 2021 in Rotterdam. In our marketing campaign we present the Depot as the first fully public art storage facility in the world; but in fact, the development of opening up collections to the general public has been a focus for many institutions in the last decade. The concept of the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen relates to different strategies for making the collection accessible, from visible storage and visitable storage, to the older concept of collection study rooms and the presentations we intend to make in the two public galleries within the depot, on the topics of collection care and collecting. With the opening of this building, we aim to reach a wider audience than the one that normally visits the museum, whom we will address as fellow collectors and owners of this public collection. While there are notable tensions between the public function of the building and the museu...