EGOS UNCHAINED

    Ever since human beings first used reflecting water to see their own images, they became entranced with themselves. As art and civilizations developed, leaders of every kind made sure that their personas were immortalized in painting and sculpture.
    More than a thousand years B.C. in ancient Egypt, the symbolic image of a boy god/king named Tutankhamun was created. It became an icon for that age, and its worldwide recognition continues to this day.

    Half a millennium later the Greeks became profoundly good at creating sculptures that honored Greek citizens of accomplishment. But one thing about their style of art: you won't find any less than ideal figures in Greek art.

    A.D. and now the Roman Empire takes its turn in the limelight of history. They too excelled in sculpted portraits, but this time reality ruled.

    As soon as the mirror got into the hands of artists, the self-portrait was born. Studying the form of the human face is a wonderful tool for honing artistic skills, and with a mirror an artist needn't ask a model to endlessly hold a pose. The incomparable Leonardo da Vinci used this method with the high skill which he applied to everything he did.

    Two Dutch artists produced amongst my favorite self-portraits: 17th century's Rembrandt Van Rijn, and 19th century's Vincent Van Gogh.

    The 20th century took the egotistical self-portrait to new heights, as done by the Spanish rascal, Pablo Picasso.

    Andy Warhol was a force for the promotion of celebrity images, but he also applied that to himself. For those who missed the boat when Andy passed away in 1987, there is still a thriving industry of artists who will immortalize your image in the Warhol style.

 

    An artist who is completely transparent about the fact that her art is all about her is American Cindy Sherman. It is literally all about her, that is, every personality in her photographs is portrayed by her. She has made a very solid name for herself in the art world.

    One of the most stunning self-portraits done in recent times is by Britain's Lucien Freud, who passed away in 2011. This raw look at his self was truly both an artistic and a personal examination.

    The grand prize for the most egotistical artistic commission was two years ago when the Governator Schwarzenegger had a giant bronze statue cast of himself at what he considered his peak physical glory. Did he really think that we are going to forget him?

    And today, every ego that has possession of a smartphone can instantly take and share with the whole world a "selfie". We've seen some pretty sad/disgusting examples of this in the media, done by people who should have known better. But here's a selfie that exudes nothing but goodness.