Portraits and persons: a philosophical inquiry

370 Pages·2010·3.48 MB·English

by  Cynthia A. Freeland

Portraits and Persons
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Portraits and
Persons
A Philosophical Inquiry
Cynthia Freeland
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3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp
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Published in the United States
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q Cynthia Freeland 2010
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First published 2010
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ISBN 978-0-19-923498-1
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am pleased to thank various people at OUP who have helped
with this book, including my editor Luciana O’Flaherty, general
trade editor Matthew Cotton, assiduous picture researcher San-
dra Assersohn, and the dedicated production and publicity staff.
The earliest stages of research for this project were supported
by an NEH grant as well as by a Faculty Development Leave
from the University of Houston. The University of Houston also
provided a subvention grant to assist with costs of image repro-
duction. I gratefully acknowledge these sources for their support.
I am especially grateful to the University of Houston’s Honors
College and Dean Ted Estess for providing generous research
stipends that enabled me to visit museums in Chicago, Amster-
dam, Madrid, London, and Copenhagen.
Many students and colleagues have heard various versions of
the ideas for some of the chapters here, and I am grateful to all of
them. I owe a special debt to students in my graduate seminar on
Narrative in Spring of 2009. Two students in particular assisted
with my research: Carolina Fautsch, who had the support of a
University of Houston ‘SURF’ (Summer Undergraduate Research
Funds) grant for research on the facial expression of emotions; and
LynnWatts, who worked through articles on the self with me and
did helpful picture research. Tzachi Zamir provided detailed com-
ments on Chapter 1. I am also grateful to Susan Feagin and Ismay
Barwell for sharing their work in progress on narrative.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Previous versions of some of the chapters were read at various
universities and conferences, and I would like to thank the hosts,
audiences, and commentators who helped me articulate and
refine my ideas. Chapter 1: American Society for Aesthetics at
the Central Division APA (organizer Angela Curran and com-
mentator Jen Everett) andWesleyan University (host Lori Gruen
and fellow speakers Allison Argo and Frank Noelker). Chapter 2:
West Virginia University (host Beverly Hinton), University of
Minnesota, Duluth (host Alison Aune), University of Vallodolid,
Spain (host Sixto Castro), Oberlin College (host Katherine
Thomson-Jones and commentator Patrick Maynard). Chapter
4: London conference Beyond Mimesis and Nominalism: Represen-
tation in Art and Science (panel organizer Dolores Iorizzo of
Imperial College) and University of Cincinnati Conference on
Art and Mind (organizer Jenefer Robinson). Chapter 5: APA
Pacific Division (commentators Marya Schechtman and Sarah
Worth); and Furman University (host Sara Worth). Chapter 6:
Michigan State University Suter Lecture (organizer Jim Nelson,
and attendees Marilyn Frye, Al Cafagna, and Robert Stecker).
My Houston friends Mary Ann Natunewicz and Lynn Bliss
have been steadfast supporters and helpful listeners, as have my
parents, Alan and Betty Freeland.
Finally, I would be remiss in not mentioning the wonderful
support of my online community of friends on the photography
website Flickr, particularly those who share my interest in ani-
mal portraiture.
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations viii
Introduction 1
1. Animals 4
2. Contact 42
3. Individuality 74
4. Expression 119
5. Self-Knowledge 155
6. Intimacy 195
7. The Fallen Self 243
Epilogue 291
Further Reading 299
Notes 305
Index 341
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures
1.1. Cat terrified at a dog, illustration from Darwin’s The
Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. From life, by
Thomas William Wood, wood engraving. 15
1.2. Self-recognition in an Asian elephant (2006). From J. M.
Plotnik, F. B. M. de Waal, and D. Reiss, Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci. USA. 103:17053-17057. 19
1.3. Offput (Rocky, Orangutan). From Monkey Portraits, Jill
Greenberg (Bullfinch, 2006). q Jill Greenberg. Photo courtesy
of ClampArt Gallery and Little, Brown. 22
1.4. Hippopotamus and Crocodile Hunt (1615–16), Peter Paul
Rubens (1577–1640). Alte Pinakothek, Munich/Bridgeman Art
Library. 26
1.5. Stanley (1994), David Hockney. From David Hockney’s
Dog Days (Bullfinch, 1998). q David Hockney. 27
1.6. Fay and Andrea (1987), William Wegman. q William
Wegman. 29
1.7. Whistlejacket (1761–2), George Stubbs. The National Gal-
lery, London/q Scala, Florence 2009. 38
2.1. Mummy Portrait of a Man, Egypt, Fayum region,
Roman, c.150–200. Encaustic on wood, 17-3/4 10-5/8 inches
(45.1 27 cm) The Menil Collection, Houston. Photo:
Hickey-Robertson, Houston. 47
2.2. Bust of Christ Pantokrator (84 45.5 cm). Encaustic icon,
first half of the 6th century. Saint Catherine’s Monastery,
Mount Sinai. 51
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
2.3. Young Woman, unknown date (ad 41–54). Ny Carlsberg
Glyptotek, Copenhagen. Photo: Ole Haupt. 59
2.4. Portrait of an Unknown Woman (c.1793–4), Mrs Beetham.
Victoria and Albert Museum, London/q V&A Images. 63
2.5. William Mallonee, the author’s great-great grandfather
in a tintype sent to his sweetheart while he served in the
Union Army during the US Civil War. Indiana Historical
Society (M0904). 67
2.6. Tomb in a cemetery in Wallonia, Belgium; husband and wife
memorialized on their gravestone. q Eduardo da Costa. 71
3.1. Insane Woman (1822–3), Theodore Ge´ricault. Muse´e des
Beaux-Arts, Lyons, France. 107
3.2. Edward S. Curtis, Photogravure, Luqaiot—Kittitas.
Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections,
Northwestern University Library, Evanston. 110
3.3. Correction, Installation View, Fiona Tan, 2004. Courtesy
of the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London; commissioned
by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the New
Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; and the Hammer
Museum of Art, Los Angeles. Photo: q Museum of Contem-
porary Art, Chicago. Collection Museum of Contemporary
Art, Chicago. 113
4.1. The head of a man screaming in terror, a study for the figure
of Darius in ‘The Battle of Arbela’ (charcoal on paper),
Charles Le Brun (1619–90). Galerie d’Apollon/Louvre, Paris/
Peter Willi/The Bridgeman Art Library. 122
4.2. Democritus, William Blake; Plate 25 from Essays on Physi-
ognomy by John Caspar Lavater (1789). Mary Evans Picture
Library. 127
4.3. Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (1804), Gilbert Stuart. Pri-
vate collection. Photo courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York. 129
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