They sit opposite each other and he keeps painting out her face. PicassoвЂ™s a young struggling painter of enormous ambition and arrogance. Susan Sidlauskas:В When Picasso meets Gertrude Stein, sheвЂ™s already a literary figure of great note. So his body fills the entire canvas to convey his power or authority.ДЄnn Temkin:В We read a portrait not just in terms of whoвЂ™s painted, but whoвЂ™s painting, and how they sort out the kind of strange situation that that particular encounter really is. So, who has the power there? Well, Henry VIII was famous for lopping off the heads of many of the wives that he didnвЂ™t like, so you can imagine that Hans Holbein would be very anxious, that he would please Henry VIII. You might have a powerful figure, you might have King Henry VIII, commissioning a painting, a portrait by Hans Holbein. Susan Sidlauskas:В There is a contest between them, and you could say that itвЂ™s up for grabs throughout history as to who wins. The sitter is trying to convey a sense of who they are to an audience that they want to impress. Stephen Perkinson:В The artist is trying to demonstrate his or her skill at capturing a likeness. Susan Sidlauskas:В The notion of portraiture is such a slippery one, because in many ways both the subject and the portrayer want to control the event.

Susan Sidlauskas:В Given the fact that faces are so critical to us, itвЂ™s natural that portraiture as a genre would have been one of the ascendant art forms for thousands of years. You have this need to recognize, to make distinctions, to read emotions itвЂ™s absolutely crucial. Kehinde Wiley:В Because weвЂ™re selfish, we want to see elements of ourselves in everything.ДЄnne McClanan:В You can see how itвЂ™s almost fundamental for survival. An animal looks at your face.Дavid Lubin:В Before we learn to talk or walk, we learn reading the signals in a personвЂ™s face. Susan Sidlauskas:В The face is the first thing weвЂ™re drawn to.

Medieval portraiture