The Truth of the Photograph and its Representation of Observer Appeared in the Painting of History

역사그림에 나타난 사진의 진실과 관찰자적 재현

  • Received : 2012.11.08
  • Accepted : 2012.12.21
  • Published : 2012.12.30

Abstract

The attitude of observer in the painting of history is to exclude a prejudice and a subjective view of an artist and to introduce a photograph, which is a record of objectivity, in the process of painting. Its ultimate intent is to redescribe the fact of an event's image intactly without any prejudice and to represent the event as a proven evidence that it was. The representation of history based on fact had already been conceived in imagination of renowned artists such as Francisco Goya or $Th{\acute{e}}odore$ $G{\acute{e}}ricault$ even before cameras were invented. What they portrayed was their own truth of reality which is gained through their observation, not a history that have corresponded to political ideologies, for all reliance on a limited tool of representation, painting. Furthermore, history was necessary for 19th century impressionism artists to be represented under proven fact in a neutral perspective excluding all subjective prejudice, not based on the representation with imagination. Edouard Manet in particular reconstited an instant moment on the basis of real proof of photograph without personal prejudice or opinion as if today's photojournalism. The catastrophic series by Andy Warhol and the photographic painting by Gerhard Richter show another role of painting in the realm of art, each of them implying information distortion and abuse by current media and intentional deformation toward history as Manet's painting of history. Today, the representation of an historical event that we experience in the era of the Internet and social networks having a great deal of information already came to be the exclusive property of the cutting edge mass media. Nevertheless, the attitude of observer which is realistic and contemplative in the realm of art is the crucial point in terms of artists' act as ever.

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Acknowledgement

Supported by : 중앙대학교