Cian McLoughlin
, Irish, b.1977
Title
Self-PortraitDate2018
MediumOil on board
Dimensions
61 x 46 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 2019
Object numberNGI.2019.41
DescriptionThis self-portrait is closely related to a body of work McLoughlin has been developing for several years. Entitled 'Tronies', it comprises a series of abstract heads inspired by studies of the Flemish Baroque and Dutch Golden Age. The term 'tronie' translates literally as 'head', 'face' or 'countenance', and was applied to depictions of the head and face that are not portraits as one would normally understand them, but studies of expression, type, physiognomy or character. McLoughlin has reinterpreted the term, and in this and several other examples, appropriated it to self-portraiture. The 'likeness' on which conventional portraiture relied historically is present but vestigial.