Jane Liechty Photography

After the Masters

After the Masters

Portraits made in conversation with the masters — replies, not reproductions. From each painting, I borrow a theme (power, mystery, poverty, death) and an element or two (a gesture, a quality of light, a color, a pose) to see what it becomes on a face today.

Young man in red light with a spinning tambourine
François Gérard, Napoleon I in Coronation Robes, 1805
After Gérard, Napoleon I in Coronation Robes (1805)
Woman laughing, eyes closed, against a dark backdrop
Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, c. 1503–19
After Leonardo, Mona Lisa (c. 1503–19)
Girl in profile, curls lit from behind
Rembrandt, Self-Portrait as a Young Man, c. 1628
After Rembrandt, Self-Portrait as a Young Man (c. 1628)
Young musician holding a mandolin, looking away

Not shown — still under copyright.

See it at the Art Institute of Chicago ›

After Picasso, The Old Guitarist (1903–04)
Child in a white shirt leaning back in a wooden chair
Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Marat, 1793
After David, The Death of Marat (1793)
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