Understanding the art of portraiture The late Vice President Muzenda
The late Vice President Muzenda

The late Vice President Muzenda

At the Gallery
Portraiture is one of many long standing art forms that have been practised for many decades. A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representations of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant.

It however, does not only record the features of a person as its major intent is to display the likeness, character, and even the mood and rank of the person being portrayed, offering a vivid sense of a real person’s presence.

In the past portraits were not just meant for anyone and everyone, they were mostly meant for those who were deemed as important enough to be honoured with a work of art. It was mostly done for the royal families, the famously rich nobility, and important religious and historic figures.

Most early representations reflected the power of rulers, and tended to use idealizing artistic conventions, and often enhanced the individual features of the subject’s appearance.

However, at a later stage the art of portraiture was extended to people who were not rulers, and some of the earliest known portraits of people who were not rulers are the Greco-Roman funeral portraits that are said to have survived in the dry climate of Egypt’s Fayum district.

Portraits play a major role in national development as they portray power, importance, virtue, beauty, culture, wealth and taste of a leader or a nation. This strongly links portraiture tofostering a shared national identity, patriotism, culture and civil religion,ideals which all contribute to national development.

Culture and religion are key drivers when it comes to national development as they give people an identity of who they are, where they are coming from and where they are going. It guides them in working towards the goal of nation building. Portraits give that sense of identity as they are celebrated and in some instances even revered thereby uniting the nation behind one cause.

Portraiture becomes even more significant in national development when it mirrors a deceased hero of a nation or portrays historical events that happened. This provides people with information about challenges and achievements of the past such that they can refer to it to conquer current challenges. This in turn can promote patriotism which motivates citizens to diligently serve their communities and country at large.

Moreover, through portraying the character and taste of a nation, portraiture provides information about socio-economic activities of a nation which can even attract tourists from all the globe thus fostering development. This makes portraiture a collective effort given the contribution it makes to the development of nations.

The past few weeks have been abuzz with people taking to social media to critique Dominic Benhura’s sculpture of President Mugabe. Benhura sculpture greeted with various opinions by the people. He however responded to the criticism saying that his style of art does not reproduce his subject in exact images.

“I think people do not understand and they do not understand the difference in art styles. That sculpture was never meant to look exactly as the president’s image. I do not do exact figures. Some artists do exact figures, but I do something that makes my work look different,” said Benhura as quoted in The Herald.

Artist have different ways of expressing themselves. An artist can produce a portraiture in abstract, realism, expressionism, impressionism, and figurative and many more. Mr Benhura and other artists created these works to honour our leaders and put much effort into these depictions through their signature expressive style. Though they were never intended to be official and commissioned works, they do however beg the question about where then are the official and commissioned works of many aspect of our history and development.

The most positive outcome of the recent portrait event is that it got the public involved and for all of us in the sector we are delighted by this. Art affects us all and we all have our opinion. This is what makes conversation around art so interesting and exciting.

We are all allowed our individual opinions and it, unlike other some domains we can exchange our individual likes and dislikes without fear or favour. Official works are very important, the creation of which is never to be taken lightly and flippantly. Art authorities need to be consulted alongside appropriate authorities that desire the work.

Appropriate critics need to be invited to create working sketches or models around which consensus is sought bearing in mind the commissioned brief, the allocated site and other such considerations.

Recently, the wife to the late Vice President Comrade Simon Vengesai Muzenda, Maud Muzenda said: “My wish, however, is to have a statue of my husband erected in Masvingo city.” She was speaking at the memorial golf tournament held at Masvingo Sports Club at the annual commemoration of his death.

It is our hope that sentiments thus expressed should be critically considered and as time goes by we should have many commissioned portraits in public spaces as well as institutions to commemorate our growth over time.

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