Self Portrait, 1983
Oil on canvas
25 1/2 x 20 in
64.8 x 50.8 cm
64.8 x 50.8 cm
This painting is presently on view at our Toronto gallery
$6,000
Inscriptions
signed and dated, ‘Plaskett 1983’ (lower right); inscribed, ‘F158 / P1’ (verso)Provenance
Private collection, Vancouver
By descent, private collection, Vancouver
Self portraiture was a genre Joseph Plaskett explored with intensity in paint and in print. See A Speaking Likeness (Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 1999). In the lineage of Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard, Plaskett places himself within his studio interior and, using mirrors or secondary reflections, he creates a composed, introspective presence but is only one element within an elegant harmonized interior.
Joe Plaskett spent a large portion of his career as what we might call an “intimiste”, his primary and almost exclusive painting place being his medieval home on Rue Pecquay in the historic Le Marais Arrondissement. Admirers, and owners of his paintings as well as visitors to his home will recognize it here; imbued with light, chandeliers throughout, and crystal, silverware and their light reflected by the countless mirrors hanging about. The open window on the right opens onto a narrow street of the district. That is to say that natural light was not a primary source for the brilliance Joe accomplished in his paintings.
“If reflections are a signature to my paintings, then so are shadows. If I am preoccupied with light then I must be equally preoccupied with shadow. I try vainly to turn shadow into light as the Impressionists did, just as I try to turn shadow into colour as the Fauves did [...] I want to keep shadows as shadows and hence let the feeling of my painting be shadowy. Though shadow is the absence of light, the negative to light's positive, it can exert as much power as does light.” (Joseph Plaskett, A Speaking Likeness (Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 1999, 186).
“...I am constantly aback at how little the public looks at a portrait if it were a painting. When I show myself portraits to my intimate public of friends, the reaction is seldom what I expect. They do not stop to admire the composition or colour. Their concern is likeness: “That is not you at all.” “Why do you make yourself look so old?” “You’re not a severe person.” “You don’t flatter yourself!” They see me only as a gentle, pleasant fellow and are upset when I present myself as I see myself, sometimes with intensity, sometimes with irony. I do not see myself when I paint as a social creature. At that moment, I am not. I see myself as an object, as neutral, as a still life. I see myself intensely concentrated on a problem. I am either elated or baffled. I am unaware of the need to present an unacceptable face for the world.”
Joe Plaskett spent a large portion of his career as what we might call an “intimiste”, his primary and almost exclusive painting place being his medieval home on Rue Pecquay in the historic Le Marais Arrondissement. Admirers, and owners of his paintings as well as visitors to his home will recognize it here; imbued with light, chandeliers throughout, and crystal, silverware and their light reflected by the countless mirrors hanging about. The open window on the right opens onto a narrow street of the district. That is to say that natural light was not a primary source for the brilliance Joe accomplished in his paintings.
“If reflections are a signature to my paintings, then so are shadows. If I am preoccupied with light then I must be equally preoccupied with shadow. I try vainly to turn shadow into light as the Impressionists did, just as I try to turn shadow into colour as the Fauves did [...] I want to keep shadows as shadows and hence let the feeling of my painting be shadowy. Though shadow is the absence of light, the negative to light's positive, it can exert as much power as does light.” (Joseph Plaskett, A Speaking Likeness (Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, 1999, 186).
“...I am constantly aback at how little the public looks at a portrait if it were a painting. When I show myself portraits to my intimate public of friends, the reaction is seldom what I expect. They do not stop to admire the composition or colour. Their concern is likeness: “That is not you at all.” “Why do you make yourself look so old?” “You’re not a severe person.” “You don’t flatter yourself!” They see me only as a gentle, pleasant fellow and are upset when I present myself as I see myself, sometimes with intensity, sometimes with irony. I do not see myself when I paint as a social creature. At that moment, I am not. I see myself as an object, as neutral, as a still life. I see myself intensely concentrated on a problem. I am either elated or baffled. I am unaware of the need to present an unacceptable face for the world.”
