This week’s meme is Joseph Ducreux

The Back Story: Joseph Ducreux was an 18th Century French artist known for his unorthodox style of portrait paintings. Interested less in the classical ideas of portraiture used by later French artists like David and Ingres. Ducreux took more of a “Formalist” approach, taking the medium to a new ground by tearing down the fourth wall between subject and audience by depicting himself pointing out of the canvas while grinning maniacally, reflecting his belief that facial features could be used to depict personality. The end result is a self portrait of an old time guy looking smug and pimp.

The set up: Translate rap lyrics into 18th century period style speech thus challenging the creator of the image and the reader’s ability to identify the song or phrase.

Continue Reading →