Portrait

Mediums: oil, canvas.
Location: Tate Gallery (London, Great Britain).

This is one of the most famous and scandalous paintings of the English artist. Here we can see a static figure, resembling a stand for advertisements with many inscriptions around it, which describe all was has to be painted: hair, head, hands and body of the depicted person. Since R. Penrose was not only an artist, but also a surrealistic poet, these texts, together with the image, express the idea of the objectlessness of all that exists and the power of human imagination. These inscriptions were considered indecent by the organizers of the exhibition “United Artists”, which was held at the Royal Academy in 1940, and did not allow the painting to be shown. Despite this, the work aroused great interest of avant-garde art lovers thanks to its unusual idea.