A Closer Look – Faces by Alexander Sturgis, softback from the National Gallery. ISBN 978-1-8570-9464-0, price 7.99 from www.yalebooks.co.uk
This handy pocket-sized book could accompany you on a visit to the National Gallery or be used by armchair lovers of art. It is a guide to some of the portraits that hang in the National Gallery, London. Faces you might recognise such as Renoir’s ‘The Umbrella’s’ or Titian’s ‘A Man With a Quilted Sleeve’. This book is about the kinds of faces and the characters artists portray, or what we assume about them. It takes a look at how painters paint faces, the ideal face, the subversion of ideals, capturing likeness and stereotypes. It talks about pose and setting, the eyes and expression. I found this a fascinating guide, beautifully illustrated with appropriate paintings and interesting text.