Beatrice Turner, artist
Beatrice Turner wasn't known by the public as an artist during her life. In fact, she wasn't known by many people period, since she rarely ventured out of her Newport mansion (which was painted completely black). But when she died in 1948 over a thousand paintings done by her were found. Most of them were self-portraits. The paintings have attracted the interest of psychologists since how she portrayed herself on canvas was evidently how she saw herself in her mind's eye, but it didn't match physical reality. Text from "Psychiatry and skin disease" by J.A. Cotterill: It is no accident that body image is often inappropriately younger in a given individual than it appears to others. Thus, many artists painting their own portraits represent themselves as a much younger person than they actually are. This aspect of art was highlighted by MacDonald Critchley when he described the portraits of Beatrice Turner, who at 58 was still painting herself to look like a woman years younger than she actually was. Moreover, this artist painted a nude self-portrait of herself showing a young woman of ample proportions, shortly before she died, thin and emaciated from starvation. More info: alyssamaxwell.com Images: Life magazine - July 10, 1950
Beatrice Turner wasn't known by the public as an artist during her life. In fact, she wasn't known by many people period, since she rarely ventured out of her Newport mansion (which was painted completely black). But when she died in 1948 over a thousand paintings done by her were found. Most of them were self-portraits.
The paintings have attracted the interest of psychologists since how she portrayed herself on canvas was evidently how she saw herself in her mind's eye, but it didn't match physical reality. Text from "Psychiatry and skin disease" by J.A. Cotterill:
More info: alyssamaxwell.com
Images: Life magazine - July 10, 1950
The paintings have attracted the interest of psychologists since how she portrayed herself on canvas was evidently how she saw herself in her mind's eye, but it didn't match physical reality. Text from "Psychiatry and skin disease" by J.A. Cotterill:
It is no accident that body image is often inappropriately younger in a given individual than it appears to others. Thus, many artists painting their own portraits represent themselves as a much younger person than they actually are. This aspect of art was highlighted by MacDonald Critchley when he described the portraits of Beatrice Turner, who at 58 was still painting herself to look like a woman years younger than she actually was. Moreover, this artist painted a nude self-portrait of herself showing a young woman of ample proportions, shortly before she died, thin and emaciated from starvation.
More info: alyssamaxwell.com
Images: Life magazine - July 10, 1950
What's Your Reaction?
