Critique of Gender Dynamics in Contemporary Portraiture and Art Market Trends

Annie Leibovitz's 2016 portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and her grandchildren, published in The Metro, deliberately references Diego Velázquez's 'Las Meninas' through its muted color palette and spatial composition. The image appeared while the critic was at the National Portrait Gallery café, noting the royal children's attire resembled historical costumes from the Victoria and Albert Museum's Room 40. This observation connects to a broader pattern of women artists engaging art history, exemplified by Celia Hempton's paintings at Whitechapel Gallery's 'Electronic Superhighway' exhibition, which recall Mary Cassatt's work through cropped details and shallow spaces. Amalia Ulman's series 'Excellences and Perfections' similarly nods to Cindy Sherman's 'Untitled Film Stills'. Meanwhile, Christie's auction house curator Loic Gouzer assembled the sale 'Bound to Fail', featuring Martin Kippenberger's self-portraits and his controversial crucified frog sculpture. That work previously provoked an Italian politician from South Tyrol to stage a hunger strike. Kippenberger's pieces appear alongside Robert Mapplethorpe's self-portraits, representing an era when male artists explored provocative self-imagery. The critic reflects on portraiture's evolving gender dynamics, suggesting male artists face inevitable failure in the genre unless embracing that condition. The article was published online exclusively on April 27, 2016.