Traditional Self Portrait from the portfolio Art Pro Choice II
Francesco Clemente
Italian, born 1952
1991
A lithograph self-portrait by Francesco Clemente that uses spare line and pale tone to map parts of the face with names of metals, turning a likeness into an alchemical inventory of the self.
The image reads like a faint, intimate sketch—soft, economy of line and shadow—until the stenciled words (LEAD, SILVER, GOLD, TIN, IRON, COPPER, QUICKSILVER) arrest you, placing familiar metals over eyes, mouth and ears and giving the face an uncanny, symbolic aura.
Clemente reworks the traditional self-portrait by overlaying mythic and material language, joining late 20th-century interest in symbolism, cross-cultural ritual, and poetic printmaking to propose identity as a blend of body, substance, and story.
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
composition: 17 5/16 x 15 13/16" (44 x 40.1 cm); sheet: 19 11/16 x 16" (50 x 40.7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Eileen and Peter Norton
Accession
4.2000
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
