EPPH - Every Painter Paints Himself

Have I Made Up Art’s Metaphors?

"Female stars have been rushing to publish photos of themselves without makeup" notes the New York Times. Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Love Hewitt and others have started a trend whereby even women known for their makeup want their fans to see them without it. Good for them. A dose of reality can't be bad in the age of Photoshop. What struck me, though, was the use of metaphor by one of these women.

I have argued that poetic artists view a woman's makeup as a natural metaphor for how an artist paints a self-portrait. Boucher's Mme. Pompadour at her Toilette, Manet's Nana and Seurat's Young Woman Powdering Herself are just three examples in which the artist represents himself as the woman painting her own face. The metaphor (at least, for male painters) also helps convey the sense that truly artistic minds are not gendered but androgynous.

If anyone thinks, though, that artists would not use such metaphors, listen to Nicole Polizzi, the Jersey Shore star, on posting her face au natural. She tweeted: "My clean canvas before I get artistic."

It's a good idea to listen for art-related metaphors like that because what works one way works the other.