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Portrait of Ayn Rand by *hank1:iconhank1:

Categories Traditional Art > Paintings > Portraits

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©2008-2010 *hank1
:iconhank1:

Artist's Comments

Oils on panel
14 x 12"
1999

My favorite author. There is no color photo of this. My reference is a B & W photo on the back of the book "The Early Ayn Rand". It's a photo of her as she looked just having arrived in the United States from the Soviet Union (she was born in Russia), never to return, as she loved the United States passionately even before she got the hell out of the Soviet Union. Drab dress with a little tear, the kind of dress her hear-to-for wealthy family was reduced to after the Soviets destroyed Russia, nationalizing her father's pharmacy. I imagined all the color, and that surely she would have found a way to put some color, a flower or something in that torn dress.

I don't imagine anyone would care about this painting unless they know her story. The greatest author and philosopher in history. Not a pretty woman, but she made a point of making herself attractive as she could during her great life.

By the way her book "Atlas Shrugged" is the "second most influential book for Americans today" after the Bible, according to a joint survey conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club.

Comments


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:iconhank1:
*hank1 Apr 20, 2008, 7:59:40 AM
I had submitted this long ago but it was a small file and photographed with an inferior camera. I even earned a DD for it. But for some reason I couldn't edit the deviation with this new large file, try as I might. So here it is again.

--
"The artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of." -- da Vinci

Originals: "Prices" [link]
:iconenigma-thats-me:
~Enigma-thats-me Apr 20, 2008, 9:35:37 AM
nothing can measure upto this painting of yours! :thumbsup:
:iconfaile35:
*faile35 Apr 20, 2008, 11:00:00 AM
A worthy portrait of a worthy visionary. While her social theory (Objectivism?) may not include the answer to everything, there is so much wisdom, truth, and powerful insight in it that I find it no mystery Atlas Shrugged is the second most-influential book in the U.S.. :nod:

Artistically, I think your coloring is wonderful--it has the feel of a Carl Bloch painting of a New Testament scene, and she's a worthy subject for the treatment. :thumbsup:

--
--Faile35
:iconhank1:
*hank1 Apr 20, 2008, 11:57:51 AM
Thank you Jeff.

Actually, Rand didn't really have a "social theory". She did have some thoughts on society, e.g., "Modern collectivists...see society as a super-organism, as some supernatural entity apart from and superior to the sum of its individual members." Yes she advocated selfishness which in her view is simple having concern with one's own interests. But Objectivism is a total philosophy. Rand wrote, "I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows....This--the supremacy of reason--was, is and will be the primary concern of my work, and the essence of Objectivism."

Again, thank you very much for the compliment on the art of my piece.

Robert

--
"The artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of." -- da Vinci

Originals: "Prices" [link]
:iconhank1:
*hank1 Apr 20, 2008, 11:59:09 AM
Why thank you very much dear Rinx.

Robert

--
"The artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of." -- da Vinci

Originals: "Prices" [link]
:iconwhitestreet101:
~whitestreet101 Apr 20, 2008, 12:27:30 PM
The bigger image helps - you included much detail and texture in this painting. This portrait belongs in a place where it can inspire daily, but I fear that hanging it in my office would cut my career short (I'm in public education).

I read Atlas Shrugged as a teenager and it has helped define my philosophy ever since. For years I was a radical rational egoist, but I find that as I live my life I develop values that I can't rationally explain. I still subscribe to Rand's economic theories, but as a Christian and a father I find that I hold myself to standards that she opposed. One important principle sticks with me: no person has an obligation to me or society.
:iconenigma-thats-me:
~Enigma-thats-me Apr 20, 2008, 1:21:23 PM
awesome painting of the awesome writer!
:iconhank1:
*hank1 Apr 20, 2008, 3:16:55 PM
On March 20, the Smithsonian looked at it five time in two days. But they prefer portraits painted from life.

You have taken what matters to you from Rand's philosophy. This, I submit, is rational egoism. And I fully understand what fatherhood does for one. You become moral, no matter what form as long as it's base is essentially reasonable to you. It sure shows in your work. The photo I commented on is so exquisitely loving it tells the viewer what kind of man you are.

Take care my friend,

Robert

--
"The artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of." -- da Vinci

Originals: "Prices" [link]
:icondusanmalobabic:
~DusanMalobabic Apr 20, 2008, 5:38:50 PM
Nicely Done, the technique and shape of the canvas marry up well :)

--
[link]
:iconkolaboy:
`kolaboy Apr 21, 2008, 12:46:37 AM
A beautiful tribute to a brilliant author :nod:

I first read Atlas Shrugged when I was 16. At the time the thing that stuck in my mind was the "little bracelet made of blue-green metal", and John Galt's oration ending abruptly when I discovered that the library copy was missing the last 30 or so pages.

--
:bulletblue:Foxy Faced Charles should not be underestimated. :bulletblue:
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April 20, 2008
7.9 MB
1.6 MB
600×754

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