Who is this pixel portrait?

March 2, 2022 7:18 AM

So the other day I followed a link to this Japanese site of pixel art, which led me to these portraits. The last three are famous paintings I recognize. What is the leftmost one?

I'm pretty certain that the 2nd-4th are the Mona Lisa, Van Gogh's self portrait, and Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. Is the 1st painting a famous / known / iconic work of art and I'm just not recognizing it? Is it supposed to be a portrait of a famous / historically significant Japanese woman? Or is it just a pretty artwork, and I'm leaping to conclusions because the other ones look so identifiable to me?
(with thanks to Kottke for the link)

posted by Mchelly to Media & Arts (16 answers total)

Oh gosh, I feel like it's right on the tip of my tongue. Is it a 1500/1600s portrait of a man? A Holbein portrait?? (And I think you're correct about the others.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:27 AM on March 2, 2022

The colours aren't right and neither is the pose, but I thought of Holbein's Thomas More. I think it's the hat doing it.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 7:44 AM on March 2, 2022

Hard to tell because it consists of 6 pixels, but is the person holding a baby?
posted by umber vowel at 7:49 AM on March 2, 2022

Oh okay, ManyLeggedCreature is probably right that it's the painting I was thinking of, and it's obviously not right.
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:59 AM on March 2, 2022

My first thought was Kahlo (and it might be) but to me it really looks like one of Amrita Sher-Gil's self-portraits (like this one).
posted by specialagentwebb at 8:01 AM on March 2, 2022 [3 favorites]

Could just as easily be a Rembrandt self-portrait, I think.
posted by LionIndex at 8:08 AM on March 2, 2022

It's in the 8th image in their insta feed from a few weeks back, but point-and-translate is giving me a hard time. Maybe there's more there?
posted by Kyol at 8:12 AM on March 2, 2022

Maybe this Sir Thomas More? The light area on his chest could be the gold chain.
posted by MadamM at 8:20 AM on March 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

Could it be a Japanese painting? (The skin tone choice is slightly darker than the others and the color scheme and "hair" seems in line with geisha depictions...)
posted by AgentRocket at 8:23 AM on March 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

Presley?
Rembrandt?
Klimt?

I hope we can stumble on the answer soon, as this is going to bother me all afternoon!
posted by Dotty at 8:32 AM on March 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

Ooh, I think MadamM might be right (that's the painting I was thinking of!).
posted by BlahLaLa at 8:42 AM on March 2, 2022

I don't know the artist but this feels like this could be a cow tool. Maybe intentional, maybe not.

Basically maybe the opposite of what praemunire suggests, the context may be a red herring.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:47 AM on March 2, 2022

It looks a bit like one of the portraits of Reiko by Ryusei Kishida. IIRC his paintings are some of the most expensive ever auctioned by a Japanese artist so it would make sense if the creator of these images was Japanese and included it alongside the well known western works.
posted by mani at 8:48 AM on March 2, 2022 [20 favorites]

It's not a dead-ringer, but I found La Donna Gravida (The Pregnant Woman) and it seems pretty close, and the artist (Raphael) feels like a good match for the others?
posted by ecstaticcattle at 9:11 AM on March 2, 2022

I second the Reiko idea. I think this looks close.

First thing I thought of was Lorenzo de Medici, but not quite the similar enough.
posted by BeReasonable at 9:17 AM on March 2, 2022

Given the background colour and other features, I'm pretty sure it's the Kishida Ryusei Reiko painting. I knew I recognised it from somewhere, and was sure it was Japanese. Just couldn't bring to mind the name.
posted by pipeski at 9:42 AM on March 2, 2022