Self-Portrait (smiley face)

Work on Paper

-

DePaul Art Museum

Name/Title

Self-Portrait (smiley face)

Entry/Object ID

2018.04

Description

Shoulder up portrait of yellow smiley face in black turtle neck

Artwork Details

Medium

color pastel on paper

Acquisition

Notes

Collection of DePaul Art Museum; Gift of Linda R. James

Made/Created

Artist

Hild, Nancy

Date made

1988

Ethnography

Notes

US North America

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Location

BR/R

Transcription

'N. Hild '88

Notes

Inscription Type: white charcoal

Lexicon

Getty AAT

Concept

portraits, visual works (works), Surrealist, European, self-expression, expression, concepts relating to the creative process, artistic concepts, feminism, culture-related concepts, masks (costume), costume (mode of fashion)

Hierarchy Name

Visual Works (hierarchy name), Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Styles and Periods (hierarchy name), Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), Costume (hierarchy name), Furnishings and Equipment (hierarchy name)

Facet

Objects Facet, Styles and Periods Facet, Associated Concepts Facet

LOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials

Smiley faces, Cartoons, Self-portraits

Dimensions

Dimension Description

overall sheet

Width

40 in

Length

31 in

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

Former Chicago artist Nancy Hild’s work reflects a considerable passion for women’s and animal rights issues while displaying a profound technical skill and handling of detail and color in her paintings and drawings. Her series of self-portraits, including I Can’t Believe It and Self-Portrait (Smiley Face) reflect an astonishing self-awareness and a discourse on the role of the female artist within societal tropes. Here, a sardonic smile and bashful forgetfulness provide ribald, tongue-in-cheek commentary about the faces women are instructed to wear, the attitudes they’re required to have, and the necessity and import of motherhood that has run contentiously for decades.