The Complexity And Simplicity Of Western Portrait Painting

The evolution of painting history is different from the social history which is advancing constantly.Social history is the rising trend of development,and painting history is more like a "wheel",its operation is a cycle of progress,but the cycle is long,and the process in the middle is very complex.There are both general trends and distinct cases in the track.Nowadays,the books and documents of portrait painting mostly collect and sort out portrait paintings,and the books of time line or style painting style or techniques are the most.This paper is a study of the changes in the portrait portraits of people in the West.From early prehistoric fresco images,ancient Egyptian paintings to paintings in the Middle Ages and Renaissance,to later modern and contemporary paintings,the development of the "human image" in the picture from simple graphics to concrete realism,and then to the treatment of "symbolization",the change process of the human image in the picture from simplicity to complexity,and then from complexity to simplicity(as well as the coexistence of multiple paintings),is this.A change is not a single "parabolic" one-way process of change,although there is not enough time(our known art history is partial,for the future is uncertain)to prove that its change is a "rolling" process of "circular track",but I dare to guess that its development is like this.In the process of this change,I analyze the relationship between the change of aesthetics and the change of pictures.My view is that the change of aesthetics leads to the change of pictures.Then the image change of "from complex to simple" is analyzed and studied.From the perspective of creativity,painting technology,tools and materials,photography and the development of science and technology,this paper analyses the reasons for artists’ aesthetic changes,and ultimately leads to the changes in portrait depiction.As well as the impact on their own creative practice.