Chasing Napolleon Forensic Portraits

Tony Scherman's Chasing Napoleon presents a remarkable tour de force: a cycle of monumentally scaled portraits of Napoleon Bonaparte, each of which depicts Napoleon at a psychologically charged, life-determining juncture. Confronting the challenge of producing an accurate likeness of a historical figure whose reign preceded the age of photography, Scherman metaphorically chronicles the life of Napoleon using only the image of his face. Battlefield genius, despotic emperor, megalomaniac conqueror, derided hero ... each of these possible incarnations of Napoleon flickers through Scherman's paintings, invoking the flash of charisma as quickly as this is complicated by darker undertones. The book contains three texts: Jacques Henric provides a dynamic account of the cultural and historical importance of Scherman's work and the frame of reference from which it springs, Hans Belting and David Moos discuss the specific project and execution of the Napoleon series, and an interview by Sanford Kwinter andBruce Mau illuminates the artist's motivation, practice, and concerns.Henric, Jacques is the author of 'Chasing Napolleon Forensic Portraits' with ISBN 9780906506158 and ISBN 0906506158.