Chasing Napoleon: Forensic Portraits

Tony Scherman's Chasing Napolean presents a remarkable tour de a cycle of monumentally scaled portraits of Napolean Bonaparte, each of which depicts Napolean at a psychologically charged, life-determining juncture. Confronting the challenge of producing an accurate likeness of an historical figure whose reign preceded the age of photography, Scherman metaphorically chronicles the life of Napolean using only the image of his face. Battlefield genius, despotic emperor, megalomaniac conqueror, derided hero - each of these incarnations of Napolean flickers through Scherman's paintings, invoking the flash of charisma as quickly as this is complicated by dark and conflicting undertones. The book contains three 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 the execution of the Napolean series, and an interview with Stanford Kwinter and Bruce Mau illuminates the artist's motivation, practice, and concerns.