Figure 1: Agnes Varda, Self-Portrait, 1962, Venice.
In 1962, Agnes Varda photographed herself outside of Gentile Bellini’s Miracle of the Relic of the True Cross at the Bridge of San Lorenzo. The painting depicts the True Cross’s accidental drop into a river, showcasing the numerous attendants’ viewing of the subsequent miracle.
Within Varda’s photograph only five observers are visible – their identities are unclear, however, a resemblance suggests Bellini depicted himself alongside his family of painters. Isolated from the painting at large, the five men appear as a somber composition of a troop of artists. Inside Varda’s shadowy black and white film, their distinctions are melded, forming a solemn procession towards a destination outside of the frame. Similarly, the differing hair and robe colorings merge into an indistinct gray, creating a sense of uniformity– a repetition of black monklike bobs paired with draped, shapeless robes. Slight variations within this homogeneity are visible, mostly within the close cropped hair of the leader of the procession, and the thin, threadlike strands of the fourth artist.
Figure 2: Gentile Bellini, Miracle of the Relic of the True Cross at the Bridge of San Lorenzo, c. 1500, tempera on canvas, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice.
Aside from these minuscule deviations, Varda’s portrait transforms Bellini’s family’s attire into an artistic uniform. The symbolic nature of this ubiquitous dress is explored by Wesley Morgan, in his essay “The Empire’s New Clothes (and Everyone Else’s Too)”, in which he details the growing dominance of MultiCam, a new camouflage pattern. Morgan chronicles the adoption of this fabric by the US Military, beginning with the ultra-secretive special operations force. This initial endorsement imbued the garment with the prestige and discipline associated with the special-ops, ensuring its idealization, and eventual dissemination, among all members of the military. Through his analysis of camouflage, specifically its blending of wearers into the environment, Morgan outlines the value of a uniform – its ability to merge distinctions, form an in-group, and obscure the wearer into a symbolic model of idealized qualities.
Within Varda’s self-portrait, Bellini’s subjects appear as if in uniform, illustrated through the sameness of attire and hairstyle. The individual characteristics of the men are merged, effectively forming an in-group of male artists. Varda both reflects and deviates from the presented uniform of male artistry. Her short stature ensures the men remain above her, yet she seems to fill in a gap between the last two painters, as if she belonged in the procession. Similarly, the paleness of her face, combined with her signature monklike haircut, mirror the artists within Varda’s photographic representation. Her jacket gestures at the robes of the procession, however, the fabric appears heavier, tailored to her frame.
The paisley detailing, appearing as white within this representation, deviates from the homogeneity of the artist’s attire. The most glaring inconsistency is her femininity.
Varda stands outside of the frame of the painting, facing an unknown objective. Her expression appears as if she is emulating the religious severity of the artists’ faces, however, her lips seem to betray this sternness. The harsh definition of her cheekbone suggests she is attempting to suppress a smile, or possibly a smirk.
1962, the year of the self-portrait, marks the seventh-year since the release of her debut film, La Pointe Courte. Frequently considered a precursor to the French New Wave, La Pointe Courte received little recognition outside of arthouse cinemas. Her male peers, such as Jean Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut, had received international acclaim for their respective debuts, Breathless and The 400 Blows. While Varda’s upcoming feature, Cleo from 5 to 7, would establish her as an integral part of the burgeoning French New Wave, her thematic interests separated her from the movement – specifically her exploration of female identity. Similarly, Varda’s artistic style deviated from Godard and Truffaut, as she used the medium of cinema to investigate the tension between depiction and reality. It seems as if her place within, outside, and beyond the French New Wave is visible within this portrait.
Agnes Varda first creates a uniform for male artistry – represented through the merging of the painters within her photographic gaze. Subsequently, she places herself within and outside of this canonization. Her haircut, position, and black and white film allow her to mirror the presented men, asserting her status as an artist of equal value. She looks beyond the frame, confidently gesturing towards a future of renown. However, her slight smile suggests a deviance from this presented notoriety, illustrating a playful and subversive relation to the austerity associated with the artistic canon.
Figure 3: Agnès Varda, Pied de Nez, Self-portrait. Visages, villages - Paris by JR.
Near the end of Varda’s career she gazes back upon herself in this return to the portrait.
Unlike the prior image, Varda did not take this photo herself, but instead enlisted her friend, collaborator, and fellow artist, JR. Facing away from Bellini’s artists, she subverts their solemn procession, instead playfully eyeing her younger self. In this rendition, Varda’s hair remains in the same monkish cut, however, within the color photography, the red and white hues are visible. Her body encompasses a larger section of the frame, ensuring the prominence of her similarly detailed coat, embroidered with psychedelic images of the galaxy. She puts her thumb to her nose – a small, wrinkled hand facing the viewer. She smiles.
Through the recreation of her 1962 attire, Varda creates a uniform for herself, encompassing a heavy, plush, embroidered coat, monkish haircut, and vivacious smirk. Within the original portrait, this dress evoked that of Bellini, however, the color of this recreation disavows the resemblance. The visual parallels no longer invite the viewer to compare Varda to the painters, but instead question her own reflection and deviation from her younger self. While Varda’s position on the left of the frame suggests a self mirroring, she deviates from this sameness through her wrinkled skin and mocking gesture.
If in 1962, Varda’s portrait asserted her place within the canon of male artistry, within this rendition, she thumb’s her nose at this glorification. Instead, she foregrounds her self-reflection, specifically a musing on how aging has shaped the caricature she has made of herself.
Works Cited
“Agnès Varda.” Thegentlewoman.co.uk, thegentlewoman.co.uk/library/agns-varda.
Blatt, Ari J. “Thinking Photography in Film, or The Suspended Cinema of Agnès Varda and Jean Eustache.” French Forum, vol. 36, no. 2/3, 2011, pp. 181–200. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41708758. Accessed 8 May 2024.
Brubach, Holly. M.facebook.com, 20 Sept. 2018, m.facebook.com/HollyBrubachWriter/photos/a.1420080681361384/1872701759432605/?type=3. Accessed 8 May 2024.
“Event: AGNÈS VARDA : LIGHT and SHADOW.” Galerie Nathalie Obadia, www.nathalieobadia.com/events/114/overview/. Accessed 8 May 2024.
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