Self-Portrait (Torso) (Primary Title)
Gregory Gillespie, American, 1936 - 2000 (Artist)
"I hope to paint the body as it continues to wrinkle and sag and bulge and slide towards its own death. . . . Painting self-portraits is, no doubt, my way of dealing with the whole process." —Gregory Gillespie
Gillespie painted many self-portraits, recording his aging body and its physical flaws with brutal honesty. His exacting realism is perfectly suited to representing flesh as well as a need to be “real” with oneself, no matter how painful.
In Self-Portrait (Torso) Gillespie places himself within the tradition of Christ as the “Man of Sorrows”—the name given to iconic devotional images that generally show the resurrected Christ as a half-length figure with bleeding wounds. Although Gillespie similarly casts himself as martyr, his wounds are more psychological than physical.
Gregory Gillespie: Self-Portraits, 1969 - 1991, Forum Gallery, New York, NY, January 9 – March 7, 1992
A Figurative Perspective: Recent Paintings and Sculpture from the Virginia Museum, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA, March 12 – May 21, 1989
Contemporary Art from the Virginia Museum, Muscarelle Museum, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, September 30 – November 15, 1987
Selections from the Sydney and Frances Lewis Collection in the VMFA, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE, March 29 – May 10, 1987
Three Approaches to Realism, Institute of Contemporary Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, March 8 – April 24, 1983
Focus on the Figure: Twenty Years, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, April 14 – June 13, 1982
Real, Really Real, Super Real: Directions in Contemporary American Realism, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX, March 1 – April 26, 1981; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, May 19 – June 18, 1981; Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ, July 19 – August 26, 1981; Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, October 24 – January 3, 1982
American Figure Painting 1950 – 1980, Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, October 17 – November 30, 1980
Artists Choice: Younger Artists, Artists’ Choice Museum, New York, NY, September 6 - 18, 1980
As we see Ourselves: Artists' Self Portraits, Heckscher Museum, Huntington, NY, June 22 – August 5, 1979
Gregory Gillespie, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., December 22, 1977 – February 12, 1978
Gregory Gillespie Exhibition, Forum Gallery, New York, NY, November 13 – December 4, 1976
Frances Cohen Gillespie and Gregory Gillespie, University Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, September 18 – October 13, 1976
Exhibition of Work by Newly Elected Members and Recipients of Honors and Awards, The American Academy of Arts and Letters and The National Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, NY, May 20 – June 13, 1976
Exhibition of Works by Candidates for Art Awards, The American Academy of Arts and Letters and The National Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, NY, March 8 – April 4, 1976
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.