Triptych, oil on canvas, 2007, three paintings of 30 × 30 cm (1′ × 1′)
The three canvases depict the sitter from different perspectives, and within each canvas two images are overlaid. By using multiple images of different poses and moods this portrait offers a more complete understanding of the individual than is conventionally possible. This idea was taken in part from a triple portrait of Charles the First produced by van Dyke as a study from which Bernini could produce a bust (Triple portrait of Charles the First by van Dyke). In this work van Dyke also chose to combine multiple images taken from different viewpoints to give the best representation of the appearance of the sitter. The use of overlapping related images in each canvas breaks down the concrete and tangible nature of oil-paints, and offers a suggestion of the more capricious and elusive nature of an individual, both in appearance and personality.
