Authenticity and AI

Leaders need to show up authentically. Just like Joseph Ducreux.

Self-Portrait of the Artist in the Guise of a Mocker by Joseph Ducreux, 1793 (public domain - Wikipedia)

“Authenticity is wiped out when the acceptance of its reproduction overcome the uniqueness of every reality.” — William Gaddis, 2002

What’s stopping you from being authentic?

No, really — what’s keeping you from just letting your personality come through in everything you do?

If you’ve ever seen self-portraits by some of the great artists, there’s something missing. Sure, the artists’ style and abilities are highlighted; some even capture their struggles. But most of these lack a distinct personality.

Self-portraits of Rembrandt van Rijn, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gough (public domain)

But Joseph Ducreux managed to do what most other artists of era his avoided. In fact, his self-portraits seemed to border on the silly and almost absurd, as he captured a wide range of facial expressions that traditional portrait artists avoided.

Self-portraits by Joseph Ducreux (public domain)

There is a certain modern quality to these late-18th centu…