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There are always going to be a lot of gray areas that are hard to define, as Cynthia rightly suggested. Still....
I think of portraits as a subset of figurative painting. Another rule of thumb I go by is that it depends on the artist's intention. With a portrait the center of interest and most important element is the face. With a non-portrait figurative painting the face is secondary to the relationship between figure and environment. And a painting that includes figures, such as a landscape, ceases to be figurative when the setting itself is intended as the principle element and the figures are secondary to it. Clearly the skill of the artist in defining where he wants our attention to go is paramount. For the viewer it ought to be clear.
John C.
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