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Self-portrait
Anthony van Dyck • Painting, 1622, 116.5×93.5 cm
Description of the artwork «Self-portrait»
Van Dyck painted many self-portraits in his short life. There were much more of them if compared, for example, with his teacher and, in a sense, rival, Rubens. Rubens. Perhaps, in terms of the number of his own images, Van Dyck is only comparable with another great Dutch artist, Rembrandt. However, experts tend to value Van Dyck’s self-portraits at a low rate: they argue that the goal of Rembrandt, who painted his own face (inconspicuous, but gaining more and more significance) every year, was self-knowledge, while the self-portraits of Van Dyck rather evidence of his narcissism.
We are free to agree or oppose such view of Van Dyck’s self-portraits, and yet their value is undeniable: they give us a very accurate idea of the artist — nervous, emotionally sophisticated, morbidly ambitious and dependent on luxury and recognition, in a word, such as Van Dyck actually was, based on surviving documents and biographical information.
There is a self-portrait on wood that he painted in the age of 14. We can see only a face — but what a face! With an intelligent, firm and confident look and a challenge in his eyes. The Self-Portrait from the Hermitage is the next stage in the life of Van Dyck. He’s in his early twenties here. At this time, Van Dyck was already a recognized artist. No joke, he is sometimes compared to Rubens himself! Deep down, Van Dyck considers such a comparison to be justified, but still not widely recognized, and therefore there is still a challenge, even a certain arrogance in his eyes, and at the same time, defenselessness. Van Dyck hides it under his dandy clothes (they said that no one knew how to paint the shine of satin and the texture of silk the way Van Dyck did), under a somewhat cheeky pose. He is so eager to portray relaxation that it looks deliberate. According to the memoirs of their contemporaries, Rubens and Van Dyck had completely different physics and dissimilar temperaments. Rubens was a stocky, large man, solid, unhurried and calm. On the other hand, Van Dyck was small, puny, nervous and impulsive at work. Some customers hated it.
Some could mistake it for narcissism, but we see a completely exhaustive emotional characteristic in the Van Dyck’s Self-Portrait — a lively temperament, a blend of frivolity and melancholy, self-confidence and defenselessness.
All of us have probably sometimes met the statement that long, conical fingers tapering from the base to the tips are a sign of artistic nature. In this context, Anthony Van Dyck is the brightest example. In all his self-portraits, where he depicted himself not chest-high, but half length or full length, his amazing fingers are strikingly graceful, thin, with carefully groomed, polished nails. Another thing is more interesting: Van Dyck also portrayed other people in this way. Beautiful elongated fingers can be found in many of his paintings, they became the artist’s signature and a recognizable sign of his subjects, to whom Van Dyck attributed qualities that they might not have: poetry, aristocracy, sophistication and thought highness.
Written by Anna Vcherashniaya
We are free to agree or oppose such view of Van Dyck’s self-portraits, and yet their value is undeniable: they give us a very accurate idea of the artist — nervous, emotionally sophisticated, morbidly ambitious and dependent on luxury and recognition, in a word, such as Van Dyck actually was, based on surviving documents and biographical information.
There is a self-portrait on wood that he painted in the age of 14. We can see only a face — but what a face! With an intelligent, firm and confident look and a challenge in his eyes. The Self-Portrait from the Hermitage is the next stage in the life of Van Dyck. He’s in his early twenties here. At this time, Van Dyck was already a recognized artist. No joke, he is sometimes compared to Rubens himself! Deep down, Van Dyck considers such a comparison to be justified, but still not widely recognized, and therefore there is still a challenge, even a certain arrogance in his eyes, and at the same time, defenselessness. Van Dyck hides it under his dandy clothes (they said that no one knew how to paint the shine of satin and the texture of silk the way Van Dyck did), under a somewhat cheeky pose. He is so eager to portray relaxation that it looks deliberate. According to the memoirs of their contemporaries, Rubens and Van Dyck had completely different physics and dissimilar temperaments. Rubens was a stocky, large man, solid, unhurried and calm. On the other hand, Van Dyck was small, puny, nervous and impulsive at work. Some customers hated it.
Some could mistake it for narcissism, but we see a completely exhaustive emotional characteristic in the Van Dyck’s Self-Portrait — a lively temperament, a blend of frivolity and melancholy, self-confidence and defenselessness.
All of us have probably sometimes met the statement that long, conical fingers tapering from the base to the tips are a sign of artistic nature. In this context, Anthony Van Dyck is the brightest example. In all his self-portraits, where he depicted himself not chest-high, but half length or full length, his amazing fingers are strikingly graceful, thin, with carefully groomed, polished nails. Another thing is more interesting: Van Dyck also portrayed other people in this way. Beautiful elongated fingers can be found in many of his paintings, they became the artist’s signature and a recognizable sign of his subjects, to whom Van Dyck attributed qualities that they might not have: poetry, aristocracy, sophistication and thought highness.
Written by Anna Vcherashniaya
