Description of the artwork «Self-portrait»
During his short career, Paul Gauguin painted
many self-portraits. In most of them, he appears as a kind of filibuster, rebel, “savage”, as he liked to call himself (
1,
2,
3). He gave his own features to
the face of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, and later he even painted
self-portrait with halo.
This canvas is one of the early works by Gauguin. It was painted in 1885, shortly after he (partly due to the European financial crisis) made the final decision to become an artist. Judging by the light and inclined wooden beams, the artist painted this self-portrait in the attic in front of the mirror (this is evidenced by the fact that Gauguin portrayed himself as left-handed in the painting). He worked in a coat, its hemlines are tightly wrapped around his chest, which suggests that it happened during the cold season. On this canvas, the artist, despite his recognizable features, does not look the same as on most his self-portraits. He looks tired and haggard, with deep shadows under his eyes. Moreover, this picture is distinguished from the rest by an unusual perspective and the glance directed to the side (in most self-portraits, Gauguin portrayed himself in approximately the same position, and his eyes most often look directly at the viewer from under his heavy half-closed eyelids).
Modern scholars revealed the significant changes undertaken by Gauguin on this canvas in the course of work. With the help of an infrared lamp and radiographs, they managed to find out that the artist originally painted his face in profile, placing images of his other works on the wall in the background. And only in the final version of the picture, Gauguin turned himself to face the viewer. Probably, in this way he combined the ideas of two different self-portraits, unable to paint both of them due to financial difficulties.
Written by Yevgheniia Sidelnikova