Self-portraits

1 Paul Gauguin Self-portrait

Altogether, Paul Gaugin made more than forty self-portraits. This self-portrait originally was
made in 1889 on the door of an inn. Self-portrait of Paul Gaugin with Halo and Snake has two
perspectives: angelic and demonic. There are Christian symbols in the painting: The apples and
the snake in his right hand refers to the Temptation of Adam and Eve. The yellow halo on
Gaugin’s head symbolizes purity and saintliness. The red background refers to fire or the hell.
Thus, the artist represents himself as a sinner or Satan and saint or Christ at the same time. The
painting looks as a caricature. Gaugin express his inner feelings of struggling between both evil
and good sides.
2 Gustave Courbet the Desperate Man
Gustave Courbet’s “Desperate Man” was made in 1845, at the time of the artist’s romantic
disillusionment. Courbet depicted himself as a young guy with wild eyes, desperate and shocking
face and messy hair. The picture is very detailed, we can see muscle tension, the mouth distorted
by hopeless feelings. His gaze is directed at you, so it makes the painting more dramatic and
realistic. The picture is a brilliant example of Romantic style, where emotions and feelings play
main role. Gustave Courbet intended to share with his emotions and psychological state. He was
tired of paintings with uncertain meaning, and intended to depict real world that he sees every
day. Thus, Gustave Courbet’s “Desperate Man” is a significant painting of the artist that
determined his future development in art.
3 Raphael Self-Portrait
The self-portrait was completed by Raphael in 1506, when he was 23 years old. The artist
depicted himself as a young noble guy, with calm and dreaming face. He is located half a turn to
us, so it feels as he’s modest and self-conscious. There is a big color contrast between dark
clothes and light skin that depicts Raphael’s youth. Eyes are a little bit worried and correspond
serious and deep thoughts. Raphael looks very confident about himself and understands his
mission and destiny. The colors of the painting are soft, so the general mood of the painting is
very relaxed. The appearance of the artist is a little bit feminine: gentle eyes, little nose and
tender lips. He is dressed in white shirt, dark robe and hat. The outfit is simple but very neat and
detailed. We can see that Raphael cared about his appearance. Perhaps, by contrast of colors
Raphael tried to represent the battle between his outward calm and inner temper, passion and
strong ambitious.
4 Rembrandt self-portrait
The Self Portrait with Two Circles. It has attracted to generations of scholars because of the two
incomplete circles on the back wall. A definitive explanation for those circles has yet to be
agreed upon, but several suggestions have been made.
One interpretation identifies the circles as the two hemispheres shown on a world map of the
time. It would not be unusual for a large wall map to be hanging as a backdrop for a painting;
wall maps were commonly depicted in the background of seventeenth-century genre scenes by
artists. The problem with this interpretation is that the circles are too far apart to represent the
two circles of a map.
A more philosophical interpretation, proposed by Jan Emmens, suggests that all artists needed to
have ingenium (inborn genius), ars (theory or learned knowledge), and exercitatio (or skill
gained through practice). In this interpretation, the figure of Rembrandt stands in for Ingenium,
while the circles behind indicate theory (ars) and the canvas at the edge of the picture plane
speaks to exercitatio.
Several other scholars, connect the drawing of circles with ideas about art theory expressed in
contemporary sources. In Het Schilderboek (The Painting Book) (1604), Karel van Mander
repeats a famous story from Vasari — that Giotto could draw a perfect circle freehand at a young
age. It is a demonstration of an innate skill, the height of perfection. This type of story, that is,
about creating the perfect line, can be followed by classical antiquity where the great artist
Apelles was also known for drawing the perfect line.
5 Claude Monet self-portrait
In this picture, the viewer can see a serious mature man who looks with his deep and thoughtful
eyes. The artist depicted himself in a beret, and often the self-portrait is called “self-portrait in a
beret”. The paints and colors that the master used are so alive that it seems that a living artist is
watching us. Despite the fact that everything is done in dark colors, the background is in pale
blue. Through the use of this color palette, the artist focuses on his personality, without being
distracted by the details. When you look at a self-portrait, you involuntarily begin to wonder
what thoughts the artist visited at that moment, whether he could convey those emotions or
feelings that worried him at that time. A self-portrait that has a deep meaning, genuine feelings
and not decorated with anything, makes you look at her and wonder at the strength
6 Van Gogh self-portrait (1889)
One of the immediate striking elements of this self portrait is the whirling, chaotic background.
Some critics believe this points to Van Gogh’s psychotic mental state at the time. The wavy lines
of the background are repeated in the short brushstrokes that cover the face, making kind of
illusion of shimmering movement. In this portrait, Van Gogh has painted himself in a blue suit.
Much of the attention is focused on his face, his eyes having a determined but tired stare. He
wears a human face mask; his real face is not revealed. As he wrote to Theo, “You will need to
study [the picture] for a time. I hope you will notice that my facial expressions have become
much calmer, although my eyes have the same insecure look as before, or so it appears to me.”
The green of the background compliment the fiery orange of van Gogh’s beard and hair, and the
quiet blue color palette is recalling of Starry Night
 Bibliography :

1 Wikipedia contributors. (2020, November 30). Self-portrait. Wikipedia. Retrieved December

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Kartin.Com/Description-of-the-Painting-by-Claude-Monet-Self-Portrait/. Retrieved
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4 Lloyd, T. (2019, November 18). The Life of Vincent Van Gogh and Self Portrait (1889)
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vincent-van-gogh-and-self-portrait-1889-explained/

5 Description of the painting by Raphael “Self-portrait.” (n.d.). En.Opisanie-Kartin. Retrieved

December 1, 2020, from https://en.opisanie-kartin.com/description-of-the-painting-by-

raphael-self-portrait/

6 Webster, A. (2018, April 17). Portrait of the Week: Gustave Courbet, “The Desperate Man.”

Fine Art Connoisseur. https://fineartconnoisseur.com/2017/06/portrait-of-the-week-

gustave-courbet-the-desperate-man/

7 Self-Portrait, 1889 by Paul Gauguin. (n.d.). Nga. Retrieved December 1, 2020, from

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.46625.html