Self-Portrait 1906

This charcoal self-portrait was made by Jerome Myers in 1901 in New York, and it’s all about the smudgy, soft, and kind of melancholic atmosphere that charcoal just nails. The texture is so important here, right? Look at how Myers uses the charcoal, almost like he’s feeling his way around his own face. It’s like he’s building himself up out of smoke and shadows. The way the light catches his brow and the side of his nose. And then, it all just sort of dissolves into this haze around him. It's like he's both there and not there, you know? It reminds me a bit of Odilon Redon’s charcoal drawings, that same dreamlike, introspective vibe. But Myers brings this New York grit to it, this sense of a real person wrestling with himself. It’s a reminder that art isn’t about perfection, it’s about the process.