Self-Portrait (Selbstbildnis) 1912

Curator: Here we have Edvard Munch's "Self-Portrait," created in 1912. It's a work rendered in pencil, quite raw and immediate. What strikes you first about it? Editor: The weight of it. Not physical, obviously, but emotional. All that concentrated darkness around the eyes, the harsh lines. It feels like looking at a soul under tremendous pressure. Curator: Indeed. Look at the deliberate use of shading, the frenetic mark-making. Pencil as a medium offers a certain intimacy, a direct connection to the artist’s hand. Editor: It's interesting you say that because there is almost a violent element to how those lines are scrawled, like he's attacking the paper. Is this about facing his own mortality perhaps? You know Munch struggled with mental health. Curator: Possibly. 1912 was a tumultuous period. He had just recovered from a nervous breakdown. Considering Munch's anxieties and his exploration of psychological states through art, it reflects on his condition during that time. The repetitive strokes show his anxieties or obsessions. Editor: The shadows almost consume his face. But, still, you can see his determination, or perhaps desperation, to record what is actually there rather than romanticize it. Do you feel this connects him to the societal trends of his day, for example his challenge to the expectations around conventional portraiture? Curator: Precisely. He rejected academic traditions and embraced a subjective mode. It fits within the expressionist movement's concerns regarding alienated subjectivity. Editor: Well, I can see this one stays with you long after you walk away. Curator: Yes, for its simplicity in the selection of materials, the raw technique used by the artist and the capacity it provides us to look through time, so close to Munch’s tormented gaze.