Self-Portrait 1902

This is Alexandre-Louis-Marie Charpentier's self-portrait relief, and it looks like it was made in 1892. You can see the date inscribed there. Oh man, I feel for Charpentier here. It’s hard to make a self-portrait, right? Especially when you're working with plaster, you're building up all this material, and I just wonder what he was thinking as he was staring at himself. Did he like his beard? Did he think he looked smart enough? You can see where he’s carved into the surface. It’s so physical, you know? Like he’s really grappling with his own image. The thing that jumps out to me is just how sculptural it is. It makes me think of Rodin. I bet they knew each other, being in Paris at the time. Artists are always talking to each other, riffing off each other, even across time!