Self-Portrait 1889

This is Paul Gauguin’s Self-Portrait, painted with oils on canvas, probably around 1889-90. The relatively coarse weave of the fabric support peeks through in places, softened by the paint. Gauguin was a stockbroker before he became an artist, and there’s a brutal directness in his handling of this image. He's given himself a halo, as well as some symbolic apples, but the most arresting feature is that looming, insistent line describing his form. It gives the sense that he carved the image from the medium, or perhaps bent it into shape, like metal. That line is almost certainly an influence of Cloisonnism, a style popular at the time which borrowed directly from the world of craft, specifically medieval enamels. The areas of pure color, separated by dark outlines, are all about structure and legibility. The result is a statement of blunt honesty, a hard-won self-image. It reminds us that art is not just about subject matter, but also about the labor and process that goes into its making.