Self-portrait 1930

oil, canvas

portrait

17_20th-century

abstract painting

oil

possibly oil pastel

oil painting

canvas

acrylic on canvas

underpainting

painting painterly

painting art

portrait art

fine art portrait

digital portrait

Helmut Kolle's 1930 "Self-portrait" is a striking example of Expressionism, a style that emphasizes emotional expression over realistic representation. The painting features a bold, simplified form of the artist, depicted in a dark suit with a bright red tie. The brushstrokes are visible and energetic, adding to the overall sense of dynamism and intensity. The artist’s gaze is focused and intense, conveying a sense of introspection and self-reflection, typical of Expressionist self-portraits. This artwork is currently housed in the Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main.

Comments

stadelmuseum about 1 year ago

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Kolle’s self-portraits accompany his brief artistic career like a pictorial diary. He usually poses in a suit jacket, sometimes as a boxer or in a hunting costume and only rarely in the role of a painter. In his penultimate self-portrait he depicts himself as a vulnerable and melancholy figure, gaunt and with dark eye sockets. The red of his breast pocket handkerchief – which, like his lips, stands out against the work’s otherwise reductive palette – may be an allusion to his heart disease and thus to the finitude of his creative work.