Self-Portrait 1937

This self-portrait was painted by Tove Jansson sometime in the 1940s, the medium looks like oil paint. The colors here feel both muted and somehow loud at the same time. I’m thinking about that green blouse, and how the brushstrokes follow the form of the body, but also seem to exist independently, as these juicy marks of paint. The paint is applied in layers, you can see this especially in the way the light hits the cheek, how it catches the texture. There’s something so tender about the way she depicts herself, sitting in her studio, surrounded by her work and the objects she loves. It reminds me of other artist self-portraits, like those by Alice Neel. You get the feeling that painting, for Jansson, wasn’t just a profession, it was a way of seeing and being in the world. There’s a kind of quiet confidence and openness. And that’s a pretty special thing to capture in a painting.