Self-Portrait 1896

Julian Fałat made this self-portrait in 1895 using oil on canvas. Fałat was a Polish painter, renowned for his watercolor landscapes, and this image gives us an insight into the artistic circles he occupied. Consider the playful inclusion of the dogs leaping in the background. Fałat studied in Krakow and Munich, where he absorbed the influence of realism and plein air painting. These are approaches that favored direct observation and a focus on the everyday world, but here, the techniques are used in the service of a highly personalized and even romantic image-making. The dogs might be a comment on the artist's aristocratic status, but they also contribute to the informality of the portrait. Art historians use archival material, such as letters and exhibition reviews, to reconstruct the social world of the artist. By looking at the institutions of art, we can better understand the conditions that shaped the creation and reception of art at the time.