Self-portrait 1894

This is a self-portrait by Christian Wilhelm Allers, made with pencil in 1894. The image shows the artist as a confident, urbane figure of the German Empire, which had been founded just a few decades before. Allers presents himself in the trappings of bourgeois respectability. The hat, overcoat and formal suit, along with the suggestion of upward mobility conveyed through his successful artistic career. The self-portrait operates within a culture of image-making that was increasingly shaped by new institutions such as art academies and commercial galleries. Allers successfully navigated this system, gaining recognition for his skills in portraiture and illustration. His work, including this self-portrait, reflects the values and aspirations of a rising middle class in a rapidly modernizing nation. To fully understand this work, a social historian would investigate Allers' biography, studying exhibition catalogues, periodicals, and other archival sources to reconstruct the world in which he lived and worked.