Self-Portrait 1905

Carl Larsson painted this self-portrait, probably in oil, with small soft brushstrokes of yellow, white, and brown. He seems to have been interested in a particular kind of naturalism and the way light can make objects glow from within. I can only imagine what it must have been like for him to wake up every morning and try to put into paint what he saw. It’s a very brave thing to be an artist! I really appreciate the directness of the gaze here. He is looking straight at us and is also interested in the shadows and the form of the face. You can see it especially in the modelling around the mouth and the eyes. Painting is like a conversation with artists who are still living, and artists who lived long before us. It’s about experimenting and building on the innovations and inventions of the artists we admire. It is this constant process of exchange which makes painting so exciting. Every artist brings their own unique experiences and point of view.