Self-portrait 1913

Jan Mankes captured himself in this painting with delicate brushstrokes, like soft whispers on the canvas. Imagine him standing there, peering into a mirror, trying to capture not just his likeness, but something deeper, something about his soul. I wonder, what was Mankes thinking as he mixed those muted tones? The pale blues and creams create such a serene, almost ghostly atmosphere. The paint is applied so thinly, creating a smooth surface, like skin stretched tight over bone. And those eyes! They’re so intense, so full of something unspoken. That little black bowtie is so precise it suggests a formality that's at odds with the quiet intensity of the rest of the painting. You feel like you are in his presence and he is in yours. Like other painters, Mankes uses the medium of paint to ask big questions about who we are and how we see ourselves in the world. Making art is an act of inquiry, and it invites us to join in the conversation.