A Painter-Etcher (Self-Portrait) 1889

Anders Zorn created this self-portrait etching, sometime around 1889, using drypoint on paper. The image depicts the artist in the act of creation. Zorn peers intently, hand poised with his etching tool, ready to strike the plate before him. This brings up an important point about the image's meaning. It draws attention to the material conditions of art making. This was during the rise of impressionism when there was a growing interest in the everyday life of the artist, and it was made in a particular kind of institutional context, that of the academy. The self-portrait allowed artists to take control of their own image and to represent themselves as they wished to be seen. Was Zorn hoping to be seen as a skilled craftsman, a creative genius, or both? Art historians can address questions such as these by looking at the artist's other works, reading contemporary reviews, and researching the institutions with which he was associated. That is how we can understand the social forces that shaped his artistic production.