Zelfportret van Dwight Case Sturges 1915

Dwight Case Sturges made this self-portrait with etching, a type of printmaking, sometime between 1893 and 1940. Look at how he's used these thin, scratchy lines to build up the image. Can't you just imagine him, bent over the plate, carefully drawing into the wax with that needle, like a little metal pen? It’s intriguing, this guy observing himself. How does an artist see themselves? Is it a true likeness, or a bit of a performance? The scribbly energy around his head is like he’s radiating creative thought! It reminds me a little of other self-portraits by artists like Rembrandt, who also scrutinised themselves in a mirror. It’s like artists through time are having this conversation with themselves, with each other, bouncing ideas around!