Self-Portrait 1878

Gustave Caillebotte created this self-portrait with oil on canvas. It is easy to overlook the materiality of painting, but Caillebotte’s thick application of paint, so-called *impasto*, is critical here. Look closely, and you can see that the entire image is built from discrete strokes of the brush, a basic tool of artistic labor. These strokes are particularly visible in the background, with the grass and trees rendered as broken, textured surfaces. They give the impression of movement and life – as though the scene were captured in a fleeting moment. Even in the more finished passages of the face, we see the same principle at work. Caillebotte has carefully built up the planes of his face, using the inherent qualities of oil paint to create depth and shadow. This attention to material brings the painting to life. It reminds us of the labor involved in its making. By foregrounding these processes, Caillebotte invites us to consider the skill and effort involved in the creation of an image, blurring the lines between fine art and the manual craft of painting.