Selbstportrait 1959

Cuno Amiet made this self-portrait, probably in oil paint, by the looks of it. What strikes me is how the painting seems to be built up through a mosaic of color. It's like he's not just painting a face, but constructing it, color by color. The surface has a lively, almost vibrating quality. Look closely, and you'll see that each little dab and stroke is so deliberate. It reminds me of the way Pointillists like Seurat built up their images. And those colors—greens, blues, yellows, even little touches of red. The colors create the form, as the overall effect is to convey not just likeness but also mood, and maybe even a little bit of the artist's inner state. The background seems to merge with his face, as if to suggest a deep connection between the artist and his surroundings, or maybe between the self and the world. It puts me in mind of other artists who weren't afraid to get personal with their art, like Paula Modersohn-Becker, another artist who used color and texture to express something deep and raw. It is as though he is holding up a mirror, not just to his face, but to the very act of seeing itself.