Selvportræt 1899

P.S. Krøyer created this self-portrait using etching, a printmaking technique, sometime in the late 19th century. It's a particularly interesting piece when we consider the shifting status of the artist in that period. Krøyer presents himself as a bourgeois gentleman, complete with a neatly trimmed mustache and a respectable cap. But he also includes his painter's smock, gesturing towards the romantic ideal of the artist as a craftsman. This was a time of growing art academies and museums in Denmark, like the one housing this artwork. The etching medium itself was undergoing something of a revival. Krøyer seems to be positioning himself carefully within the art world. He's both embracing tradition and asserting his individual talent. By studying Krøyer's personal papers and the records of the art institutions he was associated with, we can learn even more about the complex social dynamics that shaped his artistic identity. Art is never created in a vacuum, and its meaning is always tied to the context in which it's made.