Self-portrait

This is the smallest self-portrait painted by CŽzanne in the late 1870s. The artist completed it in just a few working sessions and deliberately neglected the finishing of the smock he was wearing to concentrate on a more detailed rendering of the face. The latter appears in all its truth, in a three-quarter-face portrait half concealed in the shade. It is not animated by any definite expression though, and CŽzanne was not revealing anything of his inner self. This is not a moral portrait or a snapshot but rather a lucid and thorough study of the artist in front of himself. His features, which he knew very well, having painted many self-portraits, allowed him to study, without the need of a model, the effects of light on the skin and the subtle tones of carnation. Peaceful and well poised, this self-portrait shows the artist when he was approaching forty.