Self-Portrait

1899

This self-portrait can be dated to the period when Picasso was preparing his first proper exhibition, which would be held in February 1900 at the tavern Els Quatre Gats in Barcelona. Like the many portraits of his friends that made up a large portion of the works exhibited, his own view of himself is confident and direct. The drawing is very similar to another self-portrait done in Indian ink on a sketchsheet (which includes caricatures and two drawings of the Catalan writer Pompeu Gener). In both drawings, the artist's thick hair is fashionably long and parted in the middle, and he appears wearing a patterned tie around his neck. The ink drawing shows the left side of the face in dark shadow - similar vertical pencil marks appear in the other version - and this conveys a further romantic, fin-de-siecle, tone to his portrayal.

Detail

Title:

Self-Portrait

Date:

1899

Dimensions:

39,5 x 27,5 cm

Medium:

Pencil on paper

Location:

Sabancı Üniversitesi Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi (Emirgan, İstanbul, Türkiye)

Object Number:

PICASSO021R

Credit:

Exhibition History