Henri Matisse - Self-Portrait in a Striped T-Shirt 1906
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Self-Portrait in a Striped T-Shirt 1906
55x43cm oil/canvas
Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Copenhagen
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From National Gallery of Denmark:
Henri Matisse painted only few selfportraits proper, and this is counted among the most remarkable of them. Its direct, almost confrontational feel makes it unusual. The artist portrayed himself at close range, directing a firm and confident gaze towards the spectators. No attributes speak of his profession as an artist; he is dressed in a simple, striped jersey commonly used by the fishermen of the era.
The presentation of the artist himself
Thus, Matisse has elected to present himself as an unspoiled ”primitive” who speaks to us as a human being rather than as an artist. The healthy features of the artist’s face, painted with rapid, coarse brushstrokes, also speak of the brute strength of the man and of painting as a product of a primeval human force.