Self-Portrait

Wylie was born on the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea, and was sent as a boy to be raised by his uncle in Philadelphia. He took night classes at the Pennsylvania Academy and became its curator from 1859. A sabbatical in 1863 gave him an opportunity to study sculpture in Italy and to train under Barye and at the Academie Suisse in Paris. On the advice of his fellow countryman Henry Bacon, he came to Pont-Aven where he took up residence, in 1866, at the Hotel de Voyageurs. He set up his the studio at the as yet unoccupied Manoir de Lezaven. He painted there up until his death in February 1877. He is buried in Pont-Aven. This self-portrait of the artist with long hair was acquired at the sale of the Hotel Julia in 1938