Self-Portrait

Edvard Munch was eighteen years old, and a student at the Royal School of Drawing in Kristiania (Oslo), when at the beginning of 1882 he painted his first self-portrait. This painting reflects the classic ideals upheld by the school. Munch has obviously studied his own mirror-reflection with scrutiny. The portrait is painted with a very fine brush. The artist renders the head in minitious detail. He paints every fold in the ear as well as individual strands of hair.

The head is turned to the right in a three-quarter-profile. The face is modelled by light and shadow.

The figure itself is treated in warm brown tones and placed in front of a cooler, dark background. The young artist has an upright posture and is nicely dressed in a shirt and jacket as he directs a watchful glance to the side, towards the mirror or the spectator. Does his gaze reveal suspicion or maybe arrogance?

The harsh shadow emphasises a deep fold on his brow, the forceful cheek and the sensuous, closed mouth. All together this gives an impression of an ambitious young artist who demands to be taken seriously.