Fantin-Latour, Henri (1836-1904)
Autoportrait (Self Portrait)
c.1858
Oil on canvas, 26.4 x 21.3 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
At the beginning of his career, between 1854 and 1861, Fantin-Latour executed a large number of self-portraits in chalk, charcoal, and oil. This example reveals his fascination with the work of Rembrandt and Courbet, who both used broad, rich strokes of paint and depicted forms as if they were emerging from an enveloping darkness. (MET)