Self Portrait with Blue Sketchbook 1907

Léon Spilliaert made this self-portrait with pastel and charcoal, and right away, the way he renders his own face feels so immediate. It's like he's sketching himself while thinking, a kind of process-based portrait. There's a real coolness here. The texture of the paper is so present, almost like a mist, with these strokes of charcoal and chalky pastel building up the forms. Look at how the cool blues of the sketchbook pop against the deep blacks of his suit, and how the artist handles the light reflecting off his features. There’s an emotional restraint, but the immediacy of the marks communicates so much. It feels like looking into someone's mind, not just their face. It's almost as if the surface is a psychological space, a screen on which to project inner thoughts and moods. I think of Paula Modersohn-Becker, another artist who turned to herself as a subject, with the same kind of quiet intensity. Artmaking as a way to get at something that can’t be said.