Self-Portrait with Statuette 1916

Gustave Loiseau made this self-portrait with oil on canvas at some point in his career. The painting is built up with small brushstrokes, like he’s slowly feeling his way around his own image, carefully trying to understand who he is. The colors are warm and earthy, ochres and browns, with pops of green in the background suggesting a landscape outside the window. I love how the little statuette echoes his own pose, it’s like he’s seeing himself in miniature, trying to capture a sense of himself in the objects around him. He probably stared at himself for hours, a strange dance between artist and subject. You know, I can't help but think of other self-portraits, like Van Gogh's intense gazes or Rembrandt's honest depictions of aging. It's all part of this long conversation artists have been having, trying to figure out what it means to be human, what it means to see and be seen. Each brushstroke is a thought, a feeling, a question.