Self-Portrait 1955

Elmer Bischoff made this self-portrait in paint, at a time unknown to us. The color here feels almost Fauvist in its intensity, with the face rendered in these orangey reds, shadowed with strokes of green. The paint isn’t trying to hide itself, each brushstroke feels present, like a little dance on the canvas. Look how he’s built up the form of the face with these distinct, almost geometric planes of color. There's a vulnerability in the way the paint is applied. It doesn't try to disguise its making, the artist’s hand is visible. This reminds me a bit of Milton Avery's portraits, where simplification and color create a mood that’s both direct and dreamlike. Bischoff’s painting, like Avery's, invites us to see not just a likeness, but a feeling, a presence captured in a moment. It's a reminder that art is a conversation, a continual reinterpretation of what it means to see and be seen.