Self-Portrait (c. 1872–74): Art, History and Details

Self-Portrait (c. 1872–74) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Armand Guillaumin (French, 1841–1927).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The muted dark tones and somber gaze in this self-portrait convey the anxieties Armand Guillaumin was facing in the early 1870s. While working full-time for the French railway system, he devoted early and late hours and weekends to his artistic practice and endured rejection from the Salon, the official juried annual art exhibition in Paris. Guillaumin shared close friendships with Paul Cezanne, Camille Pissarro, and Vincent van Gogh (whose works are on view in this gallery) and participated in six of the eight Impressionist exhibitions. This self-portrait shows the artist on the verge of establishing his career.

Object facts

• Title: Self-Portrait
• Date: c. 1872–74
• Creator attribution: Armand Guillaumin (French, 1841–1927)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Unframed: 45.4 x 37.5 cm (17 7/8 x 14 3/4 in.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1980.266

A detail from the museum

In 1891, Guillaumin won 100,000 francs in a state lottery, allowing him to quit his government transportation position and begin painting full time.

Collection credit

Bequest of Noah L. Butkin

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1980.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 68, no. 6 (June 1981): 163–219.
• Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974.
• Cezanne, Philippe. Paul Cézanne Dépeint par Ses Contemporains. Lyon: Fage, 2021.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.