Self-Portrait (c. 1890–91): Art, History and Details

Self-Portrait (c. 1890–91) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Camille Pissarro (French, 1830–1903).

The work and its context

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

This print is one of Camille Pissarro’s few self-portraits and his only etched one. Made when he was around 60 years old, Pissarro presents himself as an aged and bearded artist wearing a soft hat and peering out of the picture frame through his half-moon spectacles. Pissarro made only 28 impressions of the print during his lifetime, most of which he gave to friends and family members.

Object facts

• Title: Self-Portrait
• Date: c. 1890–91
• Creator attribution: Camille Pissarro (French, 1830–1903)
• Culture: France
• Type: Print
• Technique: zinc etching with aquatint on light tan wove paper
• Dimensions: Matted: 40.8 x 35.6 cm (16 1/16 x 14 in.); Image: 18.7 x 17.8 cm (7 3/8 x 7 in.); Sheet: 34.7 x 27.4 cm (13 11/16 x 10 13/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Etching
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2023.119

A detail from the museum

The rich, inky darkness of the print’s background contrasts with the softer tones of the artist’s hat and face, revealing Pissarro’s interest in the work of Rembrandt van Rijn, especially the northern artist’s self-portraiture.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Shapiro, Barbara Stern. “Self-Portrait, 1890-1.” In Pissarro: Camille Pissarro 1830-1903: Hayward Gallery, London 30 October 1980-11 January 1981, Grand Palais, Paris 30 January-27 April 1981, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 19 May-9 August 1981. Exh. Cat. London and Boston: Arts Council of Great Britain and Museum of Fine Arts, 1980
• Mayor, A. Hyatt, Anthony Blunt, and Adam von Bartsch. Le Peintre Graveur Illustré: Illustrations to Adam Bartsch's Le Peintre Graveur, Volumes XII-XXI. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1971.
• Shapiro, Barbara Stern. Camille Pissarro; The Impressionist Printmaker. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1973.

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.