© NCG Signature/Inscription: Unsigned Place of Origin: -- Type of work: Painting Iconography: Portrait Glossary of technical terms: see Dictionary MIN 1892 Cézanne, Paul French, 1839-1906 Self Portrait with Bowler Hat C. 1883-87 Oil on canvas, 44.5 x 35.5 cm Between 1858 and 1902 Cézanne painted his self-portrait at least 23 times. Around the middle of the 1860s he introduced a characteristic pose with himself looking back over his shoulder at the beholder, a pose which he used in seven self-portraits, including the one shown here. Cézanne directs a penetrating gaze towards the viewer but somehow still manages to maintain a distance that belies the intensity of his portrait presence. The paint has been applied with the artist’s characteristic diagonal brushwork, which constructs the analysis of the essential volumes of visage, coat and hat. The sense of a dialogue between finished and unfinished, characteristic of Cézanne’s later work, is conveyed by the irregular build-up of the paint surface. It is a work that is sketchy in patches, most visibly so where the canvas is left exposed. The existence of a more finished version of this portrait (1885-6; private collection, Switzerland) raises the question of whether the portrait on view here might be a study for the more finished version. However, no definitive evidence has yet been able to document such a relationship. SMS Location: On loan Enlarged Photo Provenance NCG Catalogue references Exhibition History Shop   Luk