Oskar Kokoschka

Selbstbildnis Mit Statuette or, self portrait with statuette, pictured above is one of many of Oskar Kokoschka’s portraits. Kokoschka was born in 1886 and grew up in Vienna on the cusp of the German Expressionist art movement. As an Expressionist, Kokoschka’s approach to portraiture was driven by emotion. While this piece isn’t the most expressive of his works there is still a great deal of emotion within it, this is most notable in the eyes, which are rather tired and solemn. His eyelids are very heavy, giving him an almost empty glare. This tiredness shows his age since by the time he made this piece in 1966, he was nearly 80. Rather than creating depth with an extensive grayscale, Kokoschka uses large areas of shade and light, and on top places contour lines to provide definition. Instead of creating realism through detail, Kokoschka leaves many parts of the portrait up to suggestion; such as, his hand which is clearly recognizable even though there is very little distinctions made. I chose this piece because I admire Kokoschka’s command over shade and light and his confidence in the placement of his contour lines, something which I’d like to replicate in my own work.