(When the artist paints his self-portrait, my grandmother once told me, that we can figure out his characteristic, his feelings, and what he was thinking while he was painting himself. Vincent Van Gogh, Egon Schiele, and Frida Kahlo all have their own unique self-portraits that describe themselves.
1. Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890)
When I first saw Van Gogh's paintings, I weas just shocked by this pieces: everything was painted in the dark color, no energy, no enthusiasm. It seemed like he was very gloomy and despondent person. I can also figure out that he didn't like to go out in sunny days; he just liked to sit in his dark room and paint and paint, and paint.
Van Gogh with bandaged ear (1889)
I thought Van Gogh was just crazy guy when I heard that he cut his ear only because he didn't like it. When he painted himself, he told his brother that his right ear was kind of "complex" to him, a weak point to draw. So, he just grabbed the knife and got rid of it. It might take little courage for the normal person, but for this crazy guy, he just did it right away. Anyway, his use of dark orange/yellow color of skin, dark blue/green coat, his black/blue hat shows us that he was gloomy and somewhat dark person inside.
2. Egon Schiele (1890 - 1918)
He died when he was only 28. He was a narcissist: he loved himself so much. He liked to draw himself, rather in caricature, than realistically. He was a genius of self-portrait. He also claimed that nudity is the best way to express someone's true feelings, true characteristic, and true identity.
Egon used dark colors, heedless brush techniques, and lots of shades to depict himself. He described himself as the lonely swan changed into human, but missing his lake and his friends. He loved himself and his wife, beloved wife. Edith was the only woman who could endure his narcisstic love: so I think that's why Egon was so in love with Edith. Edith could understand him and love him no matter why. After his wife died, Egon drew some sketches of Edith and died several days after.
It's very interesting how a man who loves himself, was unable to survive without his lover. His sketches show that he not only loved himself but also hated him: he hated how nicely he looked, so he tried to express his feelings to Edith.
3. Frida Kahlo (1907 - 1954)
I think Frida Kahlo's self-portraits are most inspirational and most impressive ones that I've observed. She was a not healthy but she was a strong woman. She had polio (right leg thinner than the left leg for the rest of her life) and was unable to give birth to children.
She used warm colors; she also had calm and mild brush techniques. She wasn't rough; she painted every detail carefully and patiently until she finished her whole self-portrait.
As she became old, she used little bit darker colors. One interviewer asked her why she changed her style and she just smiled. People now say that her paintings represent her health: as she used darker colors later in life, it means that her health was becoming worse and worse...
So she died in 1954... leaving hundreds of her famous self-portraits. And maybe nobody would ever challenge Frida Kahlo with her unique style of drawing the self-portrait. Que En paz descanse Señorita Kahlo! (Rest in Peace Mrs. Kahlo!)
