1891, Paul Gauguin, Self-Portrait with The Yellow Christ -- Musée d'Orsay (Paris)
From the museum label: Gauguin depicts himself surrounded by two of his own works painted in 1889. The painting The Yellow Christ, which is reflected in a mirror here, was inspired by the crucifix in the chapel in Trémalo, near Pont-Aven. Christ is depicted with Gauguin's own features and this assimilation highlights the sacrificial role of the artist, devoted body and soul to an art which has been spurned for a long time. The anthropomorphic (human-shaped) tobacco jar which Gauguin refers to as "a poor devil hunched up to endure his suffering" is a metaphor for the artist's brusque and unsociable personality.
1891, Paul Gauguin, Self-Portrait with The Yellow Christ -- Musée d'Orsay (Paris)
From the museum label: Gauguin depicts himself surrounded by two of his own works painted in 1889. The painting The Yellow Christ, which is reflected in a mirror here, was inspired by the crucifix in the chapel in Trémalo, near Pont-Aven. Christ is depicted with Gauguin's own features and this assimilation highlights the sacrificial role of the artist, devoted body and soul to an art which has been spurned for a long time. The anthropomorphic (human-shaped) tobacco jar which Gauguin refers to as "a poor devil hunched up to endure his suffering" is a metaphor for the artist's brusque and unsociable personality.