1915, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Self-Portrait with a Cigarette -- Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven) (special exhibition)
From the museum label: The tightly confined interior space seen in this print is characteristic of Kirchner's compositions from the years of World War I. However, this example resonates more directly with—and likely quotes—Munch's own lithographic Self-Portrait with a Cigar, hanging nearby. When, in 1895, Munch exhibited a large-scale painted self-portrait of himself smoking, one medical student decried the work as a glamorization of moral corruption and psychological degeneration—traits then associated with the frowned-upon custom of smoking. Kirchner may have been acknowledging this history in his 1915 rendition: it is a rare portrait of the artist smiling slyly, even knowingly, during a period in which he faced fatiguing illness, including struggles with mental health.
1915, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Self-Portrait with a Cigarette -- Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven) (special exhibition)
From the museum label: The tightly confined interior space seen in this print is characteristic of Kirchner's compositions from the years of World War I. However, this example resonates more directly with—and likely quotes—Munch's own lithographic Self-Portrait with a Cigar, hanging nearby. When, in 1895, Munch exhibited a large-scale painted self-portrait of himself smoking, one medical student decried the work as a glamorization of moral corruption and psychological degeneration—traits then associated with the frowned-upon custom of smoking. Kirchner may have been acknowledging this history in his 1915 rendition: it is a rare portrait of the artist smiling slyly, even knowingly, during a period in which he faced fatiguing illness, including struggles with mental health.