When he was 12 years old, Raphael Soyer immigrated to the United States with his family, who were ordered to leave their home in the Russian Empire due to antisemitic persecution. Later, he became an artist interested in recording the people and activities amid the Jewish neighborhood in New York City where he lived. He also produced dozens of self-portraits characterized by their frank honesty. In this example, he presents himself unshaven, with circles under his eyes, and a cigarette dangling from his lips.
