Self-Portrait

In the first flush of major success as an artist, Renoir depicts himself in front of an easel. By 1876, he had participated in the first and second impressionist exhibitions and was working on the large, ambitious painting that would become one of his greatest masterpieces, Dance at the Moulin de la Galette. Covering most of this canvas with sketchy, large brushstrokes, Renoir renders parts of the composition perfunctorily, leaving the position of his right arm unresolved and his palette and brushes barely discernible. His face, however, is portrayed with amiable intimacy and subtlety. The first owner of this painting was Ambroise Vollard, a renowned Parisian dealer and close friend of the artist. Wertheim purchased it in 1946, just a month after acquiring Renoir’s Seated Bather, which hangs in this gallery.