Helene Schjerfbeck
Helene Schjerfbeck was a Finnish painter. She is most widely known for her realist works and self-portraits, and less well known for her landscapes and still lifes.
Schjerfbeck used her own reflection time and again. She once wrote: ‘This way you always have a model, although it is far from pleasant to see yourself.’ She painted this self-portrait as a commission for the Finnish Art Society, which had long failed to recognize her. In it she confronts her reflection and her audience with raised chin. It is striking how she inscribed her name on the canvas in capitals before partially effacing it.
I love her proud and courageous gaze!
Before the lockdown, this work was a part of the exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum In the Picture, an exhibition focusing on the role and significance of the artists’ portrait. Even though we can't visit it, you can visit the museum virtually - we highly encourage you to do this!
P.S. Helene Schjerfbeck is called a female Finnish gem; read more about her here <3