Self-portrait

Description

Author: Nasedkin, Nikolay. 1918-1991
A waist-length self-portrait, turned three-quarters to the left against a dark neutral background. The sitter, rendered with greying hair combed back and a side-turned gaze, wears a light-blue shirt with an open collar. To the left on the table rest a steel helmet, a tall metal vessel, and two red tulips; this array of objects introduces a memorial motif of the war years, lending the image the character of a portrait-still life. The painterly approach relies on the contrast between the detailed rendering of the face and the broad, generalized treatment of the clothing and background. At the lower left - signature and date.