Self-Portrait

The muted dark tones and somber gaze in this self-portrait convey the anxieties Armand Guillaumin was facing in the early 1870s. While working full-time for the French railway system, he devoted early and late hours and weekends to his artistic practice and endured rejection from the Salon, the official juried annual art exhibition in Paris. Guillaumin shared close friendships with Paul Cezanne, Camille Pissarro, and Vincent van Gogh (whose works are on view in this gallery) and participated in six of the eight Impressionist exhibitions. This self-portrait shows the artist on the verge of establishing his career.