Thinking about Self-Portraits

The MFA in Boston is open on Mondays, so, wanting to look at paintings, I drove in to see the Luis Melendez show (Google Images, Luis Melendez). Most of the paintings are of still life. The artist’s self-portrait is a very engaging 18th century work. Some may say, in this case, it shows the artist’s ambition; but, in general, I always think of self-portraits as simply paintings, another handy subject for the artist to paint.

Looking back on my self- portraits where I have brush in hand, I may find more ambition than I admit to, but usually there is a comical, self-effacing element. If you check my website of self-portraits, I would be curious which you find the more ambitious. Mostly, I think they reveal another day in the life of a painter. Picasso said that painting is just another way of keeping a diary.