Selbstporträt, 1924

About the Work

Self-portraits are a central part of Klewer’s oeuvre. The artist repeatedly portrayed himself in unusual poses, with expressive and sometimes exaggerated facial play. As precisely as he captures face and body in this self-portrait, painted in Berlin in 1924, the painting’s colours seem disconcerting. The greenish tinge, with a colour reminiscent of absinthe, as well as the lax and seemingly sketched surrounding take his figure away into the indeterminate and fantastic.