Self-Portrait with Masks

Self-Portrait with Masks from 1900 is one of Weiss's most psychologically complex early works, depicting himself surrounded by carnival or theatrical masks that introduce questions of persona, disguise, and self-knowledge into the conventional self-portrait format. The mask was a central motif in European Symbolism and Expressionism — from Ensor's great mask paintings of the 1880s and 1890s through Munch's self-portraits — representing the layers of social performance that overlay authentic identity. Weiss was twenty-two when he painted this, a young artist asserting his psychological seriousness alongside his technical capability; the masks also announce his interest in the theatrical and performative dimensions of artistic identity. The National Museum in Kraków holds this as a key early work.

The self-portrait is structured around the contrast between Weiss's own face — rendered with careful, direct observation — and the masks that surround him, which are painted with a stylized, slightly exaggerated quality that emphasizes their artificiality. The dark background unifies the composition while allowing multiple faces to coexist.