Portrait de l'artiste par lui-même

Portrait de l'artiste par lui-même is one of Bonnard's explicitly labeled self-portraits, belonging to the sequence of self-examinations he conducted across his career. By the time of his late self-portraits he had developed a formula of sorts—the bathroom mirror, the direct gaze, the unsparing observation of aging—that contrasted with the warmth and chromatic richness of his other work. His self-portraits were rarely exhibited in his lifetime; they seem to have been private exercises rather than public statements. They belong to a tradition of French artist self-portraiture from Chardin through Cézanne that treats self-examination as a form of technical problem-solving rather than ego display.

The mirror-mediated self-portrait typically shows a slightly flattened face due to the reflective surface. Bonnard pays careful attention to the specific fall of light on his own features, using the same color-shadow analysis he applied to all his figure subjects. The face's warm lit surfaces are rendered in ochre and pink, the shadow passages in cool violet or blue-green. The handling is careful and deliberate.