Self-Portrait I (Selbstbildnis I)

about 1910

Tempera and lacquer bronze on paper on cardboard, 51 × 34 cm. Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München, Munich

The painter turns to stare at us from under a wide red hat, her eyes burning. The museum ranks it among the most unusual self-portraits any woman has painted.

With Jawlensky she ran a salon in Munich's Schwabing district, where she shaped its talk about art theory.
Look at the eyes: vermilion irises with dark dot pupils, ringed in blue, set in a face of yellow and green.
The red of the mouth returns in the hat, and the busy background strokes show Van Gogh's influence.
Color serves intensity rather than likeness, even on her own face; the museum likens its untamed force to the Fauves and the Brücke.
It was with the Werefkin foundation in Ascona before the Lenbachhaus bought it.

Image: Lenbachhaus, Munich · CC0 1.0