I Lock My Door upon Myself

1891

Oil on canvas, 72.7 × 141 cm. Neue Pinakothek, Munich

A pale, red-haired woman rests her chin on her hands, shut in a room of closed shapes and muted color. The picture builds a mood of withdrawal rather than telling a story.

An empty doorway, a blank window and an inward stare shut out the world beyond the room. Here the Symbolist turn inward is staged as a sealed room.
It keeps its original gilded frame.
Look for the bust of Hypnos, Greek god of sleep, on a high shelf beside a red poppy.
Soft greys fill the room; only her hair, the poppy and withered flowers add warmth.
The Munich collection bought it from the artist at the city's 1893 annual exhibition.

The title is a line from a Christina Rossetti poem about inner conflict. Her brother, the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, strongly influenced the artist.

Image: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen – Neue Pinakothek München, CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0