Ernst Josephson faces the viewer with a penetrating but reserved gaze in this self-portrait from his student years. He is holding his painterly attributes. The white shirt collar stands out against the black painter’s smock. His cheeks are flaming red, the dark hair combed back but still somewhat unruly. The section with the easel and the daubs of paint, and the thumb grasping the brushes, has been executed with wild and sketchy brushwork while the face is more carefully composed. The upturned moustaches bring to mind Diego Velázquez’s self-portrait – who, in addition to Rembrandt, was the artist that Josephson admired the most and whose work he would copy during his travels on the continent in the years to come. The facial expression is collected, serious, perhaps distrustful. He knows his worth but he is also a sensitive person who was often in conflict with the people around him. That he took his artistic calling seriously is manifested by this self-staging.
