Helene Schjerfbeck — Self-portrait with red spot (1944)

Helene Schjerfbeck — Self-portrait with red spot (1944)

Schjerfbeck plunges the viewer before an ominous image of impending death (Güner, 2019) in this self-portrait made during her last years. Using a dark and somber color palette and gaunt outlines painted with the loose and rapid strokes of a dry brush, she presents herself as a ghost of a person: her eyes are cavernous, sinking sockets, her nose two vertical slits, and her mouth a gaping hole. Indeed, it is difficult to discern the difference between her face and a skull. Only a sliver of life is left in the dash of pinkish red on her lower lip. However, given how her face seems to dissolve into the background, it is apparent that this remnant of life is fading fast. Life's transitory and fleeting nature is bared before the viewer, enveloping us in a cloud of helplessness

and sorrow. The freeness in Schjerfbeck's brushstrokes to expose the turmoil of aging and imminent death demonstrates a departure from the age-old tradition where naturalism was the only determining factor to a remarkable self-portrait.

The new modes of representation introduced in the 20th century broke the many restraints and bestowed upon the artist a world where they could create not just an external likeness but also truthful reflections of the inner self, liberating them to produce moving works such as this. This raw depiction of age marks a departure from the traditional depiction of women at the peak of youth and beauty. Instead, Schjerfbeck truthfully assesses herself and projects her frank experiences and emotions.

Thus, one can observe a growing courage for women to bare their selves before the viewer and not omit details that decades ago may have been dismissed as improper coming from a female artist for its unsightliness or dismissed as mocking caricatures. Thus, whether a result of conscious or subconscious effort, stemming from this self-portrait is a voice commanding the viewer's attention to not simply dwell on the narrowly defined boundaries of common female depictions but also to look out and assess the multi-dimensional facets of women in their totality.