Updated 19 May 2025
Currently not on display
Currently not on display
Self-Portrait
| Date | 1919 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on canvas |
| Size（cm） | 55.3 x 65.3 |
| Inscriptions | Signed and dated lower right: Henri Martin. / 1919. |
| Credit Line | Matsukata Collection |
| Standard ref. | M722 |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.1959-0136 |
The Impressionist technique of juxtaposing colors through short, disconnected brush strokes became the Pointillist technique for the succeeding generation as those painters made even finer groupings of color. Their purpose was not only to capture the bright outdoor light but also to turn the technique itself into a visual effect. Strictly speaking, this work of Martin's is not Pointillist, but the arrangement of evenly sized brush strokes produces the characteristic effect of Pointillism. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)
Provenance
Purchased by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe through Léonce Bénédite, ca. November 1918, as “Mon portrait” (Fr. 4,000) [see letter from Léonce Bénédite to Suzuki & Co., dated 14 November 1918, in the Bibliothèque centrale des musées nationaux, Paris (copy in NMWA curatorial file)]; sequestered by French government, 1944; vested in French government under San Francisco Peace Treaty, 1952; transferred from French to Japanese government, 23 January 1959; entered into NMWA, April 1959.
Exhibition History
- 1985
- Exposition du Pointillisme (Pointillism), National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 6 April 1985 - 26 May 1985, Musée Municipal d'Art, Kyoto, 4 June - 14 July, cat. no. 30, col. repr
- 2015
- NO MUSEUM, NO LIFE?: Art-Museum Encyclopedia to Come: From the Collections of the National Museums of Art, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 16 June 2015 - 13 September 2015, cat. no. F-6
- 2020
- Kobayashi Mango and Western-style Painting in 50 Years of the Meiji, Taisho and Showa Eras, The Kagawa Museum, 11 April 2020 - 7 June 2020, Kurume City Art Museum, 20 June-23 August; Takahashi City Nariwa Museum, 5 September-29 November, 2020, no. 68, col. repr.
Bibliography
- 1961
- Catalogue du Musée National d'Art Occidental, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1961 (Préface and Catalogue Général in Japanese and French), P-191.
- 1979
- The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Catalogue of Paintings. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1979, no. 173, repr.
- 1985
- Exposition du pointillisme (exh. cat.). The National Museum of Western Art, ed. [Tokyo], The Asahi Shimbun, 1985, pp. 56-57, cat. no. 30, col. repr.
- 1990
- The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. 1011.
- 2018
- The Matsukata Collection: Complete Catalogue of the European Art. Kawaguchi, Masako; Jingaoka, Megumi, eds. vol. 1: Paintings, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2018, cat. no. 722, col. repr.
- 2020
- Kobayashi Mango and Western-style Painting in 50 Years of the Meiji, Taisho and Showa Eras (exh. cat.). The Kagawa Museum; Kurume City Art Museum; Takahashi City Nariwa Museum of Art, eds. [n.p. no place], Nichido Art Foundation, 2020, pp. 78, 157, cat. no. 68, col. repr.