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In Portner’s self portrait, every wrinkle, every ‘mark of weakness, mark of woe’ is emphatically delineated. The deeply etched lines around his eyes appear to form a kind undulating landscape. The artist’s features have been somewhat emphasised, even caricatured. Given the artist’s German background and artistic training, the picture’s expressionist character is not surprising. According to a biographical sketch in a 1970 London exhibition catalogue: ‘He studied under Kaus in Berlin and Thiemann in Leipzig, later moving to study at Les Beaux Arts in Paris (also studying art for a time in Amsterdam). He fled to England in 1939 and after serving with the British Army was granted British nationality.’ In the same catalogue, there is a photograph of the artist, where severe lighting casts dark shadows over his cheek, while illuminating his eyes, nose, hand, prominent, deeply-lined forehead and wispy white hair.
Title
Self Portrait
Date
c.1963
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 76.5 x W 64 cm
Accession number
PCF99
Acquisition method
acquired by Ruth Borchard as part of the original collection
Work type
Painting
