Portrait of the Painter 1859
John La Farge (1835-1910)
Oil on wood panel; 16 1/16 x 11 1/2 in. (40.8 x 29.2 cm)

Description:
This self-portrait, which La Farge painted in October 1859 at his family`s estate in Glen Cove, Long Island, reflects his use of a photograph as a pictorial source; his appreciation of the unmodulated shapes and flattened space of Japanese prints; his reliance on broad tonal masses in the manner of his teachers, Thomas Couture and William Morris Hunt; and his experiments in plein-air landscape painting. The artist portrays himself as a landscapist ready to embark on a painting expedition.