Coincidences in 1976: José Saramago’s Manual and Francis Bacon’s autoportrait
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- Francis Bacon, Autoportrait (1976), oil and crayon on canvas; 34×29,5 cm, Marseille, Musée Cantini.
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- Vincent van Gogh, Self-portrait, 1877.
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- Rembrandt, Self Portrait with Two Circles, about 1665-9; oil on canvas, 114.3 x 94 cm, Kenwood House, The Iveagh Bequest, English Heritage, London. © English Heritage.
Anyone who paints portraits portrays himself. Therefore, the important thing is not the model but the painterand the portrait is worth only as much as the painter himself and not a groat more. The Dr. Gachet painted by Van Gogh is Van Gogh and not Gachet, and thousand different costumes (velvets, plumes, gold necklaces) in which Rembrandt painted himself are more expedients to give the impression that he was painting other people while painting himself in some other guise. I said I do not like my painting. That is because I do not like myself in every portrait I paint, futile, weary, disheartened and lost, because I am neither Rembrandt nor Van Gogh. Which goes without saying.
But the person writing? Is he also writing himself?
From “Manual of painting and calligraphy”, by José Saramago (1976).
July 26, 2015
