Arcadópolis
Self-Portrait
Frederick McCubbin, 1886
What you see
The portrait shows the head and shoulders of an older man, turned to the right but looking back at us. His head is bald, with white tufts over the ears and a thick white moustache. He wears a dark jacket, a white shirt and a blue bow tie. Knitted brows and a direct gaze give him a serious, watchful air.
The background is a dark green patch, almost brown, with no objects. Light falls on the forehead, nose and moustache, painted with thick pale touches, while the jacket melts into shadow. Notice the pinkish tones around the eyes and the blue strokes of the bow tie.
About Frederick McCubbin
Frederick McCubbin was born in Melbourne, where his parents ran a bakery, and taught drawing at the National Gallery of Victoria’s art school from 1886 until his death; his friends called him “the Proff” for his love of reading and philosophising. In 1885 he founded the Box Hill artists’ camp with Tom Roberts and Louis Abrahams, the seed of the Heidelberg School, and painted large scenes of life in the Australian bush, using his own family as models. Paintings such as “The Pioneer” and “Down on His Luck” became Australian icons, and many critics consider the works he made after a trip to Europe in 1907 the finest of his career.
More by Frederick McCubbin
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