1915
Oil and paper collage on canvas
142 õ 104
In his self portrait, Lentulov, like other masters of the Jack of Diamonds (“Bubnovy valet”), leads a polemic with the traditional Romantic image of the artist as creative personality embodying both elevated and unusual properties in himself. In the name itself, where Lentulov speaks of himself as a “great artist,” and in the treatment of the image we see obvious irony.
The face painted in volume and the flat background remind us of portraits at fairs in which the head of the person being painted is placed in a hole in a decorative panel depicting a figure in some background design. Behind is a circle which could symbolise the sun, since it is alongside stars, but it is rather perceived to be a halo.
The costumed look of a street bazaar barker can in no way be associated by the viewer with some inspired dreamer marked by “an otherworldly imprint.” This is a new image of the artist – a man who is energetic, sure of himself, a lover of life and not alien to anything from this world.
at 10, Krymsky Val, Hall 5
