Self-portrait

Artists’ self-portraits are a versatile genre with a variety of objectives. In some of them, the author has tried to express their internal existential struggles; others deal with the artist’s image or inner psychological world. The self-portrait of the 71-year-old Olev Subbi first and foremost serves as a way to define himself as an artist. This is also evidenced by the brushes he holds in his hands. It is clear that Subbi wanted to present himself as a person who primarily makes art. The background of the portrait is a typical Subbian colour landscape. The artist did not paint himself against a realistic backdrop of real-life details but against surfaces that referred to his own paintings. So Subbi did not depict only himself in this painting, but also his works of art, including common elements from his oeuvre, such as the chair on which he is sitting, which can be found in dozens of his paintings.