Self-portrait

John Partridge (1789-1872)

1836

Oil on panel

21 in. x 16 7/8 in. (533 mm x 429 mm)

Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG 5341

Purchased, 1980

In this unusual self-portrait, only the face is highly finished. The artist looks at a (his own?) work appraisingly, against a dramatic background of dashed-off red and black brush-strokes. One hand rests on the table in front of him. The table, and the chair behind him, are also roughly sketched in. The spontaneity here is pleasing, and modern in feel, quite unlike his formal portraits of notable people; but it probably marks this portait out as a study rather than a completed work. — Jacqueline Banerjee