Self-portrait

Mediums: oil, canvas.
Location: The State Museum of Fine Arts. A. Pushkina, Moscow (Russia).

The author created this self-portrait with much of self-irony and in response to a similar self-portrait created by Rodchenko. The picture was painted according to all the canons of Expressionism, but it’s hard to recognize the 26-year-old artist in the character. Stepanova parodied the self-portrait not only compositionally, but also technically. At the same time, she worsened, as implied by the genre of parody, the main details: she used clear black lines that formed an irregular cross around her eyes and the same nasolabial folds. Instead of the large print on the forehead, the artist painted some gate, as if emphasizing that she was still far from the original print.