Self portraits by Cézanne go on public display for the first time in the UK

Three self-portraits by Paul Cézanne, painted in 1885 and 1886, including a complementary pair showing Cézanne in a bowler hat, have gone on public display for the first time in the United Kingdom in a major new exhibition, Cézanne Portraits, on view at the National Portrait Gallery, London. The exhibition brings together for the first time over fifty of Cézanne’s portraits from collections across the world. The first of the three self-portraits, painted around 1885, was, together with Cézanne’s earliest self-portrait, the only painted self-portrait to be based upon a photograph. The two portraits with a bowler hat show the artist in a familiar pose, looking back over his shoulder, his right eye engaging with the viewer. The shape of the hat reflects Cézanne’s pleasure in modelling simple, solid geometric forms. The works are the only painted self-portraits to show Cézanne wearing a bowler hat, although it would become