Self-Portrait

Artist Oscar Bluemner (1867 - 1938)

Date1933

MediumOil on panel

Dimensions19 3/4 x 14 3/4 in. (50.2 x 37.5 cm)
Framed: 27 3/4 in. × 22 3/4 in. × 1 in.

ClassificationsPainting

Credit LinePromised Gift to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas

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Artist Self-Portraits

Label TextOscar Bluemner immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1892 and was a successful architect and painter. He recorded his ideas for paintings in diaries he kept in German, English, and Latin. In his journals, this red, white, and blue self-portrait is referred to as “Florianus CMMXXXIII” to suggest flowering or blooming—a reference to his surname Bluemner—and dated it in roman numerals. Bluemner wanted people look broadly at his art “the way you would listen to music … Look at the space filled with colors and try to feel.”

Oscar Bluemner emigró de Alemania a Estados Unidos en 1892 y fue un exitoso arquitecto y pintor. Anotaba sus ideas para pinturas en diarios que escribía en alemán, inglés y latín. En estos diarios, este autorretrato en rojo, blanco y azul aparece como “Florianus CMMXXXIII”, en referencia a la floración o el florecimiento —una alusión a su apellido, Bluemner— y fechado en números romanos. Bluemner quería que la gente contemplara su arte de forma generalizada, “del mismo modo que se escucha la música... Mirar el espacio lleno de colores e intentar sentirlo”.
Inscribedu.c., in mirror image: Florianus CMMXXXIII
verso, l.c., in brown paint: Oscar Bluemner / 102 Plain Street. S. Braintree, Mass. / 15 x 20 panel / varnish-painting / Dec. 1933