Where can I see Smiling Head, Self-portrait (Lächelnder Kopf, Selbstporträt)?

Smiling Head, Self-portrait (Lächelnder Kopf, Selbstporträt) is held by National Gallery of Art.

Artwork

Smiling Head, Self-portrait (Lächelnder Kopf, Selbstporträt)

Walter Gramatté , 1923

Smiling Head, Self-portrait (Lächelnder Kopf, Selbstporträt) is an ink print by Walter Gramatté. It dates from 1923 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

Walter Gramatté’s 1923 print, titled *Smiling Head, Self‑portrait*, presents a frontal view of a lightly smiling face rendered in a combination of black and green tones. The image is executed through a hybrid of etching and engraving, giving the portrait a distinctive contrast between crisp lines and softer, grainier areas, while the background remains largely shadowed, emphasizing the sitter’s expression.

Subject & Meaning

The work functions as a self‑portrait, capturing the artist’s own visage with a subtle grin that hints at introspection amid personal hardship.

The work functions as a self‑portrait, capturing the artist’s own visage with a subtle grin that hints at introspection amid personal hardship. Created during a period marked by Gramatté’s wartime service and ongoing health problems, the piece merges a direct, almost confrontational gaze with an undercurrent of emotional tension, reflecting the expressionist tendency to convey inner states through facial nuance.

Technique & Style

Gramatté employed both etching and engraving, a dual process that allows for varied line qualities: the engraved sections produce sharp, defined contours, while the etched portions yield a more diffuse, textured effect. The limited palette of black and green enhances the tonal depth, and the uneven, hand‑drawn appearance of the lines contributes to a raw, immediate quality characteristic of his magical‑realist approach.

History & Provenance

The print emerged in 1923, a year when Gramatté was grappling with the aftermath of World War I and a chronic illness that would later curtail his career. Signed at the lower edge with his name and the date, the work exemplifies his practice of integrating personal symbolism with formal experimentation. Its provenance traces back to the artist’s own studio, later entering collections that focus on German expressionist printmaking.