Self-Portrait
1926
Simboli-McFadden Collection
Oil on Canvas 34.75" x 38.5"
Signed 'Ray Simboli' (lower left
corner) Inv 1013
In this portrait within a portrait the artist is depicted sitting with
his brushes and painting tools and staring out at the viewer, and in
so doing he is reaffirming his identity as an artist. The charcoal
self-portrait behind him on the wall is a playful double
identification, and serves to establish a connection between the
viewer of the painting and painted form of the artist, who jointly
appraise this just-completed sketch. By turning to look out at the
viewer of the painting Simboli is inviting appraisal not just of this
individual work, but of himself as an artist. This is reinforced by
the manner in which the eyes of the subject appear to follow the
viewer, a characteristic trait of Simboli's portraits, and this
enhances the personal connection between viewer and
subject.
This is Raymond Simboli's earliest major
self-portrait, and was completed in 1926. Other oil self-portraits
include 1012 (age 35), 1030(age
40) and 1072 (age 50). He was aged 32 at the time of this painting,
and was becoming well established both professionally and
personally. He had joined the faculty of the Carnegie institute six
years previously, the same year he had married Mabel, and had
exhibited at the Carnegie International Exhibition for the first time
the previous year. Simboli's inclusion in the Associated Artists of
Pittsburgh annual shows dated to 1916, winning a third honor in 1923
for Sleep. In 1926 he was awarded the prestigious Art
Society Prize for most meritorious exhibit at this show, and in the
subsequent year he would be honored with a one-man show by the AAP. By
affording himself his first large oil self-portrait at this time and
explicitly identifying himself as an artist in the iconography Simboli
invites a well deserved recognition of his situation.