Goncharova painted her Self-portrait in her Moscow studio. It shows unframed pictures of her impressionist period on the wall. The images in those paintings are formed with exuberant brushstrokes that seem eager to go beyond the limits of the canvases. The element of colours triumphs over the element of objects, which is opposed to the even more energetic expressive painting style in the foreground. The snow-white blouse with blue and pink overtones, framed with a blue contour, is like a white primed canvas with flaring yellow lilies on it. The flowers look like a blazing torch in the artist's hands. The impetuous brushstrokes of fiery colours bring to mind the painting manner of Vincent van Gogh, the pioneer of Expressionism, with whom Goncharova enters into a creative dialogue. The bouquet in the subject's rough hand serves as a metaphor for her strong creative temperament. Goncharova is one of the first "avant-garde Amazons", female artists of a new formation. This Self-portrait depicts her primarily as a creator.
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow