Artwork
Self Portrait
Self Portrait is an oil painting by the Regionalist artist Howard Lloyd Roberts. It dates from 1930 and is held in the collection of the National Library of Wales.
About this work
Overview
The painting stands as a significant record of the artist's self-image near the end of his life, rendered with a distinctively tactile and expressive approach.
Self Portrait is an oil on canvas painting by the Welsh painter and soldier Howard Lloyd Roberts, dated circa 1930. Measuring 56.5 by 39 centimeters, the artwork is a bust-length depiction of the artist himself. It is held in the National Library of Wales as part of the institution's framed works of art collection, where it is accessible to the public under a public domain designation. The painting stands as a significant record of the artist's self-image near the end of his life, rendered with a distinctively tactile and expressive approach.
Subject & Meaning
The subject of the painting is Howard Lloyd Roberts himself, portrayed from the chest up against a dark, uniform background. He wears a brown hat with a brim, dark sunglasses, a white collared shirt, a dark necktie, and a dark jacket. The inclusion of the hat and sunglasses creates an opaque, guarded persona, obscuring the eyes and lending the subject an air of detachment or formality. The ruddy, pink flesh tones of the face provide the primary focal point, contrasting with the dark blues, blacks, and browns that dominate the rest of the composition. The absence of any setting or environmental detail forces an unmediated confrontation between the viewer and the artist's constructed identity.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil paint on canvas, the work is characterized by its heavy impasto and highly textured surface. Thick, directional brushwork covers the entire composition, with visible vertical strokes creating a rough, tactile quality across both the figure and the background. The background recedes into near black with subtle tonal variations, while light falls from the front, illuminating the face and the brim of the hat. This frontal illumination highlights the lighter flesh tones and the white of the collared shirt, which stand in stark contrast to the otherwise dark, muted palette. The handling of the paint emphasizes the physical substance of the medium as much as the likeness of the sitter.
History & Provenance
Created circa 1930, the painting remained within the artist's personal effects during his lifetime. In 1977, the National Library of Wales acquired the work by purchasing it from Miss Mary Lloyd Roberts. Since its acquisition, it has been assigned the accession number PB08938 and has resided in the National Library of Wales as part of its framed works of art collection.
Context
Howard Lloyd Roberts lived from 1879 to 1935, identifying professionally as both a painter and a soldier. He created this self portrait around 1930, just a few years before his death. The painting reflects the broader early twentieth-century tradition of direct, unflinching self portraiture, while the heavy impasto and somber palette align with the expressive painterly techniques valued by British and Welsh artists of the period. The guarded nature of the depiction, with the sitter wearing dark sunglasses and a hat, offers a complex psychological presentation that contrasts with the vulnerability often associated with the self portrait genre.
Artist & collection
