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Pierre Dubreuil — The Play of Life (Self-portrait)
Pierre Dubreuil

The Play of Life (Self-portrait)

A hauntingly atmospheric self-portrait by Belgian Pictorialist photographer Pierre Dubreuil, rendered in the rich, velvety tones of an oil print that blur the boundary between photography and painting. The image bathes the figure in dramatic chiaroscuro, evoking a brooding, theatrical quality that reflects Dubreuil's bold departure from conventional portrait photography. The choice of medium lends the work a tactile, painterly surface that transforms the self-portrait into a meditation on identity, artistic expression, and the performative nature of life itself.

Medium
Oil print.

🔨 Auction Lot

Photographs

October 8, 2015

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About this work

Pierre Dubreuil, The Play of Life (Self-portrait)

A hauntingly atmospheric self-portrait by Belgian Pictorialist photographer Pierre Dubreuil, rendered in the rich, velvety tones of an oil print that blur the boundary between photography and painting. The image bathes the figure in dramatic chiaroscuro, evoking a brooding, theatrical quality that reflects Dubreuil's bold departure from conventional portrait photography. The choice of medium lends the work a tactile, painterly surface that transforms the self-portrait into a meditation on identity, artistic expression, and the performative nature of life itself.

Medium
Oil print.
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

Avant-Garde Style, Male Artist, Avant-Garde, Early 20th Century, French Artist, Early Twentieth Century, Pictorialist Photographer, Oil Print, Introspective Mood, Monochromatic, Self-Portrait, Pictorialism

More works by Pierre Dubreuil

Collected by

Cleveland Museum of Art