The Desperate Man

A tightly framed self-portrait presents a dark-haired man staring outward with enlarged, startled eyes while both hands clutch his hair. His open white shirt catches the strongest light against a deep, murky background, and the forceful foreshortening of his arms presses the figure toward the viewer. Broad, tactile paint handling and heightened facial expression give the work an urgent psychological intensity associated with nineteenth-century Realism.