Self Portrait #8

1921

Not on view

Myers was associated with the group of early 20th-century urban realists inspired by the progressive teachings of Robert Henri, if not a formal member of the so-called Ashcan group. Like them, drawn to urban subject matter, Myers was among the first New York realists to paint the Eastern European and Italian immigrant neighborhoods of the Lower East Side, making the subject sympathetically his own. He also painted and drew countless self-portraits, creating a candid and probing record of his visage and character over time. This one, described as no. 8, reveals the artist’s precise drawing abilities—in direct contrast to the dark and ill-defined figures in his oil paintings. It is one of the few self-portraits Myers executed in pastel, and the first to enter The Met’s collection.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Self Portrait #8
Artist: Jerome Myers (American, Petersburg, Virginia 1867–1940 New York)
Date: 1921
Culture: American
Medium: Pastel and white chalk on off-white machine-made laid paper
Dimensions: 12 × 10 in. (30.5 × 25.4 cm)
Mat: 22 × 16 in. (55.9 × 40.6 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Barry Downes, grandson of the artist, and Mrs. Barry Downes, 2023
Object Number: 2023.116.2
Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

By Jerome Myers

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Street Shrine, New York, Jerome Myers American, Black crayon on off-white wove paper, American — Street Shrine, New York
Jerome Myers
1906

Street Group, Jerome Myers American, Oil on canvas, American — Street Group
Jerome Myers
ca. 1923

Old Houses, Clinton Street, New York, Jerome Myers American, Black crayon on off-white wove paper, American — Old Houses, Clinton Street, New York
Jerome Myers
1906

The Old Philosopher, Jerome Myers American, Black crayon on off-white wove paper, American — The Old Philosopher
Jerome Myers
1904

The Mission Tent, Jerome Myers American, Oil on canvas, American — The Mission Tent
Jerome Myers
1906

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