Mein Spiegelbild

Art Historical Context

In this painting, a man stands turned slightly toward the viewer, wearing a dark suit jacket, white collar, and a wide-brimmed hat. He holds a palette laden with color in one hand and brushes in the other, his gaze steady behind round spectacles. The background is softly muted in blues and earth tones, with visible, fluid brushstrokes that give the figure a sense of immediacy and presence against the textured surface of the support. Titled Mein Spiegelbild, the work was painted by Alexander Demetrius Goltz in 1910 in oil on cardboard and measures 91 by 65 centimeters. It forms part of the Belvedere Collection in Vienna, where it is preserved among the museum’s holdings of paintings. As a self-portrait, it offers a direct encounter with the artist engaged in his craft, allowing visitors to reflect on the quiet concentration behind the act of painting.