Self Portrait Shaving

Armin Landeck

In this intense self-portrait, the artist is peering into a mirror prior to shaving. His gaze is ever so slightly to the left, so as not to be staring, and the unblinking look on his face is that of one who is trying to study the details of his reflection while trying to commit it to paper. He uses the drypoint needle with no hesitancy, capturing those details quickly, surely, and unflatteringly.

Landeck initially was not pleased by the result of his plate and did not print it until much later. Kraeft was apparently unaware of this drypoint as it was not included in the first edition of the Landeck raisonne. It is one of only a couple of his prints featuring a person.