Self-Portrait

Elisabeth Eskes-Rietveld, in or after 1932

At the age of 19, Bep Rietveld painted this self-portrait as a learning assignment under the guidance of the painter Charley Toorop. The fluent contour of her head and shoulders, the stylized facial features, and slightly enlarged eyes create a penetrating portrait. Rietveld met Toorop through her father, the architect Gerrit Rietveld, and learned from her to ‘observe the way she did.’