Emil Nolde (1867-1956) is regarded as one of the most noteworthy Expressionist painters. Portraits play a prominent role in the artist's oeuvre, particularly during his early creative period. During those years in which Nolde's art developed to maturity, his painting was enriched by an innovative power that inspired later artists well into the twentieth century. Some fifty of the unparalleled portraits completed by Emil Nolde between 1903 and 1918 are presented and described in this book. These works include the masterful self-portraits of 1917, the famous double portrait Brother and Sister of 1918, and his portrait-style images of people Nolde encountered while traveling in New Guinea in 1913-14.
The autonomy and immediacy of Emil Nolde's painting is particularly evident in his portraits. Fascinated by the obscure inner stirrings of human identity, the artist was challenged to develop an unusual, gestural mode of expression in his portraits. His painting style appears highly informal, as if emancipated from the object. Faces and human images have the look of original creations.