Self-portrait

Sir John Everett Millais RA (Southampton 1829- London 1896). Oil painting on panel, Self-portrait by Sir John Everett Millais (Southampton 1829- London 1896), signed with initials and dated "June 4 1878". A head- and-shoulders self-portrait, to right, wearing brown velvet jacket with blue neck tie against a brown background. The picture was sold as 'Portrait of a gentleman' but Lady Mander's identification of it as Millais himself is convincing. From the early 1870s onwards Millais built up a practice as a society portraitist, painting many of the famous people of the day including Lillie Langtry, Gladstone and Disraeli. This self-portrait with its dark tones and broad brushwork, so different to the fine detail and tiny brush strokes of his early Pre-Raphaelite work, reflects the development of his later manner heavily influenced by the 17th century Old Masters such as Velazquez and Frans Hals. Wightwick Manor, West Midlands (Accredited Museum)