"Self Portrait as Le Gendarme"

In The American in Paris Gallery

Sometimes when I'm painting, an image appears.  I work on it for a while, then as I'm painting another appears but I have to destroy the first painting to paint the second one.  In this case, I had to destroy two paintings before my self portrait appeared as a French gendarme in a fauvist style.  Clearly the color was inspired by the French Fauves like Matisse, Derain, yet the topic is both serene and intense.  I couldn't settle on whether to keep the eyes open or closed, but I like it "as is".  So it's up to the viewer to interpret. 

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