Self Portrait - Vagabond

James David Smillie

One of only a few proofs of this self portrait by James D. Smillie, done in 1904, when he was 71 years old and reworked and printed in only a few proof in 1906. This impression is from the estate of Brucia Witthoft who wrote the Smillie catalogue raisonné. She comments on this print on page 282:

"In the summer of 1903 Smillie's sixteen-year old son Ralph photographed him at 'The Ark', his new summer house in Keene Valley, Ny. Smillie was dressed in what he called his 'mountain costume'--an old felt hat and an open-necked flannel shirt. The small photograph was enlarged by Charles Smillie on Feb. 10, 1904, to aid JDS in planning an etching.

As part of a general attempt to organize and sort his works, Smillie tried to finish a number of his old plates in May, 1906. This self-portrait was one of the works he picked up again. Schneider interpreted the title 'Old Man's Head' as reflecting Smillie's low spirits in 1904, and thought the subsequent title (Vagabond) an indication of improved mood. However his remark on June 20, 1906, is as gloomy and frustrated as his earlier comments--'I am no longer plastic - I'm stereotyped.'"