Aoki Shigeru created many impressive self-portraits, first carefully considering his goal for each painting before starting to work on it. Each of his self-portraits, in oils or in pencil, is widely different in style. This example presents his head and torso against a dark background from which the artist, looking pointedly towards us, emerges. The background consists of irregular shapes said to be derived from gold arabesques seen where he was lodging at the time. This self-portrait, imbued with dark, almost demonic passion, shares Aoki’s emotional state with us.