Self-Portrait V c.1952
Oil on canvas, 35.5 x 25.5cms

Cyril Mann painted several self-portraits during this solid-shadow period. Most work is small in scale. After a few years, he began to dislike painting this way. It required much analytical thought, he said, when he saw himself as an 'emotional painter'.

Today these solid-shadow pictures are considered to be among the most original in Cyril's oeuvre.

In terms of his overall artistic development, they taught him the importance of design and bold use of colour.