[1][2] The self-portrait shows Max Beckmann standing with his body facing the viewer in a direct, frontal pose.

Reliability is shown in the perfect equilibrium; the stance is reminiscent of the classical contrapposto of heroic statues.

Critic Fritz Stahl, writing in 1928, expressed his disgust: "A Caesarean mask, frowning forehead, tyrant's stare, every inch the great man.

Heinrich Simon, the publisher of the newspaper Frankfurter Zeitung, wrote in 1930 in his praise: "that this lonely maverick may become the only personality in European painting who, by his example, will form a style for the future."

[3] Art historian Joseph Koerner said of the painting: "It’s iconic of the artistic movement called Expressionism.