#560 Self-portrait (1923)

In the 1920s, the bowler
hat was everywhere. But
here, no sign of it. Still
some years to go before
it featured in his work,
appearing first as a de-
tective's derby, then
falling silent. Some de-
cades later returned, a
burst of energy, 50 or
60 times over the final
years — excluding that
flash mob assemblage
outside the window in
Golconda. A process by
which the anonymity of
the headgear become the
identifying component of
the Mr. Everyman persona
& of which, each time it app-
eared, the painter noted ceci
n'est pas un autoportrait.