Self Portraits in a Nut Shell

I've recently been researching Max Beckmann, an "expressionist" painter of his own sense. He is one of the few artists who have numerous self portraits, next only to Pablo Picasso. Beckmann believed that "profound emotions were transmitted by the articulate composition of the human form", the self-portrait in particular. I find it odd to take this concept and mix it with the idea of an artist painting another artist. Are we putting our own emotions into the portrait of another? Can each portrait be truly representational of another if our own impressions are still present when we draw?

I enjoyed this specific self-portrait of Max Beckmann because the craft technique reminded me most of the charcoal drawings we are experiencing in class, however this was made with dry point. In particular, I enjoy the nose quality and definite plane change from the bridge of his nose to the vertical front of the forehead. I like the plane definition of the under-eye lid as well as the hatch-technique shading. Here's the piece titled Large Self-Portrait, 1919 Max Beckmann