ABSTRACT
Self-portraiture is the hidden agenda of Maurice Merieau-Ponty's last essay: Eye and Mind (1961).1 Although he does not mention any particular self-portraits nor does he cite the activity that produces them, the question of self-portraiture serves as the organizing feature of the whole essay. The text is permeated by discussions of painting, the eye, the painter's hands, mirrors, the specular image, and my body as both seeing (le uoyant) and seen (le visible).All the necessaty elements of self-portraiture are available in Merleau-Ponty's account of the relation between eye and mind. Although the text can be (and has been) read without ever raising the question of self-portraiture, the complex workings of the essay become clearer once this feature is uncovered.' And for an understanding of the meaning and practice of self-portraiture, Merleau-Ponty has a great deal to offer.
