Self-portrait with cigarette is a pioneering work within Roger Raveel's oeuvre. For the first time, he attaches a foreign object, in this case a piece of aluminium, to the painting. It looks as if a piece from the work's aluminium frame has entered the picture. Placed diagonally in the top left corner, it sits there as an explicitly disturbing feature. The object seems to float between viewer and painting. It foreshadows what Raveel will do in the 1960s, which is to blur the boundaries between painting and surroundings through objects mounted on the painting and the use of mirrors.