Self-portraiture has become a consistent theme within many artists’ works over the years of art history.

From Rembrandt to Van Gogh to Sonia Boyce, artists the world over continue to explore the variety of ways in which they can depict and present their likeness, whether through a realistic painting or letting inanimate objects speak in their place.

Self-portraiture can tell us so much about the artist from what they have chosen to include in the image and at the same time what they have chosen to exclude.

What can we, the viewer, learn from the self-portrait and its evolution as an art form, especially in recent years?

WHAT IS SELF-PORTRAITURE?

A self-portrait is an artistic work that depicts or represents the artist or maker. A popular subject among artists, the result has evolved over the years as artists explore and experiment with different styles and ways of seeing and communicating their work.

Whether as a photograph, a realistic painting, or an abstract sculptural form, a self-portrait can manifest in various mediums and styles, limitless in its interpretation.

Yet, why is the self-portrait such a common subject for many artists and how has its presentation changed over the years of art history?

EVOLUTION OF SELF-PORTRAITURE

Moving away from religious scenes that were popular in the medieval ages, and inching towards historical and mythological depictions during the renaissance, popular art changes as time passes.

Over time, other themes such as landscapes and portraits began to gain in popularity, eventually leading to the self-portrait.

Appealing to human vanity, and as a means of immortalising their image, artists began to depict a subject that they knew best – themselves.

Often a technical exercise during art studies, students would test their drawing and painting skills with an attempt to best replicate their own face, aiming to be as precise as a mirror or better.

While Rembrandt created a high number of self-portraits – with close to 100 works of the artist showing the process and effects of aging, Caravaggio would use his own face and body to then become the model within his works, such as Young Sick Bacchus (1593).

Artemisia Gentileschi worked in a similar fashion, often incorporating herself into her work, where the painter would present herself in different guises, including a fourth-century martyr, Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

One of her most famous self-portraits is Self-Portrait As The Allegory Of Painting (1638-1639), where she becomes the physical embodiment of Painting, which according to tradition was a beautiful woman with dark, dishevelled hair, wearing a gold chain.

Fast forward to the era of modern art, the self-portrait is seen in works by renowned artists such as Frida Kahlo, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Lucian Freud and Egon Schiele.

Each of these artists has their own unique style and their portraits are immediately recognisable, yet the works are not limited to solely exploring the theme of oneself.

Ever wondered why Van Gogh chose those colours and style?

Is there a reason why Frida Kahlo included objects or animals surrounding her image? Why has Egon Schiele decided to depict himself in that pose?

A lot can be read from how the artist has chosen to present their self-portraits, perhaps in a stoic manner, self-deprecating, or as a means of transmitting an ulterior message.

Self-portraits can be intimate representations of the artists. Presenting themselves to the public in a vulnerable manner, they may show aspects of themselves that could be interpreted as too personal.

Young British artist Tracey Emin (born 1963), a pioneer in feminist art, showed the work My Bed as a submission for the Turner Prize in 1999.

The work consisted of a readymade installation of her own bed – her refuge after a bad breakup; the space in which several weeks prior she had slept, smoked, drank, and had sex.

The presented work is a dirty, unmade bed with used condoms and tissues splayed on the floor, period-stained clothing, and empty vodka bottles.

Emin had executed an extremely intimate self-portrait of a vulnerable woman, yet she herself is nowhere to be seen, neither her face nor her body is part of the installation.

That said, Emin’s presence can still be felt.

CONTEMPORARY SELF-PORTRAITURE

There are many reasons why artists choose to place themselves in the works.  

One of the reasons why is that the artist is perhaps demonstrating a point of view that is theirs alone, personal, and cannot be replicated.

However, at the same time, they might show themselves in works that demonstrate a community, a family, a feeling, or a sensation that is shared with others, demonstrating solidarity.

For example, within the early works of Sonia Boyce (born 1962) in the mid-80s, she placed herself as the central figure to address issues of race, gender and equality. They draw from her own experience as an Afro-Caribbean woman growing up in Britain.

Boyce’s works include She Ain’t Holdin’ Them Up, She’s Holdin’ On (Some English Rose) (1986) and Missionary Position II (1985).

Later on, however, she removed herself from her works – as the objective turned towards social practice and observation of others.

American artist Chuck Close painted many self-portraits in recent years, the reason being that he himself was available to model for the work.

Close painted his likeness in his renowned photorealistic pixelated style, creating more than 80 large-scale self-portraits throughout his career from the 1960s up until his death in 2021.

British sculptor Antony Gormley (born 1950) created 100 cast iron nude figures as part of the work Another Place (1997). First exhibited on Cuxhaven beach in Germany, today, it is a permanent installation at Crosby Beach in the north of England.

The figures are cast replicas of the artist’s own body. They are placed along the beach, becoming submerged by the rise of the tides, at the mercy of the sea and weather.

In a similar fashion, Andra Ursuta (born 1979) created sculptures often made from casts of her own body, several of which were exhibited during the 2022 Venice Biennale.

However, the figure then morphs into its own being. As with the work Predators ‘R Us (2019), there is no head, there are missing limbs and the feet have been engulfed by tentacled shoes, referencing the alien from the cult film Predator.

Perhaps a comment on the ever-changing and ludicrous expectations placed on women.

ABSTRACT SELF-PORTRAITURE

As demonstrated by Emin’s bed, a self-portrait can be presented in several forms. There aren’t any limitations to how and what can represent the artist or their identity.

American photographer Cindy Sherman (born 1954) is a master of disguises. She plays with the idea of identity and its construction.

Sherman is seen placing herself in front of her camera as she explores the concept of female stereotypes. The end result shows how women are viewed in a patriarchal world.

Using exaggerated makeup, hair, and costumes, she mixes together humour and critique of modern society.

In Untitled #533 (2010), Sherman transforms into a sickly-sweet “perfect” woman, with bouncy curls, a face full of makeup, and a soft pink background.

It is a portrait symbolising how women are expected to present themselves. However, there is also another message. It shows that when a person goes overboard, they can quickly become “fake” – and their real identity is lost.

A self-portrait can be seen as a declaration of the artist having existed – having executed a work, and taken up space at one point. The result is a testament to the artist’s humanity and perhaps their existence amongst others.

Can the sculptural work Artist’s Shit (1961) by Italian artist Piero Manzoni (1933-1963) be considered a self-portrait?

Manzoni produced 90 cans, each printed with words in Italian, German, French, and English on the exterior.

They read: “Artist’s Shit. Contents: 30g net freshly preserved, produced and tinned in May 1961.”

The artist even created a piece allegedly containing his feces, therefore, a part of himself.

The artist wrote in a letter to another artist, Ben Vautier: “I should like all artists to sell their fingerprints, or else stage competitions to see who can draw the longest line or sell their shit in tins.

“The fingerprint is the only sign of the personality that can be accepted. If collectors want something intimate, really personal to the artist, there's the artist's own shit, that is really his.'

Other works by Manzoni include balloons that are filled with the artist’s breath, titled Artist’s Breath (1960).

SELF-PORTRAITURE IN PHOTOGRAPHY

In 1839, an amateur chemist in Philadelphia, USA, took the first documented self-portrait photograph.

The photographer’s name was Robert Cornelius (1809-1893) and since the dawn of photography, the self-portrait has evolved drastically arriving at today’s “selfie”.

In 2013, selfie was crowned Oxford Dictionary’s “Word of the Year”. This coincided with the boom in self-portraits taken by the masses, which resulted from the advent of front-facing camera phones and an increase in social media use.

Another fascinating self-portrait from the history of photography is the work of Hippolyte Bayard (1801-1887), who photographed himself as a drowned man.

However, we know that he is the photographer, therefore the subject is a constructed narrative, a self-portrait as fiction, which is not obliged to present the truth or reality.

It is similar to Sherman’s characters, which appeared over a century after the French photographer Bayard.

Jumping forward to the mid-20th century, photographers who explored a variety of themes through self-portraiture include Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ulay, Nan Goldin, Andy Warhol and more.

Visual artist Zanele Muholi (born 1972) from South Africa was even invited to show her series of self-portraits titled Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail The Dark Lioness (2012-ongoing) at the 2019 Venice Biennale Main Exhibition.

The large-scale black and white portraits explore themes of race, gender and sexuality, as Muholi brings together imagery from classical painting and fashion photography.

In 1982, at the age of 25, American photographer Nancy Floyd decided to embark on a long-term project that entailed taking a photograph of herself every day.

The autobiographical series titled Weathering Time continued for 40 years as a means of observing herself get older and documenting the change. While she did not manage to photograph every single day, she did end up taking over 2,500 photographs in total.

Cover: Antony Gormley, Another Place, 2007. Credit: Chris Howells/Wikimedia Commons

Writer | Glesni Trefor Williams

Glesni Trefor Williams is a Bologna-based art journalist/translator from North Wales, who focuses her writing on contemporary art and interlinked exhibition spaces. She has written for Lampoon, Spinosa Magazine, and is an arts contributor on BBC Wales radio. @glesniw

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