Painting a self-portrait is a self-conscious undertaking in which the artist always has the knowledge of a viewing in mind. Is it a true reflection of my real self? Will a finished product be met with approval, or will it elicit surprise and consternation? There is a lingering sense of self-scrutiny and vulnerability as the artist lays out his/her thoughts and feelings on the surface. Following the invention of photography in the mid-19th century, the depictions of self-image moved away from making things look lifelike towards exploring and interrogating the psyche in various forms and media. Today, in the age of social media and selfies, the self-portrait has never been more relevant.
Artists featured in this Curation:
John Singer Sargent (1856–1925),
George Jamesone (1589/1590–1644),
Joseph Farquharson (1846–1935),
Brian McLaughlin (b.1966),
Jules Breton (1827–1906),
John Phillip (1817–1867),
Edward John Poynter (1836–1919),
George Reid (1841–1913),
James McBey (1883–1959),
George Washington Wilson (1823–1893),
and 33 more
See all
John Everett Millais (1829–1896), James Giles (1801–1870), Duncan Grant (1885–1978), Sarah Lucas (b.1962), Vanessa Bell (1879–1961), Leon Kossoff (1926–2019), Frank Helmuth Auerbach (1931–2024), Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887–1976), Julie Roberts (b.1963), Lucian Freud (1922–2011), Gwen John (1876–1939), David Hockney (b.1937), Francis Bacon (1909–1992), Clive Barker (b.1940), Walter Richard Sickert (1860–1942), David Bomberg (1890–1957), Angus Menmuir Neil (1924–1992), Joan Kathleen Harding Eardley (1921–1963), Barbara Hepworth (1903–1975), Robert Colquhoun (1914–1962), Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957), Lucy Skaer (b.1975), John Henry Lorimer (1856–1936), William Gear (1915–1997), James Cowie (1886–1956), Alberto Morrocco (1917–1998), Gerhard Richter (b.1932), Andy Warhol (1928–1987), Joseph Beuys (1921–1986), Tracey Emin (b.1963), Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010), Marc Quinn (b.1964) and
Ken Currie (b.1960)
52 artworks
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Self Portrait 1886
John Singer Sargent (1856–1925)
Oil on canvas
H 34.5 x W 29.7 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait 1637
George Jamesone (1589/1590–1644)
Oil on canvas
H 71 x W 54.9 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait 1882
Joseph Farquharson (1846–1935)
Oil on canvas
H 34.5 x W 29.7 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait 1992
Brian McLaughlin (b.1966)
Oil on board
H 32.8 x W 23.6 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© the artist. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait 1883
Jules Breton (1827–1906)
Oil on canvas
H 30.5 x W 25.8 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait
John Phillip (1817–1867)
Oil on canvas
H 70.8 x W 51.4 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait 1882
Edward John Poynter (1836–1919)
Oil on canvas
H 34.5 x W 29.7 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait 1882
George Reid (1841–1913)
Oil on canvas
H 34.5 x W 29.7 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait 1952
James McBey (1883–1959)
Oil on canvas
H 72.4 x W 54.8 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait
George Washington Wilson (1823–1893)
Oil on panel
H 42.9 x W 32.9 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait 1883
John Everett Millais (1829–1896)
Oil on canvas
H 34.5 x W 29.7 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait
James Giles (1801–1870)
Oil on board
H 47.1 x W 37.1 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait 1967
Duncan Grant (1885–1978)
Oil on canvas
H 47.3 x W 36 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© Estate of Duncan Grant. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Cigarette Tits [Idealized Smokers Chest II] 1999
Sarah Lucas (b.1962)
Chair, balls, cigarettes and bra
H 80 x W 48 x D 52 cm
Tate
![Cigarette Tits [Idealized Smokers Chest II]](https://d3d00swyhr67nd.cloudfront.net/w800h800/collection/TATE/TATE/TATE_TATE_T13928-001.jpg)
© Sarah Lucas, courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London. Image credit: Tate
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Self Portrait c.1915
Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)
Oil on canvas laid on panel
H 63.8 x W 45.9 cm
Yale Center for British Art
© estate of Vanessa Bell. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Yale Center for British Art
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Self Portrait Looking Up 1982
Leon Kossoff (1926–2019)
Oil on canvas
H 61 x W 46.4 cm
Ferens Art Gallery
© the artist's estate. Image credit: Ferens Art Gallery
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J. Y. M. Seated 1976
Frank Helmuth Auerbach (1931–2024)
Oil on board
H 50.8 x W 45.8 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© the artist's estate. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait 1925
Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887–1976)
Oil on board
H 57.2 x W 47.2 cm
The Lowry Collection, Salford
© The Lowry Collection, Salford. Image credit: The Lowry Collection, Salford
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Derelict Building 1941
Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887–1976)
Oil on canvas
H 43.3 x W 53.2 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© The Estate of L.S. Lowry. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Restraining Coat II (Female) 1995
Julie Roberts (b.1963)
Oil & acrylic on canvas
H 152.4 x W 152.4 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© the artist. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Man's Head (Self Portrait III) 1963 1963
Lucian Freud (1922–2011)
Oil on canvas
H 30.5 x W 25.1 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London
© Lucian Freud Archive / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London
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Self-Portrait 1902
Gwen John (1876–1939)
Oil on canvas
H 44.8 x W 34.9 cm
Tate
Image credit: Tate
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Ivy Leaves in a White Jug c.1920–1925
Gwen John (1876–1939)
Gouache on paper
H 16.3 x W 12.6 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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We Two Boys Together Clinging 1961
David Hockney (b.1937)
Oil on board
H 121.9 x W 152.4 cm
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre
© David Hockney. Image credit: John Webb
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Pope I (Study after Pope Innocent X by Diego Velázquez) 1951
Francis Bacon (1909–1992)
Oil on canvas
H 197.8 x W 137.4 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2024. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Study of a Head, 1952 1952
Francis Bacon (1909–1992)
Oil on canvas
H 49.5 x W 39.4 cm
Yale Center for British Art
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2024. Image credit: Yale Center for British Art
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Francis Bacon (1909–1992), Study No. 6 (Head and Teeth) 1978
Clive Barker (b.1940)
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© courtesy of Whitford Fine Art, London. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait c.1896
Walter Richard Sickert (1860–1942)
Oil on canvas
H 45.7 x W 35.6 cm
Leeds Museums and Galleries
Image credit: Bridgeman Images
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Self Portrait 1937
David Bomberg (1890–1957)
Oil on board
H 61 x W 50.8 cm
Pallant House Gallery
© the estate of David Bomberg. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
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Portrait Head 1965
Angus Menmuir Neil (1924–1992)
Oil on board
H 51.2 x W 41 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© the artist's estate. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Joan Eardley (1921–1963), Artist 1943
Joan Kathleen Harding Eardley (1921–1963)
Oil on plywood
H 53.4 x W 45.7 cm
National Galleries of Scotland
© the Eardley estate. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: National Galleries of Scotland
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Setting Sun over Fields c.1955–1963
Joan Kathleen Harding Eardley (1921–1963)
Oil on canvas
H 46.5 x W 51.5 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© the Eardley estate. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Barbara Hepworth's Hand 1967
Barbara Hepworth (1903–1975)
Bronze
H 6 x W 20 x D 11 cm
The Hepworth Wakefield
© Bowness. Image credit: The Hepworth Wakefield
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Torso 1932
Barbara Hepworth (1903–1975)
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© Bowness. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Robert Colquhoun (1914–1962), Artist, Self Portrait c.1940
Robert Colquhoun (1914–1962)
Oil on canvas
H 41 x W 33 cm
National Galleries of Scotland
© the artist's estate / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: National Galleries of Scotland
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Woman in Green 1949
Robert Colquhoun (1914–1962)
Oil on canvas
H 101.3 x W 51.4 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© the artist's estate / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Mr Wyndham Lewis as 'Tyro' c.1920–1921
Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957)
Oil on canvas
H 75.9 x W 45.4 cm
Ferens Art Gallery
© by kind permission of the Wyndham Lewis Memorial Trust (a registered charity) / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: Bridgeman Images
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One of the Stations of the Dead 1933–1937
Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957)
Oil on canvas
H 127.6 x W 75.8 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© by kind permission of the Wyndham Lewis Memorial Trust (a registered charity) / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Me VIII 2012
Lucy Skaer (b.1975)
Resin & celluloid
H 23.5 x W 15.5 x D 4 cm
Government Art Collection
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Le peintre des fleurs
John Henry Lorimer (1856–1936)
Oil on canvas
H 94.5 x W 56.5 cm
National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle & Garden
Image credit: National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle & Garden
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Self Portrait 1938
William Gear (1915–1997)
Brush & ink on paper
H 42.5 x W 26.7 cm
The Ingram Collection of Modern British and Contemporary Art
© the artist's estate / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: The Ingram Collection of Modern British and Contemporary Art
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Winter Pastoral 1964
William Gear (1915–1997)
Oil on canvas
H 122.5 x W 81.5 cm
Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
© the artist's estate / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums
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Self Portrait with Artist's First Wife, Nancy 1923
James Cowie (1886–1956)
Oil on canvas
H 81.5 x W 81.5 cm
The Fleming Collection
© the artist's estate. Image credit: The Fleming Collection
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Self Portrait 1964
Alberto Morrocco (1917–1998)
Oil on canvas
H 56 x W 51 cm
The Ruth Borchard Collection
© the artist's estate / Bridgeman Images. Image credit: Ruth Borchard Collection
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Self Portrait Standing, Three Times, 17.3.1991 1991
Gerhard Richter (b.1932)
Painted photographs on paper
H 151.2 x W 112.8 cm
Tate
© Gerhard Richter. Image credit: Tate
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Self-Portrait, Three Times, 24.1.90 (Selbstbildnis, dreimal, 24.1.90) 1990
Gerhard Richter (b.1932)
Oil on photograph
H 50 x W 60 cm
Tate
© Gerhard Richter. Image credit: Tate
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Self-Portrait with Skull 1978
Andy Warhol (1928–1987)
Acrylic & silkscreen ink on canvas
National Galleries of Scotland
© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / DACS, London 2024. Image credit: National Galleries of Scotland
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Felt Suit 1970
Joseph Beuys (1921–1986)
Felt
H 170 x W 60 cm
Tate
© DACS 2024. Image credit: Tate
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The Simple Truth 1995
Tracey Emin (b.1963)
Wool, cotton & felt
H 216 x W 235 x D 2 cm
Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre
© Tracey Emin. All rights reserved, DACS 2024. Image credit: Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London
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Amoeba 1963–1965 & cast 1984
Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010)
Bronze
H 91.6 x W 69.4 x D 30 cm
Tate
© The Easton Foundation / VAGA at ARS, NY and DACS, London 2024. Image credit: Tate
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Marc Quinn (b.1964) 2006
Marc Quinn (b.1964)
Blood, liquid silicone, stainless steel, glass, perspex & refrigeration equipment
H 205 x W 65 x D 65 cm
National Portrait Gallery, London
© the artist. Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London
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Unfamiliar Reflection: Self Portrait by Ken Currie (b.1960) 2006
Ken Currie (b.1960)
Oil on canvas
H 198.5 x W 137.5 cm
National Galleries of Scotland
© the artist/courtesy Flowers Gallery, London and New York. Image credit: National Galleries of Scotland
Explore artists in this Curation
View all 43-
Lucy Skaer (b.1975) -
Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010) -
Jules Breton (1827–1906) -
James Giles (1801–1870) -
James Cowie (1886–1956) -
Julie Roberts (b.1963) -
Joseph Farquharson (1846–1935) -
George Washington Wilson (1823–1893)
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Tracey Emin (b.1963) -
John Henry Lorimer (1856–1936) - View all 43