A review of the history of the self-portrait through the works of 10 masters
by G. Fernández - theartwolf.com
The genre of the self-portrait was born, of course, in the Renaissance, when the History of Art became the History of Artists. Since then, the self-portraits have turned into one of the richest and most fascinating genres of the history of the painting.
In these pages we'll try to make a brief and subjective review of 10 of the most important and original self-portraits of the Art History. Perhaps not the best or the most famous, but the 10 works displayed here form a fascinating trip to the soul of some of the most important Art masters of last the 500 years, from the early Renaissance masters as Albrecht Dürer or Leonardo da Vinci to the contemporary figures such as Francis Bacon or Jean-Michele Basquiat
(in chronological order)
Albrecht Dürer: Self-portrait as an Ecce Homo, c.1500
Leonardo da Vinci: Self-portrait, c.1512
Rembrandt van Rijn: Self-portrait, 1659
Vincent van Gogh: Self-portrait with bandaged ear, 1889
Pablo Picasso: Self-portrait, 1901
Egon Schiele: Self-portrait, 1911
Max Beckmann: Self-portrait with glass of champagne, 1919
Frida Kahlo: The broken column (Self-portrait), 1944
Francis Bacon: Self-portrait, 1971
Jean-Michelle Basquiat: Self-portrait, 1982
