
The self-portrait has always fascinated me as an artist myself, but also as a lover of art. Artists like Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Beckmann who have continually turned to the self for inspiration and exploration have especially fascinated me. There’s no restraints with the self as you’re not going to complain that your nose is too big or your ears are sticking out too much as you have the steering wheel. So you’re free to explore new techniques, materials, compositions, and new emotional depths.
Famous Selfies by Artists – Paintings and Drawings
I’ve arranged self-portraits by the year they were created. Click on a portrait to see the full size image and some quotes by the artist.
Also, how many self-portraits can you name. Who is the artist? I’m confident that not a single person could name ALL of them without clicking through to the artist’s page to see who it is.
1506 Self-Portraits

1510

1555

1563

1567

1623

1650

1669

1759

1786

1794

1799

1806

1815

1837

1845

1847

1858

1859


1872


1875

1879


1881


1883

1885

1886


1888

1889


1890

1900

1902

1903


1906




1908

1910

1912




1913

1914

1915


1916

1917

1919




1921

1922

1923

1924


1925

1930


1932

1933

1935

1936

1937


1941

1943



1945

1946


1947

1948

1950

1953

1954

1955

1958

1961

1964

1965

1968

1973


1974

1975

1976


1977

1980

1982

1985 Self Portraits



1992

1993

1996 Portraits


1998

2000

2002

2005 Self Portraits




2007

2010

2011


2015

2019


More on the Famous Self-Portraits
Let us know what you think about self-portraits in this age of selfies and social media. Makes me wonder if Vincent would have been on Instagram flooding our feeds with flowers and self-portraits.
How do you say self-portrait in other languages? In German it’s Selbstporträt, in French it’s autoportrait, in Spanish it’s autorretrato, in Chinese it’s 自画像/自我描述, in Japanese it’s 自画像, in Korean it’s 자화상, in Brazilian it’s autorretrato, in Italian it’s autoritratto, and in Turkish it’s kendi portresi. What is it in your language?
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