Self-portrait facts for kids

Rembrandt's Self-Portrait with Two Circles (around 1665–1669). Rembrandt was one of the first artists to make self-portraits a very important type of art.

A self-portrait is a picture an artist makes of themselves. It can be a painting, drawing, sculpture, or even a photograph. Artists create self-portraits to show how they look, how they feel, or to explore their own identity.

One of the earliest known self-portraits was made by Jan van Eyck in 1433. A very famous self-portrait painter was Vincent van Gogh. He painted himself 37 times between 1886 and 1889!

Why Artists Make Self-Portraits
Famous Self-Portrait Artists
Self-Portraits Today
Images for kids
See also

Why Artists Make Self-Portraits

Artists create self-portraits for many reasons.

Learning and Practice

Sometimes, artists use themselves as models to practice their skills. It's easy to look in a mirror and draw or paint what you see. This helps them learn about faces, light, and shadows.

Showing Their Skills

Self-portraits can also be a way for artists to show off their talent. They might paint themselves in a way that highlights their best artistic abilities.

Telling a Story

Many self-portraits tell a story about the artist's life or feelings.

An artist might show themselves working in their studio.
They might show how they feel during a difficult time.
Some artists even dress up in costumes to play different roles.

Being Part of a Bigger Picture

Sometimes, artists include themselves in larger paintings with many people. This is like a "hidden" self-portrait. They might be a small figure in a crowd or a character in a scene.

Famous Self-Portrait Artists

Many artists throughout history have created self-portraits.

Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt was a Dutch painter who lived in the 1600s. He made many self-portraits throughout his life. These paintings show him at different ages, from a young man to an old man. His self-portraits give us a look into his life and how he changed over time.

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter known for her unique and powerful self-portraits. She often painted herself wearing traditional Mexican clothes. Her self-portraits show her feelings, her pain, and her strong spirit.

Vincent van Gogh

As mentioned, Vincent van Gogh painted himself many times. His self-portraits often show his strong emotions and his unique painting style. You can see how his mood changed by looking at his different self-portraits.

Self-Portraits Today

Today, self-portraits are still very popular. With cameras on phones, almost everyone takes "selfies," which are a modern type of self-portrait. Artists continue to use self-portraits to explore who they are and to share their unique view of the world.

Images for kids

Vincent van Gogh, Self-portrait without beard, end September 1889. This might have been Van Gogh's last self-portrait.
Self-portrait by Judith Leyster, a Dutch Golden Age painter.
Pieter Claesz, Vanitas with Violin and Glass Ball (detail), the artist is visible in the reflection, 1625.
Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940.
Joseph Wright of Derby Self-portrait (1765-1768).
Self-Portrait of Vincent van Gogh with head bandaged, after he cut off part of his ear.
Vincent van Gogh, Self Portrait, dedicated to Gauguin, 1888.
Rembrandt, The Artist in his Studio, 1628.
Las Meninas, painted in 1656, shows Diego Velázquez working at the easel to the left.
Sandro Botticelli's 1475 painting of the Adoration of the Magi has an "inserted self-portrait".
Masaccio inserted self-portrait from the Brancacci Chapel frescoes, 1424–1426.
Piero della Francesca as a sleeping soldier in his Resurrection, 1463.
Filippino Lippi as a figure in his Martyrdom of Saint Peter, 1481–82.
Catharina van Hemessen's 1548 self-portrait, perhaps the oldest self-portrait of a female oil-painter.
Sofonisba Anguissola (c. 1532–1625) painted several self-portraits. c. 1556.
Artemisia Gentileschi, Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, 1630s.
Mary Beale, Self-portrait, c. 1675–1680. She was an important portrait painter in 17th-century England.
Angelica Kauffman, self-portrait, 1780–1785.
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, 1785, with two pupils.
Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun painted several successful self-portraits. 1782.
Marie-Denise Villers, Young Woman Drawing, 1801, thought to be her self-portrait.
Marie Ellenrieder, self portrait, 1819. The first woman to enter the Academy of Munich.
Mary Cassatt was an American portrait painter, 1878.
Marie Bashkirtseff self-portrait, 1880.
Gwen John (1902) mostly painted women and children.
Zinaida Serebriakova, At the Dressing-Table (1909), one of the first female Russian painters.
Ilka Gedő, Double Self-Portrait, 1985.
Miyamoto Musashi, Samurai, writer and artist, c. 1640.
Hakuin Ekaku was a Zen monk who painted many self-portraits, 1764.
Motoori Norinaga, late 18th century, Japan.
Katsushika Hokusai, early 19th century, Japan.
Another Hokusai, Louvre.
Kikuchi Yōsai, 1856–7, Japan.
Chen Hongshou, China, 1635.
Ren Xiong, a member of the Shanghai school, c.1850.
Saint Dunstan, artist-Abbot of Glastonbury, c. 950.
Eadwine the Scribe, whose self portrait is accompanied by an inscription, c. 1150s.
Peter Parler, late fourteenth century, from Prague Cathedral.
Lorenzo Ghiberti on the Gates of Paradise, Baptisterio, Florence self portrait, early 15th century.
Jan van Eyck, Portrait of a Man in a Turban, 1433, generally seen as a self-portrait.
Rogier van der Weyden, as Saint Luke, makes a drawing for his painting of the Virgin. Boston, c. 1440.
Jean Fouquet, c. 1450, a very early portrait miniature.
Andrea Mantegna, c. 1474, includes himself in this fresco.
Israhel van Meckenem and his wife, engraving c. 1490, the earliest portrait print.
Dürer at thirteen, silverpoint, 1484.
Dürer at about twenty, 1491–92, drawing.
Albrecht Dürer Self-portrait 1493. This is among the earliest known formal self-portraits.
Dürer's last self-portrait, 1500.
Gentile Bellini, black chalk, 1496 or earlier.
Nuremberg sculptor Adam Kraft, self-portrait from St Lorenz Church, 1490s.
Probable self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1512–1515.
Nicholas Hilliard, self-portrait miniature, 1577.
A young Rembrandt, c. 1628, when he was 22.
Etching and burin, c. 1630.
Rembrandt in 1632, enjoying great success.
Role-playing in Self-portrait as an oriental Potentate with a Kris, etching, 1634.
1640, wearing a costume from over a century earlier.
Vienna c. 1655, oil on walnut.
Again in antique costume, 1658, Oil on canvas. His largest self-portrait.
Dated 1669, the year he died.
Pieter Brueghel the Elder, The Painter and The Buyer, c.1565, presumed to be a self-portrait.
Pierre Mignard, 1690, Louvre.
Francesco Solimena, c. 1715.
François Boucher, self-portrait in the studio, 1720.
Joshua Reynolds, 1748. The artist as visionary.
George Desmarées and his daughter, 1750.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Self-Portrait with Palette and Brushes, 1769.
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1771), in his painting clothes.
Francisco de Goya, Self-portrait in the Studio, 1795.
Gustave Courbet, Artist at His Easel, c. 1847–1848.
Carl Ludwig Jessen, Self-portrait, 1857.
James Whistler, Self Portrait, c. 1872.
Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait as a Painter, December 1887 - February 1888.
Henri Rousseau, 1890.
Jacek Malczewski, Self-portrait with a Palette, 1892.
Julian Fałat, Self-portrait with a Palette, 1896.
Umberto Boccioni, Self-portrait, 1906.
Enrique Simonet, Self-portrait with a Palette, 1910.
Ilya Repin, Self-portrait at Work, 1915.
Henri Matisse, Self-portrait, 1918.
Sergio de Castro,Self-portrait with brushes, oil on canvas, 1961.
Parmigianino, Self-portrait in a mirror c. 1524.
Johannes Gumpp, 1646, shows how most self-portraits were painted.
Ernst Oppler, The painter and Jo, 1928.
Michelangelo, c. 1535–1541, Sistine Chapel: The Last Judgment, Michelangelo as a limp skin hanging from the hand of St. Bartholomew.
Allegory of Prudence, Titian, his son and cousin, as Past, Present and Future. late 1560s.
Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-portrait, 1610, aged 78.
Jan de Bray (left) and his family pose as The Banquet of Anthony and Cleopatra. 1669.
Francisco de Goya at the age of 74, Self-portrait with Doctor Arrieta, 1820.
Anthony van Dyck with sunflower, representing his patronage by Charles I, 1633 or later.
Johan Zoffany specialised in group portraits, c. 1786.
Gustave Courbet, 1854, Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet.
François Desportes, a specialist animal painter, Self-portrait as Hunter, 1699.
Maurice Quentin de La Tour, pastel, 1750–60.
Gustave Courbet, Self Portrait (The Desperate Man), c. 1843.
William Orpen, c. 1910.
Pietro Perugino, c.1500.
Raphael, c. 1517–1518.
Hans Baldung, 1526.
Titian seems to have painted no self-portraits until he was in old age, 1567.
Probable self-portrait by El Greco, 1604.
Peter Paul Rubens, 1623.
Peter Paul Rubens with his (first) wife Isabella Brant, Munich, c.1609.
Saint Luke as a Painter Before the Crucifixion.
Salvator Rosa, 1640.
Diego Velázquez, Self-Portrait, 1643.
Nicolas Poussin, Self-Portrait, 1650.
Joshua Reynolds, presented to the Royal Academy, 1773.
Gilbert Stuart, Self-portrait, 1778.
Francisco de Goya, 1815.
Eugène Delacroix, 1837.
Gustave Courbet, 1842.
Karl Bryullov, 1848.
Edgar Degas, Self-portrait, 1855.
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Portrait of Whistler with Hat, 1858.
Henri Fantin-Latour, Self-portrait, 1860.
Ivan Kramskoi, Self-portrait, 1867.
Ivan Aivazovsky, Self-portrait, 1874.
Édouard Manet, Self-Portrait with Palette, 1879.
Paul Cézanne, 1880–1881.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Self portrait, 1882–1883.
Valentin Serov, 1887.
Édouard Vuillard, Self-portrait, 1889.
Vincent van Gogh, 1889.
Paul Gauguin, 1893.
Thomas Eakins, Self-portrait, 1902.
Henri Rousseau, 1903, Self-portrait of the Artist with a Lamp.
Henri Matisse, Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt, 1906.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1910.
Zinaida Serebriakova, Self-portrait as Pierrot, 1911.
Egon Schiele, 1912.
The first photographic portrait ever made was a self-portrait by Robert Cornelius, 1839.
Mathew Brady, self-portrait, circa 1875.
Nadar, Revolving Self Portrait, c. 1865.
Arthur Rimbaud, Self-portrait in Harar, Ethiopia, 1883.
Edgar Degas, Self-portrait, 1895.
Edward S. Curtis, self-portrait, 1898.
Émile Zola, self-portrait, 1902.
Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky, Self-portrait on the Korolistskali River, 1912.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, self-portrait, 1919.
Leonardo da Vinci, Self-portrait, c. 1512 to 1515.
Giuseppe Arcimboldo, self portrait, c. 1577.
Rembrandt, Self-portrait, c. 1628-1629.
Peter Paul Rubens, self portrait, c. 1634.
Francisco de Goya, self portrait, print, 1795.
John Constable self portrait, 1806.
Caspar David Friedrich, self portrait, age thirty-six, 1810.
Mikhail Vrubel, self portrait, c. 1885.
Castro Alves, self portrait, 18--.
Ilka Gedő, Self-Portrait in the Budapest Ghetto, 1944.