Why Do Artists Keep Painting Self-Portraits?

Self-portraits are one of the most popular and enduring forms of art. Most famously, artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Frida Kahlo repeatedly reimagined themselves in paint, resulting in iconic images. Despite the invention of smartphones, which make it possible to capture and view our own likeness in an instant, many artists are still drawn to self-portraiture. Two new group shows explore the power of this subject in the contemporary age: “Self-Portraits” at GRIMM’s New York and Amsterdam spaces, and “Art of the Selfie” at the National Museum of Cardiff. But what do artists hope to capture when they depict themselves?

“The self-portrait remains as relevant today as it has been throughout art history,” said Jorg Grimm, in an interview ahead of the “Self-Portraits” opening. He has curated the gallery’s New York (on view through May 4th) and Amsterdam (through May 25th) shows with a mix of 22 artists, including Louise Giovanelli, Anthony Cudahy, Anj Smith, and Arisa Yoshioka. “The psychological reflection and emotional approach needed to create a self-portrait in the classical sense, as opposed to a mere photographic image, is what makes the works in the exhibition so special,” he said.

For the dual show, Grimm invited artists to bring their own distinct style to self-portraiture. Throughout “Self-Portraits,” the exhibitors meticulously examine their appearance in imaginative ways. In New York, Philip Akkerman’s self-image warps over time: from an angular but relatively realistic painting of himself with an intense gaze (Painting 1992 No.65, 1992) to a jagged, splintered self-portrait that probes beneath the veneer of his face (Painting 2016 No.85, 2016). Charles Avery’s humorously named Untitled (Self-portrait of the Artist as a young Rectangle) (2024) is formed from limited lines, but aptly captures the essence of his specific physicality. Elsewhere, Neo Matloga paints himself over and over in watery ink on paper, showing the ever-changing nature of the human face and presenting an array of different expressions that look as though they could wash away at any moment.

Some of the exhibitors have created a self-portrait for the first time, including British painters Louise Giovanelli and Tommy Harrison, who both draw heavily from art history. German artist Matthias Weischer hasn’t explored the subject since he was a teenager. Many of his current works depict empty rooms, within which human activity is heavily suggested, but the body is rarely shown. The invitation to paint a self-portrait, he said, provided an interesting problem-solving mission for him, enabling him to experiment with how the human figure can be brought into the pictorial space.

“In my youth, between the ages of 15 and 18, I almost exclusively made self-portraits,” Weischer said, in an interview with Artsy. “Now, I have taken up the subject again and looked for a suitable form. Today, my figure is more stylized and fits into the series of objects that fill the space. I was worried for a long time that a single figure would draw too much attention to the picture, but perhaps I have defused that somewhat with this rather flat approach.”

Weischer has painted Untitled (2024) for GRIMM’s Amsterdam exhibition, which shows the artist blending into the space around him, as though nervously checking whether he can come into full view. In the piece, his bare legs are fully visible; his body is entirely hidden against a bright blue wall; and his simplified facial form with giant eyes seems to be stuck between hiding and revealing. This is not a realistic likeness, but it captures the artist’s uncertainty about how comfortably he belongs in his own works, and calls to mind the decisions that every self-portraitist makes about the aspects of their face and body that they emphasize or conceal.

Scottish painter Gabriella Boyd has a semi-abstract work in the exhibition, Crimscott Street (2024). In the work, the artist depicts her head apparently lying horizontally as her body blurs into an abstract background. For Boyd, self-portraiture reflects a coming-together of external likeness, internal psychology, and memory. “I think of self-portraits as a record in time,” she said. “It’s almost like a flag in the sand in an attempt to catch that one version of self or place.…When I’m painting, I often tune into a sensory experience or psychological space, depicting with a sense of something that’s just out of optical reach.”

In Cardiff, “Art of the Selfie” (on view through January 26, 2025) looks to the roots of self-portraiture, with works by artists such as Rembrandt and Francis Bacon shown alongside contemporary names from Bedwyr Williams to Anya Paintsil. The museum also features Van Gogh’s iconic Portrait of the Artist (1887), which is on loan from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. “The human impulse for visual self-representation is not a new thing,” said Lowri Williams, the National Museum of Cardiff’s head of exhibitions and design. “Artists have always made self-portraits. During his short career, Van Gogh made at least 35. We’re pleased to be displaying a wide range of different methods and artistic approaches.”

The show features numerous non-painterly examples of artists depicting themselves combined with other figures. Bedwyr Williams’s photographic self-portrait Bard Attitude (2005) shows the artist in typically humorous style dressed up in a Welsh bard’s robes, with a long white beard—a characterful aspect that is very much himself while also playing a performative role through costume. Paintsil also takes on another persona in her self-portrait in the show, a textile piece in which she presents herself as Blodeuwedd, a Welsh mythological female figure who is formed from flowers. The portrait is created using traditional textile techniques, drawing together both her Welsh and Ghanaian heritage.

“Art of the Selfie” explores the similarities and differences of self-portraits and selfies, concluding that both are ultimately attempts to show who we are as people. “Selfies have become a popular method of self-expression and individualism,” said Lowri Williams. “Self-portraits are about much more than physical appearance. They can tell us not just what the artist looked like, but about their life, environment, even their state of mind.”