This document provides information on self-portraits created by various artists throughout history. It begins with Jan van Eyck's realistic self-portrait from the Northern Renaissance. It then discusses self-portraits by Leonardo da Vinci from the Italian High Renaissance, Rembrandt from the Baroque Era, and Vincent van Gogh who pioneered Post-Impressionist expressionistic self-portraits. Later artists featured include Pablo Picasso's Cubist works, Frida Kahlo's surreal self-portraits reflecting her life experiences, Francis Bacon's emotionally raw abstracted portraits, and Chuck Close's photorealistic grid portraits. Each artist experimented with stylistic approaches reflective of their historical era.

1. Unit 1: Self Portraits

2. Jan van Eyck,
Man in Red Turban (1433)
Flemish (Belgian)
Northern Renaissance painter,
ca.1395-1441
Northern Renaissance artists were
masters of technique, and their works
are amazingly detailed. Their goal
was to paint as realistically as
possible.
Van Eyck worked for European
royalty, earning a very good salary.

3. Leonardo da Vinci, Self-Portrait
(1512)
Part of the Italian High Renaissance
(1452-1519)
Painter, sculptor, architect, musician,
scientist, mathematician, engineer,
inventor, anatomist, geologist,
cartographer, botanist, and writer
High Renaissance artists studied
nature and the human body in order to
perfect their understanding of anatomy
and perspective.

4. Rembrandt,
Self-Portrait (1660)
Dutch Painter and
Engraver, 1606-1669,
during the Baroque Era
Less complex, more
realistic and more
emotional than previous
trends in art history.
This movement was
encouraged by the
Catholic Church, the
most important patron of
the arts at that time.
Rembrandt specialized in
portraits and illustrations
of scenes from the Bible.

5. Vincent van Gogh,
Self Portrait with Fur Cap
and Bandaged Ear (1889)
Dutch Post-Impressionist
painter, 1853-1890
Impressionists were known for
their light, spontaneous
landscapes. Post-
Impressionists were influenced
by them, but took their art in
other directions.
Van Gogh's paintings are
known for their thick, textured
brushstrokes, bold colours, and
emotional expression.

6. V. van Gogh,
Self Portrait at Auvers
(1889-90)
Van Gogh suffered from
years of painful anxiety and
frequent periods of mental
illness
Towards the end of his life,
van Gogh moved to Auvers-
sur-Oise to be near his
doctor and his brother.

7. Pablo Picasso,
Self-Portrait (1899-1900)
Spanish Cubist Painter and
Sculptor, 1881-1973
Picasso started by drawing &
painting realistically.
Eventually he began to
experiment with different
techniques and styles.

8. P. Picasso,
Self-Portrait Facing Death
(1972)
Picasso became influenced
by African art, with its
simplified shapes and
bright colours.
The goal of Cubism is to
show an object from multiple
points of view
simultaneously.
Cubism encouraged many
other art movements to
develop in the 20th century.

9. Frida Kahlo,
Self-Portrait with Thorn
Necklace (1940)
Born 1907 in Coyoacán, Mexico
Frida Kahlo survived many
difficult events in her life, including
contracting polio as a child, a long
recovery from a serious car
accident, two failed marriages,
and several miscarriages.
She used these experiences,
combined with strong Mexican
and Native American influences, to
create highly personal paintings.
Kahlo used personal symbolism
mixed with Surrealism (dream
imagery) to express her suffering
through her artwork.

10. Francis Bacon,
Self-Portrait (1958)
Irish-born British Expressionist
Painter, 1909-1992
The goal of Expressionism is
not to reproduce a subject
accurately, but instead to portray it
in such a way as to express the
inner state of the artist.
Bacon's work is known for being
bold, graphic, and emotionally
raw.
Bacon specialized in abstracted
portraits on fairly plain
backgrounds.

11. Emily Carr,
Self Portrait
Canadian Expressionist Painter, 1871-
1945
Carr specialized in painting landscapes
based on her life in British Columbia.
She is also known for including Native
imagery (lots of totem poles) in her
paintings in an effort to document their
culture.
Being an Expressionist painter, Carr
focused on the emotional and
mythological content in her landscapes,
and she used highly stylized and
abstracted forms.

12. Chuck Close,
Self-Portrait (1997)
American Photorealist painter,
born in 1940
The goal of Photorealism is to
paint in a style closely
resembling photographs.
Close specialized in enormous
portraits
Close suffers from “face
blindness”, in which he is
unable to recognize faces. By
painting portraits, he is better
able to recognize and remember
faces
To create his grid work copies
of photos, Close puts a grid on
the photo and on the canvas and
copies cell by cell

13. V. Van Gogh

14. Picasso

15. Kahlo