Self Portrait: Renaissance to Contemporary

National Portrait Gallery's Self Portrait Exhibition

An ambitious exploration of the self-portrait from its inception in the early fifteenth century to the beginning of the twenty-first century.

 

The artist once stood before a canvas and gazed into a mirror; we, in turn, stand before the canvas looking at what the artist saw in the mirror. For a moment, time and space are collapsed and we find a reflection of ourselves in the artist's eyes. 

 

With 140 self portraits from all over the world the exhibition explored how artists have constructed their identity, setting the scene for their life and times and above all showing themselves as creative individuals, often captured in the act of conjuring their own image in the studio.

November 1, 2014
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