Posted inAncient Greece, Art

Iaia of Cyzicus, the Greek Painter of Antiquity and Author of the First Known Female Self-Portrait

If we asked readers to name female painters, not many names would likely come up. Most would mention Frida Kahlo and Berthe Morisot, and some might also recall Dora Maar, Yayoi Kusama, or Paula Rego; Spaniards might remember Maruja Mallo, and those who have seen the respective films might think of Leonora Carrington and Margaret […]

Posted inArt, Modern Era

Joseph Ducreux, the Painter Who Created the Most Extravagant Self-Portraits in History

In another article, we talked about the tronie, a type of caricature portrait practiced by Dutch Golden Age painters. In the following century, it was a French artist who revived this interest in breaking away from academicism, creating some highly expressive portraits through gestures. Thus, the subjects appear laughing, asking for silence, pointing with a […]

Posted inArt

Johannes Gumpp, the 17th-century Painter whose only Work is a Mysterious Triple Self-portrait

Since the existence of the art of painting, artists have created self-portraits or included themselves in representations of mythological, religious, or invented themes. Until the invention of photography, the easiest, though not the only, way to create a self-portrait was to look in a mirror. Depending on the era, this could be more or less […]