Famous Self-Portraits

Artists looking hard at themselves, from Rembrandt to van Gogh.

22 paintings, with works by Vincent van Gogh, Rembrandt van Rijn, Paul Gauguin and Henri Fantin-Latour. Most often they suit the staircase, apartment or dorm and hallway or entryway.

22 paintings

Shown from the waist up, an older man with pale, peachy skin looks out at us with deep-set, gray eyes under a furrowed brow, in front of a sable-brown background in this vertical portrait painting.

Rembrandt van Rijn Self-Portrait, 1659 National Gallery of Art

Painting of a red-haired, bearded man with light skin, painted in short brushstrokes and multicolored dots. The background is likewise a mass of small, closely spaced colored dots, these in green, blue, and red-orange.

Vincent van Gogh Self-Portrait, 1887 Art Institute of Chicago

Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (obverse: The Potato Peeler), Vincent van Gogh, 1887, oil on canvas

Vincent van Gogh Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat (obverse: The Potato Peeler), 1887 The Met

Self-Portrait, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1660, oil on canvas

Rembrandt van Rijn Self-Portrait, 1660 The Met

Rubens, Helena Fourment (1614–1673), and Their Son Frans (1633–1678), Peter Paul Rubens, ca. 1635, oil on wood

Peter Paul Rubens Rubens, Helena Fourment (1614–1673), and Their Son Frans (1633–1678), ca. 1635 The Met

Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Marie Marguerite Carraux de Rosemond (1765–1788), Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, 1785, oil on canvas

Adélaïde Labille-Guiard Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Marie Marguerite Carraux de Rosemond (1765–1788), 1785 The Met

Portrait of a Man, Possibly a Self-Portrait, Diego Velázquez, ca. 1635, oil on canvas

Diego Velázquez Portrait of a Man, Possibly a Self-Portrait, ca. 1635 The Met

Shown from the chest up, a man with short, orange hair and green-tinted, pale skin looks at us, wearing a vivid blue painter's smock in this vertical portrait painting.

Vincent van Gogh Self-Portrait, 1889 National Gallery of Art

Shown from the waist up, a pale-skinned man with a mustache stands with one hand on his hip and the other hand held up in this dark-toned, vertical portrait painting.

James McNeill Whistler Gold and Brown: Self-Portrait, c. 1896-1898 National Gallery of Art

A dark-haired, disembodied head of a haloed man with pale, peach skin floats against a red and yellow background in this vertical portrait.

Paul Gauguin Self-Portrait, 1889 National Gallery of Art

Painted in muted lime green, plum purple, buttercup yellow, slate and royal blue, the head and shoulders of a man with peach-colored skin sitting in front of a window looks at us in this stylized, vertical portrait.

Paul Gauguin Self-Portrait Dedicated to Carrière, 1888 or 1889 National Gallery of Art

The face of a young man with peachy-colored skin and dark hair fills this vertical painting. The man is lit from our left but is angled to slightly to our right, so his face is mostly in shadow.

Edgar Degas Self-Portrait with White Collar, c. 1857 National Gallery of Art

The Jabach Family, Charles Le Brun, ca. 1660, oil on canvas

Charles Le Brun The Jabach Family, ca. 1660 The Met

Self-Portrait, Anthony van Dyck, ca. 1620–21, oil on canvas

Anthony van Dyck Self-Portrait, ca. 1620–21 The Met

Self-Portrait, Armand Guillaumin, c. 1872–74, oil on canvas

Armand Guillaumin Self-Portrait, c. 1872–74 Cleveland Museum of Art

Portrait of the Artist, Gilbert Stuart, ca. 1786, oil on canvas

Gilbert Stuart Portrait of the Artist, ca. 1786 The Met

This painting depicts a man from the waist up, facing us. He has light skin with a curled white mustache and pointed beard, and gray, wavy hair.

William Merritt Chase Self-Portrait, 1915 National Gallery of Art

Shown from about the waist up, a woman with smooth, pale skin sits in a chair facing our right in front of a canvas on an easel in this vertical portrait. She leans onto her right elbow, which rests on the seat back.

Judith Leyster Self-Portrait, c. 1630 National Gallery of Art

This painting shows a man's head and shoulders in a portrait. He is turned slightly to the left, looking out towards us. The left half of his face and torso are in shadow.

Henri Fantin-Latour Self-Portrait, 1858 National Gallery of Art

This painting is a close-up portrait of a man's head and shoulders. He has pale skin and light, slightly disheveled brown hair with a strong widow's peak, and a short brown beard.

Henri Fantin-Latour Self-Portrait, 1861 National Gallery of Art

The head of a pale-skinned man nearly fills this shadowy, vertical portrait painting. His shoulders angle to our right, and his dark eyes cut back to look at us.

Édouard Vuillard Self-Portrait, Aged 21, 1889 National Gallery of Art

Self-Portrait at Spurveskjul, Vilhelm Hammershøi, 1911, oil on canvas

Vilhelm Hammershøi Self-Portrait at Spurveskjul, 1911 The Met

Rooms these paintings suit

Styles