There are numerous women in the arts who have left their indelible mark in whatever they created. Who can forget Frida Kahlo’s paintings or Dorothea Lange’s contribution to photo-journalism? Here are images of the most powerful women artists portraying themselves in many different ways. Some of them are representational, some are artistic and some are political. Feel free to add your own favorite female artist’s self portrait.
Sofonisba Anguissola, Self portrait , 1556
An Italian Renaissance painter she was educated in the arts and reached the pinnacle of becoming an official court painter of King Philip II. She met Michalangelo who recognised her talent early and she started her carreer as the tutor of Spanish queen Elizabeth of Valois who was a keen amateur painter.
Catharina Van Hemessen, Self Portrait, 1548
Hemessen was a Flemish painter of the 16th century. She is credited with being the first ever artist to make a self portrait seated at the easel.
Image credits: en.wikipedia.org
Artemisia GentileschiSelf portrait ca. 1616-18
Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter from the 16th century. In an age when women seldom participated in public/social life she was the first woman to be accepted by her fellow artists and patrons and also into the Accedemia di Arte del Disegno, (Academy of drawing) in Florence . This self portrait of herself as a lute player is one among the many others she made of herself.
Image credits: commons.wikimedia.org
Artemisia Gentileschi, Self portrait as a Female Martyr, 1615
Image credits: commons.wikimedia.org
Berthe Morisot Self Portrait,1885.
Berthe Morisot was a female impressionist painter. A friend of Edouard Manet, she was often painted by the impressionists and she rose to prominence as one of the few female artists of the period.
Frida Kahlo, Self portrait with cropped hair- 1940.
In 1939 after breaking her affair with her friend the Hungarian photographer Nikolas Muray, Kahlo also ended up divorcing Diego Rivera by the end of the same year. Kahlo is wearing Rivera’s suit and the Spanish text reads, “Look if i loved you it was because of your hair. Now that you are without hair, I don’t love you any more.”
Image credits: www.google.com
Frida Kahlo, Self portrait with thorn necklace and hummingbird -1940.
Ilse Bing was a german surrealist, avant garde and commercial photographer, Self portrait in mirrors, 1931.
Image credits: www.moma.org
Bonnie, 35yrs. and Twins Lara & Maisie, 9yrs. (2011). Stacey Tyrell
Stacey Tyrell is a Canadian black photographer who explores race and perception in her work. Her ancestry consists of Irish and Scottish descent.
Image credits: www.staceytyrell.com
Stacey Tyrell, photograph
Stacey Tyrell wears white makeup to enact her series that questions how we perceive others based on skin color.
Image credits: www.staceytyrell.com
Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still 21, 1977
Sherman is a celebrated American artist and photographer. She has been working with self portraiture for more than four decades.
Pushpamala N and Clare Arni, Ethnographic Series- Native Women of South India: Manners and Customs”2000-2004.
Image credits: thesubjectiveobject.tumblr.com
5
1