Self Portrait Gallery

Portrait of Himself, 1894. Creator: Aubrey Beardsley

Portrait of Himself, 1894. British artist and eccentric Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898) depicts himself as a tiny figure in an enormous canopied bed. Inscription top left: Par les Dieux Jumeaux tous les Monstres ne sont pas en Afrique'. [By the twin Gods, not all monsters are in Africa], a reference to Beardsley's frail health due to tuberculosis. He was diagnosed at the age of seven, and knew that he would not live very long. Despite frequent bouts of ill-health, he produced well over a thousand drawings between 1893 and 1898. His decadent and erotic subject matter was frequently shocking and even pornographic. His brilliant career was cut short when he died, aged 25, in the South of France. From The Yellow Book, Vol. III. Compared to the pomposities in the Uffizi Gallery, this is a delightfully witty self-portrait, Published in "The Best of Beardsley" edited by R. A. Walker, [The Bodley Head, London, 1948]

© Shirley Markham Collection/Heritage Images

Discomforts of an Epicure, 1787. Creator: Thomas Rowlandson

Discomforts of an Epicure, 1787. According to available descriptions of Rowlandson, this is a self-portrait, of course exaggerated. The spirited drawing, the fine consolidation of neutral colors and warm greys, make this a masterpiece in Rowlandson's oeuvre. The well-balanced green and violet in the clothing, heightened by the florid suggestion of red in the face, give life to the subject in the most satisfying manner...Certainly he did not spare himself in this candid record of satisfied complacency...we see a fusion involving the artist's own interpretation of his personality and an artistry which is completely competent'. From "The Watercolour Drawings of Thomas Rowlandson from the Albert H. Wiggin Collection in the Boston Public Library" with commentary by Arthur W. Heintzelman. [Watson-Guptill Publications, Inc., New York, 1947]

© Shirley Markham Collection/Heritage Images

Titian Ramsay Peale at G Street Residence, Washington, D.C. - Front Parlor, Circa 1862

Titian Ramsay Peale at G Street Residence, Washington, D.C. - Front Parlor, Circa 1862. Interior view, northwest corner of front parlor of residence of Titian Ramsay Peale, G Street, Washington, D.C

© Heritage Art/Heritage Images

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