History of the Portrait

Why do we make images of ourselves and others?

portrait
noun

|prtrt; -trt|

portrait
noun

|prtrt; -trt|

1. a work of art that represents a specic person.

portrait
noun

|prtrt; -trt|

1. a work of art that represents a specic person. portraits usually show what a person looks like as well as revealing something about the subjects personality.

portrait
noun

|prtrt; -trt|

1. a work of art that represents a specic person. portraits usually show what a person looks like as well as revealing something about the subjects personality. portraits can be made of any sculptural material or in any two-dimensional medium.

Rhinoceros, man, and bison. Lascaux, France, ca. 15,000-13,000 B.C.

Handprint, Chauvet Cave, France ca. 30,000-28,000 B.C.

M.C. Escher (Dutch) Hand with Reecting Sphere, 1935

Gabriel Orozco (Mexican) My Hands are My Heart, 1991

Gold funerary mask, Mycenae, Greece ca. 1650 B.C.

Damien Hirst (German)

Damien Hirst (German) For the Love of God, 2007 A.D.

Damien Hirst (German) For the Love of God, 2007 A.D. a platinum cast of a real human skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds

Damien Hirst (German) For the Love of God, 2007 A.D. a platinum cast of a real human skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds cost 14 million pounds to make, allegedly sold for 50 million pounds - this would make it the most expensive work of art ever sold

Damien Hirst (German) For the Love of God, 2007 A.D. a platinum cast of a real human skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds cost 14 million pounds to make, allegedly sold for 50 million pounds - this would make it the most expensive work of art ever sold teeth are real human teeth

Albrecht Durer (German)

Self-Portrait at 22, 1493

Albrecht Durer (German)

Self-Portrait at 22, 1493

Albrecht Durer (German)

Self-Portrait at 26, 1498

Self-Portrait at 22, 1493

Albrecht Durer (German)

Self-Portrait at 26, 1498

Self-Portrait at 22, 1493

Albrecht Durer (German)

Self-Portrait at 26, 1498

Self-Portrait at 22, 1493 Self-Portrait at 28, 1500

Noah Kalina (American) Noah K. Everyday 2000-Present

Leonardo da Vinci (Italian) ca. 1512

Leonardo da Vinci (Italian) Mona Lisa, ca. 1503-1506

Salvador Dali (Spanish) Self Portrait as Mona Lisa, 1954

Pablo Picasso (Spanish) Self-Portrait, 1907

Frida Kahlo (Mexican) Two Fridas, 1939

Ron Mueck (American) Mask II, 2001

Ron Mueck (American) Crouching Boy in Mirror, 1999-2000