self-portrait

American  

[self-pawr-trit, -treyt, -pohr-, self-] / ˌsɛlfˈpɔr trɪt, -treɪt, -ˈpoʊr-, ˈsɛlf- /

noun

1. a portrait of oneself done by oneself.

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self-portrait British  

noun

1. a portrait one draws or paints of oneself

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Etymology

Origin of self-portrait

First recorded in 1830–40

Explanation

If you draw a picture of yourself, it's a self-portrait. Vincent van Gogh was well-known for his many self-portraits, painting more than 40 of them over the course of a few years. Whenever an artist creates a portrait of herself, whatever medium she uses, the result is a self-portrait. A six year-old can draw a self-portrait in crayon, and a famous sculptor can sculpt one out of clay. In the mid-15th century, Early Renaissance painters were the first to focus on creating deliberate self-portraits; this was probably due partly to the fact that mirrors had just recently become affordable and fairly easy to find.

Example Sentences

The exhibition contains a self-portrait in this larger format, but it doesn’t have the concentrated punch and mystery that the standard Polaroids—requiring the viewer to lean in and peer—have in abundance.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

A self-portrait created during that time, which now hangs in the Tate Britain, so impressed her tutor Frederick Brown that he bought it and it hung in his home.

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2026

Therrien’s exploratory, artistic bird-flipping isn’t parody, like German artist Anselm Kiefer’s prickly self-portrait photographs raising a Hitler salute in front of ruined landscapes.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2025

There was a buzz in the room as he stood before Mexican painter Kahlo’s sleeping self-portrait.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 22, 2025

Maybe he wants his poem to look as good as his self-portrait.

From "Bronx Masquerade" by Nikki Grimes