self-portrait

American  

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

noun

self-portraits plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• self-portraits
  plural

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

See Examples For:

self-portrait self-portraits

González’s portrait of Allen is currently on view at London’s National Portrait Gallery, hanging in the same room as a self-portrait by David Hockney.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

A 2012 self-portrait shows a startled, wan Mr. Hockney unhappily staring at the viewer as if we’ve just interrupted a rare moment of peace; it’s a radical departure from his usually cheery depictions of himself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

The final sections of the research consider whether modern descendants share physical similarities with Leonardo's famous self-portrait.

From Science Daily ● May 4, 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

And right now, even my self-portrait wears earmuffs.

From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari

To create one of his characters, “the last lost boy,” Cardoza took self-portraits wearing a three-faced mask and a tattered brown jacket.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026

A brilliant final section of self-portraits, beginning with the artist as a fresh-faced 23-year-old, documents both her changing appearance and her evolving conceptions of what a painting could be.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 3, 2026

It’s a dazzling assembly of portraits and self-portraits, scenes of everyday life, and the occasional religious or mythological theme.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 25, 2025

In June 2016, the museum debuted its first special exhibition, “Cindy Sherman: Imitation of Life,” which featured 120 self-portraits pulled from the Broad’s collection, the world’s largest holdings of Sherman’s photographic oeuvre.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2025

You'd think an ultra-attractive mother like mine would understand why my appearance was hampered by my Frida Kahlo eyebrows, coupled with my inability to paint stunning self-portraits of said eyebrows.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi