Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
The Watts Gift
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/george-frederic-watts-586" aria-label="More by George Frederic Watts" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">George Frederic Watts</a>
SelfPortrait
Bequeathed by Sir William Bowman Bt 1898
adults
artist, painter
arts and entertainment
beard
body
clothing and personal items
hat
man
named individuals
objects
people
portraits
self-portraits
Watts, George Frederic
work and occupations
<p>This is one of a number of half-length self-portraits by G F Watts, who was one of the greatest portrait painters of the Victorian era. In this picture he assumes the attitude of the bohemian artist, wearing a dark slouch hat and black velvet coat. This style of dress reflects Watts’s life with his friends, the Prinseps, at Little Holland House in Kensington where he lived from 1850 until 1875.  Watts later wrote ‘I paint myself constantly, that is to say whenever I want to make an experiment in method or colour and I am not in the humour to make a design’.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
3 November 2003 – 19 January 2004
2004-01-19
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2003-11-03
Portraits of Artists
Collection based display
14 October 2004 – 9 January 2005
2005-01-09
14 October 2004 – 9 January 2005
2005-01-09
2004-10-14
National Portrait Gallery (London, UK)
http://www.npg.org.uk
2004-10-14
GF Watts
Loan-out
1 March 2011 – 31 December 2011
2011-12-31
1 March 2011 – 31 December 2011
2011-12-31
2011-03-01
Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village (Compton, UK)
http://www.wattsgallery.org.uk
2011-03-01
Watts Gallery Re-Opening
Loan-out
22 March 2013 – 1 September 2013
2013-09-01
22 March 2013 – 1 September 2013
2013-09-01
2013-03-22
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2013-03-22
Image of the British School
Collection based display
11 May 2016 – 25 September 2016
2016-09-25
11 May 2016 – 25 September 2016
2016-09-25
2016-05-11
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2016-05-11
Painting with Light: Art and Photography from the Pre-Raphaelites to the modern age
Exhibition
20 June 2017 – 26 November 2017
2017-11-26
20 June 2017 – 26 November 2017
2017-11-26
2017-06-20
Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village (Compton, UK)
http://www.wattsgallery.org.uk
2017-06-20
G.F.Watts: England's Michelangelo
Loan-out
9 April 2022 – 19 June 2022
2022-06-19
9 April 2022 – 19 June 2022
2022-06-19
2022-04-09
Royal West of England Academy (Bristol, UK)
2022-04-09
Me, Myself, I: Artists' Self-Portraits
Loan-out
1 September 2025 – 25 April 2027
2027-04-25
1 September 2025 – 31 December 2025
2025-12-31
2025-09-01
CaixaForum Madrid (Madrid, Spain)
1 February 2026 – 31 May 2026
2026-05-31
2026-02-01
CaixaForum Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain)
http://www3.lacaixa.es
1 August 2026 – 30 November 2026
2026-11-30
2026-08-01
CaixaForum Zaragoza (Saragossa, Spain)
10 December 2026 – 25 April 2027
2027-04-25
2026-12-10
External
2025-09-01
Self Portraits
Loan-out
Self-Portrait
support: 648 × 521 mm
frame: 990 × 863 × 90 mm
Bequeathed by Sir William Bowman Bt 1898
<p>This is one of a number of half-length self-<a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portraits</span></a> by G F Watts, who was one of the greatest portrait painters of the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/v/victorian" title="Glossary definition for 'Victorian'"><span>Victorian</span></a> era. In this picture he assumes the attitude of the bohemian artist, wearing a dark slouch hat and black velvet coat. This  style of dress reflects Watts’s life with his friends, the Prinseps, at Little Holland House in Kensington where he lived  from 1850 until 1875. 
<br/> 
Watts later wrote ‘I paint myself constantly, that is to say whenever I want to make an experiment in method or colour and I am not in the humour to make a design’. 
</p>
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2004-08-18T00:00:00
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DISPLAY_CAPTION
adults artist, painter arts and entertainment beard body clothing and personal items hat man named individuals objects people portraits self-portraits Watts, George Frederic work and occupations