Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Robert Vernon
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-joshua-reynolds-444" aria-label="More by Sir Joshua Reynolds" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Sir Joshua Reynolds</a>
SelfPortrait
Presented by Robert Vernon 1847
adults
artist, painter
arts and entertainment
man
named individuals
people
portraits
Reynolds, Joshua
self-portraits
work and occupations
<p>This is one of Reynolds's most explicit attempts to rival Rembrandt as a self-portraitist. By the time he painted this work, he was the most famous artist in Britain and President of the Royal Academy of Arts. In his lectures at the Academy, Reynolds elaborated a theory of art based around the need for modern British artists to copy the Old Masters. In this picture, his costume, his pose, and the dramatic contrasts of light and dark all refer to the work of Rembrandt. Even the shape of his face is made to resemble the Dutch artist's distinctive, jowly features.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
31 March 2012 – 16 September 2012
2012-09-16
31 March 2012 – 16 September 2012
2012-09-16
2012-03-31
Rijksmuseum Twenthe (Enschede, Netherlands)
2012-03-31
18th Century British Portraits
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
26 November 2018 – 14 July 2019
2019-07-14
26 November 2018 – 14 July 2019
2019-07-14
2018-11-26
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2018-11-26
Joshua Reynolds
Collection based display
11 September 2019 – 31 May 2020
2020-05-31
11 September 2019 – 16 February 2020
2020-02-16
2019-09-11
Musée du Luxembourg (Paris, France)
29 February 2020 – 31 May 2020
2020-05-31
2020-02-29
External
2019-09-11
Gainsborough to Turner: The Golden Age of English Painting
Loan-out
Self-Portrait
support: 737 × 610 mm
frame: 970 × 848 × 70 mm
Presented by <a href="/search?gid=999999978" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Robert Vernon</a> 1847
<p>This is one of Reynolds's most explicit attempts  to rival Rembrandt as a 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>portraitist</span></a>. By the time he painted this work, he was the most famous artist in Britain and President of the Royal Academy of Arts. In his lectures at 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/a/academy" title="Glossary definition for 'Academy'"><span>Academy</span></a>, Reynolds elaborated a theory of art based around the need for modern British artists to copy the Old Masters. In this picture, his costume, his pose, and the  dramatic contrasts of light and dark all refer to the work of Rembrandt. Even the shape of his face is made to resemble the Dutch artist's distinctive, jowly features. </p>
Display caption
2004-08-18T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
adults artist, painter arts and entertainment man named individuals people portraits Reynolds, Joshua self-portraits work and occupations