Late Individualism in Modern Art
In the self portrait, the artist turns both subject and maker - claiming authorship over their own image. Modernism expanded this possibility, allowing identity to be constructed as much as revealed. Across the twentieth century, the genre shifts away from status and likeness toward psychology, myth and self-invention.
In ‘Self Portrait, One of a Dozen Glimpses’ (1983) - subtitled Another Way of Looking at Vincent van Gogh - Brett Whiteley merges his own features with those of Van Gogh, creating a psychologically charged double image that collapses time and identity. Through agitated, looping lines and warped contours that echo Van Gogh’s expressive intensity, Whiteley is not simply paying homage; he is trying on a lineage. The work reads as both identification and performance - the artist slipping into the role of the misunderstood, visionary painter.
Judy CASSAB 'Studio Self-Portrait'
In ‘Self Portrait with Beard and Plastic Ring’, Reg Mombassa casts himself as a suburban saint. A humble plastic ring hovers like a halo, parodying the iconography of Christ. The stylised profile and exaggerated features temper reverence with satire, fusing spiritual reference with laconic Australian humour. Sanctity becomes self-awareness; divinity becomes performance.
Reg Mombassa 'Self Portrait with Beard and Plastic Ring'
In 'Self Portrait in a Kangaroo Landscape', John Olsen dissolves the boundary between artist and environment. The figure, kangaroo and terrain seem to merge and re-emerge, expressing Olsen’s belief in the interconnectedness of all living forms. Where does the landscape end and the self begin? The question itself becomes the portrait.
John Olsen 'Self Portrait in a Kangaroo Landscape'
