Reflections on the Self: From Dürer to StruthArtists since time immemorial have painted self-portraits: at times because models’ fees

were beyond their meagre means; at times because they found themselves in isolation; at times

simply because no one knows anyone as well as he knows himself and such intimate knowledge

permits exploration and honesty, the freedom to experiment, and fulfils the desire to express.

While focusing on the

apogee of the genre in the 20th

and 21st centuries, “Reflections

on the Self” (on until 5

September) seeks to explore the

history and evolution of the

self-portrait.

For its sixth exhibition,

Christie’s Mayfair, the auction

house’s dedicated exhibition

space, brings together more than 50 artists and 70 works showing the diversity of media, formats

and styles used by artists to reflect their selves, from Albrecht Dürer to Thomas Struth.

A rare 15th-century woodcut “The Bathhouse” depicts the artist leaning on a wooden

support, a tap comically positioned where his genitals should be, wistfully watching the other

men as they bathe. A photograph by Struth, Alte Pinakothek, Self-Portrait Munich, from his

Museum Portraits series, looks over the artist’s shoulder at the well-known later self-portrait by

Dürer. The exhibition as a whole is framed by this one work.

The exhibition also includes works by Marlene Dumas, Lucian Freud, Francisco Goya,

Barbara Hepworth, Sarah Lucas, Henri Matisse, Rembrandt van Rijn, and many more.

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