Tim McCormack – Seven Kinds of Self-Portrait (Recording)

Artists have painted and drawn themselves for centuries, but self-portraits are rarely simple records of appearance. Instead they often become acts of inquiry, storytelling, or artistic declaration.

In this illustrated talk, artist and instructor Tim McCormack explores seven different kinds of self-portrait, from psychological investigations to bold artistic manifestos, narrative studio scenes, and late self-portraits that confront the passage of time.

Along the way we will encounter artists who used self-portraiture to question identity, shape their artistic reputation, or experiment with expressive drawing and painting, including artists such as Édouard Vuillard, and Edgar Degas.

The talk reveals how self-portraiture has often served as a laboratory for portrait drawing, allowing artists to experiment freely with expression, character, exaggeration, and the passage of time.

This session also introduces Tim’s upcoming course on narrative portrait painting and drawing, inspired by French artists from Daumier to Degas which explores portraiture as a creative process that balances observation with interpretation, and likeness with expressive intent.