Which Dutch, Irish, British Artist

Learn about self-portraits by Carel Fabritius, James Barry, and Joshua Reynolds, and where they can be viewed today.

Which painter depicted himself:

1. With a concave view of Delft?

Carel Fabritius

Fabritius (1622-1654) was a Dutch artist who studied under Rembrandt in Amsterdam. Unlike Rembrandt whose paintings typically have a dark background, Fabritius preferred delicate colors against a light background. Some of his work, such as A View in Delft, with a Musical Instrument Seller's Stall (1652), shows his interest in painting complex spatial effects and exaggerated perspective.

The painting today hangs at the National Gallery in London.

2. Holding a painting of a cyclops and satyrs?

James Barry

Barry (1741-1806) was an Irish painter, one of the earliest Romantic painters, who drew his subject matter from classical antiquity and from literary works, even dressing his subjects in Greek costumes. He was known as an argumentative and controversial man; for example, he had a strong belief in the betterment of human civilization through education and political freedom, ideas that were not popular during 18th-century Britain. Eventually he was expelled from the Royal Academy. His artwork had a profound influence on William Blake. This self-portrait shows him as Timanthes, a Greek painter of the 4th century B.C. whom we know from the writings of Pliny.

This painting can be seen at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin.

3. In his Oxford University gown with a bust of Michelangelo?

Joshua Reynolds

Reynolds (1723-1792) was an important 18th-century English painter who specialized in portraits and promoted the “Grand Style.” In the Grand Style, subjects are idealized in order to hide the imperfect. Reynolds made many self-portraits and used them to display his public persona, his social status, and his artistic and intellectual ambitions. In his self-portrait of 1779 he stands next to a bust of his artistic hero, Michelangelo, who seems to nod in deference to him.

Reynolds was one of the founders and the first president of the Royal Academy. Today this self-portrait hangs in the Royal Academy in London.

Source:

Bailey, Colin J. The Art Quiz Book: 2000+ Questions on Painters and Paintings. Station Press: Scotland, 1995