A random survey of self-portraits created by women through the centuries
Mexican painter and writer Sofía Bassi (1913-1998)

1. Autorretrato, 1982 / Oil on masonite / Private collection

2. Autorretrato, 1997 / Serigraph / Various collections

1. Autorretrato, 1982 / Oil on masonite / Private collection

2. Autorretrato, 1997 / Serigraph / Various collections
“Mary Robertson Bassett illustrated magazines such as Ladies’ Home Journal, and children’s books published by Baker & Taylor Company, Grosset & Dunlap, and other publishers.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_R._Bassett

Frontispiece from Fairy Operettas by Laura E. Richards
1916 / 119 pages / Published by Boston:Little, Brown

Illustration from Fairy Operettas by Laura E. Richards
1916 / 119 pages / Published by Boston:Little, Brown

Illustration from Poems My Children Love Best Of All by Clifton Johnson
1917 / 276 pages / Published by New York, Lloyd Adams Noble

Illustration from Poems My Children Love Best Of All by Clifton Johnson
1917 / 276 pages / Published by New York, Lloyd Adams Noble
Author Laura E. Richards~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_E._Richards
Author Clifton Johnson~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifton_Johnson_(author)
The American Illustrators Gallery~ https://www.americanillustrators.com/artists

Reading Lady, possible self portrait, 1902 / Brown patinated bronze / Private collection
Alice Cordelia Morse (June 1, 1863-July 15, 1961) was an American designer of book covers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Cordelia_Morse

Image from https://archive.org/details/womanofcenturyfo00will
In 1885, two years after graduating from Cooper Union, Morse took a position at Tiffany and Company as a designer and painter of stained glass. Around this time, progressive American publishers began to commission artist-designers to design the covers of commercial books, rather than assigning the work to die-makers and engravers, as was customary. Morse grew interested in the emerging field of book-cover design while still at Tiffany’s. Perhaps in part due to her experience there, she developed an impressive ability to interpret nature motifs and historical ornament. On leaving Tiffany’s in 1889, Morse resumed her education at the Woman’s Art School while also working as an independent designer. She soon rose to the forefront of the first generation of artists to design commercially produced books.

Design for Stained Glass, late 19th century / Brush and gouache, watercolor on paper / Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, NYC

Art and Handicraft in the Woman’s Building of the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893 / Cloth cover with gold-stamped and silver-lined floral motifs / Smithsonian Libraries, DC

Design for Title Page, Occupations of Women and Their Compensation, c.1899 / Brush and gouache on paper / Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, NYC

Poems of Cabin and Field, 1899 / Cloth cover with orange and green stamping / National Museum of African American History and Culture, DC
Further reading:
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mors/hd_mors.htm
https://www.carnegiehall.org/Explore/Articles/2020/11/06/Carnegie-Halls-Stained-Glass-Windows
https://bookbindersmuseum.org/women-in-book-cover-design/

1. Self-portrait, 1720s / Oil on canvas / Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy
[AI-assisted enlargement of an image from the internet]

2. Possible self-portrait, attributed to Giulia Lama, ND / Oil on canvas / Private collection
[AI-assisted enlargement of an image from the internet]

1. Self-portrait, 1740s / Oil on canvas / Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark

2. Self-Portrait, 1761 / Oil on canvas / Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Germany

3. Self-Portrait with Family in the Garden, c.1770 / Oil on canvas / Stadtmuseum Berlin, Germany

4. Self-Portrait, 1773 / Oil on canvas / Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig, Germany

5. Self-portrait as Bacchante, 1778 / Oil on canvas / Private collection

6. Self-portrait, c.1780 / Oil on canvas / Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, Germany

7. Self-Portrait, 1782 / Oil on canvas / Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg, Germany


2. Untitled (Bathing Scene), 1932-33 / Vintage silver print / Robert Mann Gallery, NYC

3. Hase Crying, 1933 / Gelatin silver print / Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO

4. Untitled (Crying Woman), c.1934 / Vintage silver print / Robert Mann Gallery, NYC

5. Down Stairs, c.1948 / Gelatin silver print / Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
(This is usually displayed online as a vertical. I went with the Met’s orientation because it is physically logical, but wonder if the artist meant it to be displayed vertically?)

6. Untitled, ND, date / Photograph / Found on http://elisabeth-hase.de/

1. Self Portrait, 1940s / Oil on canvas / Art Windsor-Essex, Windsor, Ontario


3. Self Portrait, ND / Oil on canvas / Private collection

4. Self Portrait, ND / Oil on canvas / Private collection



2. (Detail) Self portrait as Ophelia / Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts, Hobart, Australia

