The artist from behind : gwallter

The artist from behind : gwallter

What’s happening when artists choose to portray themselves in their work?  The self-portrait was an invention of the Renaissance, but it’s just as common today, in painting (Jenny Saville’s work, now on show in a big retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery, is a striking example) and in many other forms.  Perhaps the most famous self-imager is Rembrandt, thanks to his relentless concentration on the facts of his own face, which he painted…