Seeing Ourselves: Women's Self-Portraits

by Frances Borzello

Looks at the ways women artists have chosen to picture themselves throughout history

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Feminism, Art History, History, Academic, Reference

224 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[Martha Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Producing a self portrait meant reconciling the conflict between what society expected of women and what it expected of artists. The problem for women - and the challenge - was that these two sets of expectations were diametrically opposed”

A good fundamental for women’s art.
Got into it more in the second half which ain’t surprising given that 16th - 18th century there wasn’t much exploration.

Soundtrack: Flounder - Quinnie

[Eloise Mcallister · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been a slow burner for me, but really good

[Peeter Talvistu · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Critics and historians have tended to see women artists as isolated freaks of nature, rather than a link in a continuing chain."

The book explores women's self-portraits and the women behind them through five centuries with the 20th century further divided into two sections. With the first chapters the problem is a lack of evidence which sometimes seems to lead to somewhat thin conclusions. At the same time, the progression of ideas and narratives is logical and the examples provided are very intriguing (be ready for a lot of googling). I sometimes felt that although the book is richly illustrated, there were points where some reproductions were clearly missing and authors who I wanted to see more of.

However, in the last century and especially in the post-feminism chapter, the structure of the book starts to break apart a bit, reaching a point where the story is just one example after another and very thin meat between them. This might just be a case of looking back at the recent past, but it still feels disjointed.

The latter criticism does not mean that the ending of the book is weak - I would actually say that these examples prove the author's point that women's self-portraiture is a completely separate genre and something that could only be made by women because the experiences and stories and history included in the works is something wholly unique. I don't think that male self-portraiture has a comparable narrative of separateness or originality.

I also liked that the small biographies included at the end shed more light into the people than mere dates, geography and titles can (the continuous marriage narrative starts to feel strange though).

All in all, this book is well worth picking up, but I would hope that a more thorough overview is yet to be written.

[Ely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great introduction into looking at women artists and their self portraits. I've learnt a lot about artists I didn't know about before but now absolutely love. Highly recommend for anyone interested in, or studying, art history.

[Rachel Sedlacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging, gorgeous, well-researched study on not only how women see themselves, but how they depict themselves to the world. This is the kind of book that makes me excited all over again about art history!

[Amy in the Desert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great topic but very dry and hard to follow.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plus is lots of proper reproductions of portraits and of a good size. Great quick guide to 5 centuries of women and them making their own image. A bit white and western world but with some additions to the latest edition.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A century-by-century overview of female self-portraiture, a genre that, as the writer reveals, has far more depth and variety than one might have initially thought. I like the contrast and clear development from 15th-16th century manuscripts and paintings, through to works of the fin de siecle, particularly photography, and then onto the highly personal works of the mid- to late-20th century.

[Dominique · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful overview of women's self portraits. I especially loved the copious amounts of coloured images on every other page; a really gorgeous immersion into the subject.

I felt like the text was appropriate enough for a beginner, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to an art historian, as it might be too light for them.

I didn't really enjoy the modern chapter; modern art isn't for me, and the author pulled us in way too many directions, introducing an artist and a quip about their work over the course of 3 sentences, and then moving on. Way too crammed in, and we get it- there are a lot more works now by women vs. the 1600s!

[Katie Dufall · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/4.5 stars

the perfect book if you're interested in art and truly iconic women artists in particular - so many icons but also some artists I haven't heard of before. this book made me feel so much girl power and also made me want to paint real bad. women are just incredible

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It should be on every feminist's and art lover's shelf.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The exploration of women's self portraiture as a genre in it's own right is an interesting proposition for which Borzello makes a strong case. This powerful in-depth exploration of the history of women surviving and thriving in the art world was paced well making for an interesting short read. My only gripe is the 2016 afterword's use of 'selfie'. Only two years after its inclusion it reads as quite dated retracting from the otherwise consistently clever analysis presented by Borzello (in this case to remove any selfie- self portrait connection).

[Tash · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful expression and argument for women's self portraiture to be seen as its own genre/movement. A clear linear expression of female self portraiture through the history of art.

Could have been interesting to explore the aesthetics and thematics of works alongside broader socio-political contexts.

I think this is a great companion read to feminist non-fiction and other second wave theories.

Beautiful high quality images throughout with great visual analysis.

[Sometimes Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frances Borzello gives a perfect introduction to the topic of women's self-Portraits. The questions you asked yourself whilst standing Infront of the only female self-Portrait on the whole floor are finally getting some answers. But please don't be mistaken. Only because I said it's an introduction it doesn't mean it's shallow or not packed up with facts. After reading this book I now know a lot more about art, female artists and myself.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent gather of some of the most relevant woman artists that we know of nowadays. The analisis of the portraits walks beautifully along with the role of women and women artists on their own living periods. Definitely a must if you are interested on learning more about the forgotten yet very relevant personalities on the pictoric art world. Has become one of my favourite art related books!

[nuala · Rating 4 out of 5]

inspo for my a level art personal project where i compared portraits of women by men vs women self portraits, some really fascinating work in here: Alice Neel and Sofonisba Anguissola spring to mind. bought this book at a waterstones in oxford after i went to an english literature day for potential applicants and got patronised and ignored there lol, this book cheered me up tho!

[Thea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Focused primarily on the end chapters. Enlightening of the 1970s capsule era of female artists using the body as a form of revolt. Looks intently at how the history of the self portrait has influenced artists today and how the selfie has created a new layer of self-portraiture that sits in a whole new category. Well written, easy to follow and interesting.

[Jess Dolby · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s very much a whistle stop tour of many different artworks; personally I didn’t think she expanded much on larger concepts such as social context. She focused solely on various paintings and how they fit, which is interesting (and particularly with the large amount of illustrations) but not very detailed about why the categories actually existed.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seriously amazing, well-written, well-researched, compelling, richly illustrated. Recommended for feminists and art buffs, but also for people looking for an introduction into women artists throughout history. I wish I'd heard of this book before. It belongs in gender studies and in art history.

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Beautifully presented, excellent reproductions of the art throughout, well placed so you can find them when you want them, and engaging writing. The pace and language of this book makes it easy to read in long sittings or short, and it moves smoothly from artist to artist.

[jesse slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a lovely book, found the second half brilliant.
Loved especially Marina Abramović and Ulsy, ‘Imponderabilia’.

[Eleanor Barlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring history

[Katie Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really like a 3.5, but I’ll round up

[Maisie ingram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does a brilliant job of what it says on the tin! Very accessible and informative. A map of change. It is however entirely Eurocentric

[Kate O’Carroll · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the paintings but it was a yawn

[Mae · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to help me put my unconsciousness into conscious scrutiny while I’m working on my self portrait.

[James Aston · Rating 4 out of 5]

#4.5 fascinating and accessible. Such a treasure trove of a book

[RITA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could be much longer as I did a lot extra research based on the references. But it's an absolutely marvelous book, the most revelatory chapters for me were the first ones on the 16th century.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Adri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating account that should serve as required reading material for anyone interested in art history, this exhaustively researched book about female artists' self-portraits is fascinating, eye-opening and makes you want to look up all these amazing women. They had to fight tooth and nail to be accepted and respected, and still most of them were forgotten. Hopefully this book helps with making them and their work known more widely.

The book really does concentrate on self-portraits, so if you're looking for a book about important female artists' artwork in general, this is not that one, but it's a good starting point as more than two hundred female artists are mentioned with one or two paintings or photographs on almost every page.