Self Portrait

Frank Dicksee's Self-Portrait of 1883, held at Aberdeen Archives, Gallery and Museums, was painted when the artist was twenty-six years old and still in the early stages of a career that would eventually lead him to the Presidency of the Royal Academy. Self-portraiture at this age is often both a technical exercise and a statement of professional ambition, and Dicksee's decision to paint himself in 1883 — a year after his first major Royal Academy success — reflects a young artist taking stock of his identity and progress. Aberdeen's art collections, which include significant holdings of Scottish and British painting, acquired this early self-portrait as a document of a distinguished career. The painting allows an unusual glimpse into the appearance and self-presentation of an artist who would become one of the most commercially successful British painters of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. Early self-portraits by painters who went on to achieve great renown have a particular documentary interest, recording not the famous public figure but the young man who would become him.

The self-portrait requires Dicksee to direct his considerable technical skill toward his own likeness — a demanding test of observational accuracy that young painters traditionally used to demonstrate their abilities. His handling of the face, collar, and costume demonstrates the facility that would define his mature work.