Self-portrait (50x42 cm) is Svyatoslav Ryabkin artist's self-portrait, painted in 2007.


After painting himself, he said: "This is a simple self-portrait while I was wearing a fisherman hat".
We are agree with him, his passion for fishing is deep but, dear Readers, a self-portrait is not simply a portrait of ourselves. Beyond our face we have to reflect on ourselves!


Only drawing these lines is not sufficient to answer to the question "Who am I?", focus in the path of counseling. Do you know it? In summary, the courage to look inside and the time to stop ourselves are necessary. After an analysis we become aware of ourselves. Ryabkin has represented his mysterious light of his soul that now we all can see intrinsic to the painted subject.


The genre of the self-portrait has emerged in medieval times until a complete expression in the renaissance. The german Dürer and the dutch Rembrandt and Van Gogh are the most famous artists. In some works Ryabkin and Van Gogh use just the same colours, don't they? What do you think about it?

It is interesting to study the artistic evolution of the portrait by Ingres to Degas until Gauguin. In this beautiful exhibition at the Museum of Santa Caterina in Treviso you can see the beauty of the sections dedicated to the portrait that now seems more realistic now more symbolical. Don't miss the chance to visit it, until April 17th, 2017.


Are there exhibitions of only self-portraits in Europe? Sure, there was a beautiful exhibition entitled "David Hockney: 82 Portraits and 1 Still-life" at the Royal Academy in London until October 2016. The author is a myth of Art. It was a challenge for him to realize in just a few days these 82 paintings in the same size. All people were seated in the same chair and then Hockney said that the work was not tiring indeed, "when you get old you discover that there is nothing better in the world than painting", these are his original words!


When you were a child, have you ever made your self-portrait? I still keep mine. My hair was very long, my green eyes, my mouth and my nose were very big. I mean, if you look through the eyes of an adult your drawings by children, they will seem caricatures! Let's describe yours!


Drawing our own self-portrait is a very important stage in the development of children. So children represent their perception of themselves with decent fidelity. Please, observe if the subject is centred on the sheet or it is down, if the body parts are big or very small and finally, if there are other elements in the context around: it can be a signal of the level of his/her adaptation to the environment and you can understand his/her desires. Dear Readers, do you know that it provides valuable information about his/her personality?! Cool!


Finally, write us about your actual self-portrait, now that you are adults or teenagers. Let's try to do it with your children! You have just learnt that it is more than a drawing!