If anyone ever made you feel shame for taking selfies or self-promoting, these women have your back. In the book Seeing Ourselves: Women’s Self-Portraits, author Frances Bozello pays tribute to the women who recognized that they themselves were just as worthy of a subject for their own artwork as any other person or thing. Bozello writes, “Self-portraits are not innocent reflections of what artists see when they look in the mirror. They are part of the language painters use to make a point, from the simple ‘this is what I look like’ to the more complicated ‘this is what I believe in.'”
Throughout the book, Bozello includes over 100 self-portraits of women throughout history, as well as touches on symbolic trends that span decades, and questions why women were and perhaps are so reluctant to boast about themselves, particularly through art.
Frances Benjamin Johnston, Self-portrait, c.1896.
Berthe Morisot, Self-portrait with her Daughter Julie, 1885.
Alice Austen, Julia Martin, Julia Bredt, and Self dressed up as men, 1891.
Dorothea Tanning, Birthday, 1942
Marianne von Werefkin, Self-portrait, 1908-10.
Gluck, Self-portrait with cigarette, 1925.
Mary Beale, Self-portrait (detail), c. 1675-80.
Sabine Lepsius, Self-portrait, 1885.
Mari Lassing, Selbstportrait mit Hasen (Self-portrait with Rabbit), 2000.
Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-portrait, c. 1610.
More from BUST
10 Stunning Images Of Women Reading That Will Inspire You To Live Dangerously
Amy Schumer Shared Her New Book Cover, And It’s Everything We Ever Wanted
Alice Walker, Author Of ‘The Color Purple,’ Answers Your Questions During Live Stream
