Archive

The Original Selfies: The Triumph of the Self-Portrait

SELFIE

Rembrandt and Kim Kardashian have something in common: Both showed off in images they created of themselves. A new book reveals the self-portrait’s fascinating and revealing history.

articles/2014/04/15/the-original-selfies-the-triumph-of-the-self-portrait/140414-self-portraits-tease_cyfyht
Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

As history would have it, we all have a little Kim Kardashian in us—even masters like Velasquez. While the famed Spanish artist behind Las Meninas may not have been posting pictures of his rotund derriere on Instagram, he, along with many other well-known artists, were driven to create and disseminate...

Unlock this article (and every other one) by becoming a subscriber now.

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.