Self-Portrait

Artist John O'Reilly (American, 1930–2021)

Date1965

Mediumcollage of found prints and gelatin silver prints on board with casein

Dimensionssight: 77 × 74.2 cm (30 5/16 × 29 3/16 in.)
framed: 78.7 × 75.9 cm (31 × 29 7/8 in.)

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineChapin Riley Fund at the Greater Worcester Community Foundation

Object number2015.70

Label TextSelf-Portrait is among a handful of extant artworks from O’Reilly’s earliest experimentation with assemblage after previously working as a sculptor. It is one of the first collages that incorporated found printed material and the first time he used photography, notably presenting himself in state of undress. The assemblage includes print reproductions of artwork by painter Hieronymus Bosch and photographers Lucien Clergue and Eadweard Muybridge. All of these elements are the basis of O’Reilly’s montage work, for which he is most famous. For these reasons, O’Reilly describes Self-Portrait as a pivotal artwork in his development as an artist.

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