Michelangelo Pistoletto
Italian, born 1933Gabriele Mazzotta Editore, 1970
Not on view
Photo-silkscreen on gold-plated copper
Dimensions19 13/16 × 13 3/4 in. (50.3 × 34.9 cm)
Gift of the Hudson Gallery, 1974.23
Artists like Michelangelo Pistoletto explored materials other than paper for their printmaking. Self Portrait is a good example of his signature artwork—a portrait printed on a reflective surface. He began experimenting with this motif with paper pasted to stainless steel but by the 1970s he perfected the silkscreening process.
Though the concept of this work—a self-portrait— is simple, the final product is complex. By printing his image on a reflective surface Pistoletto creates what he sees as “the self-portrait of the world.” Every time a viewer approaches this work the composition transforms into something completely new. It is no longer just a portrait of Michelangelo Pistoletto it is also a self-portrait of the viewer.
