Facing the World - Self-Portraits Rembrandt to Ai Weiwei

"Fascinating" The Scotsman  “Self-portraiture has turned the mirror round and is now pointing it at us” The Sunday Times "A brilliant exhibition" Daily Mail There's just two weeks left to see our summer blockbuster show Facing the World: Self-Portraits Rembrandt to Ai Weiwei at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Artists have always created self-portraits. And whatever their motivation: as a showcase for their talents, a political statement, or a conscious projection of their best self – the results are always fascinating as the creator becomes the subject. This idea is celebrated in Facing the World, which presents a breath-taking selection of portraits, in various media, spanning six centuries, from Rembrandt self-portraits to Ai Weiwei's Instagram posts. "Truly stunning works" The Sunday Telegraph Though the genre of self-portraiture is centuries old, in the age of the selfie it continues to be one of the most powerful forms of self-expression. The exhibition brings together many stunning images, some of which will be unfamiliar to British audiences, and includes works by a wide range of artists like Andy Warhol, Antoine Watteau, Edvard Munch, Robert Mapplethorpe, Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, Marina Abramovic, Gino Severini, Oskar Kokoschka, Joseph Beuys, John Bellany, Douglas Gordon and Sarah Lucas. Book your ticket now

Can a reproduction of the brain be a self-portrait? Watch our short film Contemplating the Brain to find out.

Subversive looks and peculiar selfies stand cheek to jowl with the iconic faces in our exhibition highlights Browse our exhibition catalogue and other Facing the World-inspired goodies How do you make the audience part of the exhibition? Build your own photo booth and put them on display within the gallery! Goofy Surrealists, objects as selfies and inescapable ambiguity... our Facing the World blog posts will explain everything.

Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Autumn at the National Galleries of Scotland Now on Facing the World: Self-Portraits Rembrandt to Ai Weiwei until 16 October Richard Demarco and Joseph Beuys: A Unique Partnership until 16 October Tesco Bank Art Competition for Schools until 26 October ARTIST ROOMS Joseph Beuys: A Language of Drawing until 30 October Drawing Attention: Rare Works on Paper 1400-1900 until 3 January 2017 Out of their Heads: Building Portraits of Scottish Architects 5 February 2017 Bridget Riley: Paintings, 1963-2015 until 16 April 2017 20th Century: Masterpieces of Scottish and European Art until February 2018 Coming soon Karla Black and Kishio Suga: A New Order opens 22 October The View from Here: Landscape Photography from the National Galleries of Scotland opens 29 October The Goldfinch opens 4 November Happy Christmas! Cards from the Ian Fleming Collection opens 5 November BP Portrait Award 2016 opens 26 November The Modern Portrait opens 26 November Joan Eardley: A Sense of Place opens 3 December Turner in January opens 1 January 2017 Images: Louis Janmot, Autoportrait (detail) 1832, Musee des Beaux-Arts, Lyon. Image © Lyon, MBA - Photo Alain Basset; Imogen Cunningham, Self-Portrait, about 1910 © Scottish National Portrait Gallery; Angela Palmer, Brain of the Artist, 2012 © Scottish National Portrait Gallery; John Coplans, Reclining Figure, Two Panels No1, 1996 © Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art; Auguste Morisot, Autoportrait, (detail) 1885 © Succession Auguste Morisot. Image © Lyon MBA - Photo Alain Basse; Sir David Wilkie, 1785-1841, Self-Portrait,(detail) about 1804-1805 © National Galleries of Scotland. Copyright © 2016 National Galleries of Scotland, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as you have expressed an interest in the National Galleries of Scotland. National Galleries of Scotland is a charity registered in Scotland (SC003728) Our mailing address is: National Galleries of Scotland 73 Belford Road Edinburgh, Scotland EH4 3DS United Kingdom