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Self-Portrait

1951
Not on view
The critic Clement Greenberg pronounced De Niro “an important young abstract painter” upon seeing his 1946 show at Peggy Guggenheim’s gallery, Art of This Century. A student of Hans Hofmann, he followed his master’s admonition to locate a figure in planes where lines are carried to the edge of the picture. However, very few paintings in this style remain; most were lost or destroyed by the artist. When De Niro saw this picture exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1981, he asked to exchange it with a recent one, hoping he might keep it from view. Fortunately, Mrs. Newman declined. Like Earl Kerkam, De Niro looked to French painters for inspiration at this period, especially Pierre Bonnard and Georges Rouault.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Self-Portrait
  • Artist: Robert De Niro (American, Syracuse, New York 1922–1993 New York)
  • Date: 1951
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 35 1/8 in. × 30 in. (89.2 × 76.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman, 2006
  • Object Number: 2006.32.47
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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Boy in Striped Shirt, Robert De Niro American, Crayon on paper
Boy in Striped Shirt
Robert De Niro
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Still Life: Yellow and Red Roses, Robert De Niro American, Crayon on paper
Still Life: Yellow and Red Roses
Robert De Niro
1976
Untitled (male figure study), Robert De Niro American, Charcoal on paper
Untitled (male figure study)
Robert De Niro
ca. 1941
Black Abstraction, Georgia O'Keeffe American, Oil on canvas
Black Abstraction
Georgia O'Keeffe
1927
Self-Portrait as a Photographer, Yasuo Kuniyoshi American, born Japan, Oil on canvas
Self-Portrait as a Photographer
Yasuo Kuniyoshi
1924

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