1st self-portrait.

First self-portrait.

Head and shoulder portrait of Bryan Charnley, wearing a blue shirt.

11-16 April 1991.

1 painting : oil on canvas ; 50.9 x 50.8 cm

Charnley's diary entry reads: "Conventional portrait painted in two sittings. Is it a good likeness? Drug dosage was two 3mg. tablets of Depixol daily plus two 3mg. triptysol. I was sleeping a lot. 11th to 16th April 1991."

Bryan Charnley (1949-1991) was a British artist whose work illustrates his experiences of schizophrenia. In 1969 he enrolled on a BA in sculpture at the Central School of Art and Design, but left due to a breakdown. He started painting in 1978, and from the late 1980s he began to get recognition for his work, with Bethlem Royal Hospital purchasing four of his paintings. From 1987 to his death he kept a dream diary as a way of understanding his own mind. In March 1991 he decided to experiment with his medication and embarked on a series of self-portraits, a series which exposed his mental illness. The series was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, London, in 1995. He took his own life in July 1991.

Bryan Charnley. 1991. 1st self-portrait. [Oil on canvas]. Wellcome Collection: Library no. 3049687i

Charnley, J. (2018). Bryan Charnley: art and adversity, page 174.

Exhibited in ‘Bryan Charnley self-portraits: face to face with schizophrenia’ at the National Portrait Gallery, London, 21 July – 3 December 1995.

Title provided by the Estate of Bryan Charnley.

Dated 11-16.4.91 on recto. Numbered 1 on verso.