2nd self-portrait.

  • Charnley, Bryan, 1949-1991
Date:
20 April 1991
Reference:
3049688i
Part of:
Bryan Charnley Self-portraits.
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view 2nd self-portrait.

Contains: 2 images

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

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Credit

2nd self-portrait. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Online resources

  • Related materials at Wellcome Library See the related archive PP/BCH: View resource

About this work

Also known as

Second self-portrait.

Description

Head and shoulder portrait of Bryan Charnley, with a large rabbit ear behind his right ear and wavy lines radiating from his head.

Publication/Creation

20 April 1991.

Physical description

1 painting : oil on canvas ; 96.5 x 51 cm

Biographical note

Charnley's diary entry reads "Very Paranoid. The person upstairs was reading my mind and speaking to me to keep me in a sort of ego crucifixion. I felt this was because I was discharging very strong vibrations which could easily be interpreted. I tried to express this in the paintings. The large rabbit ear because I was confused and extremely sensitive to human voices, I felt like a wild animal. I also felt I was being read generally by ESP."
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.

Reference

Bryan Charnley. 1991. 2nd self-portrait. [Oil on canvas]. Wellcome Collection 3049688i

References note

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

Exhibitions note

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

Notes

Title provided by the Estate of Bryan Charnley.
Dated 20.4.91 on recto. Numbered 2 on verso.

Ownership note

Purchased by Wellcome Collection in 2018 from the Estate of Bryan Charnley.

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