Once in a Lifetime: Over 100 Self-portraits and Portraits of Artists for Sale

Running in parallel with our Portrait of an Artist exhibition at Sotheran’s Rare Books & Prints, Liss Llewellyn is pleased to present this special online campaign focusing on Self-portraits, as well as Pictures of Artists by Artists.

In spite of John Singer Sargent’s quip that ‘every time I paint a portrait I lose a friend’, artists provided each other with the perfect subject matter. Unlike professional models, fellow artists usually did not have to be paid, and sittings might easily be reciprocal. Furthermore artists knew how to sit – how to sit still – and how to pose.

Many of these works shine a light on friendships forged at art school, such as Mary Adshead’s Portrait of fellow Slade student Daphne Charlton, or Barnett Freedman’s celebrated painting of his RCA contemporaries rehearsing a play: The Stanhope Street Group. Some pictures show artist’s busy at the precious moment of artistic creation, as in Francis Dodd’s Portrait of Charles Cundall, Percy Horton’s Portrait of an Artist, or Albert De Belleroche’s Portrait of Mary Cassatt, while others betray a clear sense of doting; be it reciprocal or not. This can be seen in the various drawings of Winifred Knights – famed both for her beguiling looks and her striking talent – by Colin Gill, Arnold Mason, and Sir Thomas Monnington.

This is the largest group of museum quality British self-portraits ever to be offered for sale, and the majority of these are currently on show at Sotheran’s Rare Books & Prints (2-5 Sackville Street, W1S 3DP).

The exhibition is open from 9:30 – 18:00, Monday – Friday, and draws to a close on April 1st. 

Works FEATURED in this Exhibition

Phyllis Dodd (1899 - 1995)
Study of Baptising little Pearce 3, circa 1923
£1,500
Sold
Hubert Arthur Finney (1905 - 1991)
Self Portrait, c.1960
Sold
Karl Hagedorn (1889 - 1969)
Self portrait and Mirror, c.935
Sold
Self portrait, Night, c.1910
Eric Gill (1882 - 1940)
Self Portrait (Physick 497), 1927
£2,500
Sold
Francis Dodd (1874 - 1949)
Portrait of Charles Cundall, 1926
Karl Hagedorn (1889 - 1969)
Design: A Self-portrait Rowing
£875
Joseph Simpson (1879 - 1939)
Self Portrait, The Artist Standing, 1925
£435
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
An Artist at His Easel (probably Robert Lyon), late 1920s
£2,750
Geoffrey Hamilton Rhoades (1898 - 1980)
Self-portrait, 1941
£4,850
William Dring (1904 - 1990)
Portrait of the Artist Grace Elizabeth Rothwell, (Mrs Dring), 1925
£1,850
Malcolm Osborne (1880 - 1963)
Portrait of Job Nixon, circa 1930
£650
Self-portrait, 1915
£1,275
Sold
Eric Kennington (1888 - 1960)
Portrait of Cosmo Clark, 1917
Sold
Karl Hagedorn (1889 - 1969)
Self-portrait with Pipe
Sold
Portrait of Frank Brangwyn, 1936
Sold
Self-portraitGeorgius Gulielmus Filliter / Princeps Ballagorriae, c.1905
Edgar Holloway (1914 - 2008)
The Etcher III, 1932
£375
Barnett Freedman (1901 - 1958)
The Artist’s Wife, Claudia (née Guercio) at Stanhope Street, c.1926
£13,750
John Hassall (1868 - 1948)
Portrait of Bert Thomas
£970
Francis Spear (1902 - 1979)
Self-portrait with Round Spectacles
£775
Fyffe Christie (1918 - 1979)
Portrait of Eleanor, the Artist’s Wife, mid 1950s
£1,350
Sold
Douglas Percy Bliss (1900 - 1984)
George Stubbs
Reserved
Frank Potter (1885 - 1958)
Self-portrait as an Auxiliary Fireman, c.1941
Edgar Holloway (1914 - 2008)
The Grey Topper, 1937
£975
Sold
Douglas Stannus Gray (1890 - 1959)
Self-portrait Painting at an Easel Outdoors, 1920
Sold
Phyllis Dodd (1899 - 1995)
Geoffrey Phibbs, c.1927
Edward Halliday (1902 - 1984)
Roof-terrace of the British School at Rome, 1926
£19,750
Winifred Knights (1899 - 1947)
Portrait Study of Colin Gill, c.1921
£7,500
Sold
Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)
Portrait of Steven Bone
Reserved
Percy Horton (1897 - 1970)
Self Portrait at Easel – c.1940
Edgar Holloway (1914 - 2008)
Top Hat
£1,500
Hubert Arthur Finney (1905 - 1991)
Self portrait, mid 1930’s
£1,500
Sold
William Strang (1859 - 1921)
Self Portrait, 1895
Portrait of John Hassall Smoking
£1,200
‘One of the Best’ Portrait of John Hassall, circa 1900
£1,350
Sold
John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925)
Portrait of Albert de Belleroche
Sold
William Strang (1859 - 1921)
Self Portrait, 78-6
Barnett Freedman (1901 - 1958)
Portrait of Claudia Guercino, the Artist’s Future Wife
£2,850
Reserved
Victor Hume Moody (1896 - 1990)
Self Portrait, mid 1930’s
Bert Thomas (1883 - 1966)
Walton on the Naze is So Bracing, Savage Club House Dinner, 1937
£500
Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956)
Portrait of Count Albert de Belleroche, 1920
Portrait of John Hassall Painting
£800
Karl Hagedorn (1889 - 1969)
Portrait of a young man
£2,400
Edward Halliday (1902 - 1984)
Portrait of a Fellow Art Student, 1923
£1,400
Sold
Mary Potter (1900 - 1981)
Painting for life class, circa 1920
Leon Underwood (1890 - 1975)
Cecile on the Sofa, 1920
Harry Dixon (1888 - 1974)
Portrait of the Artist Harry Riley, Smoking a Pipe
£4,500
Sold
Augustus John (1878 - 1961)
Portrait of the Artist, 1902-06
Phyllis Dodd (1899 - 1995)
In the Pentlands, oil on George Rowney Birchmore Board
Dudley Hardy (1867 - 1922)
Self portrait, 1896
£9,350
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Portrait of Geoffrey Rhoades, 1930
£18,750
William Strang (1859 - 1921)
Self portrait, 154
£6,500
Sold
Geoffrey Hamilton Rhoades (1898 - 1980)
Self portrait, 1941
Sold
Edgar Holloway (1914 - 2008)
Self Portrait No. 25 Goodbye to all that!
Sir Herbert James Gunn (1893 - 1964)
Self-portrait in Studio at Pembroke Walk, c.1940
£12,750
Sold
Roger Hilton (1911 - 1975)
Self portrait, mid 1930’s
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Self Portrait, late 1950’s
£5,500
Sold
Archibald Standish Hartrick (1864 - 1950)
Paul Gauguin at Poulhan, c. 1939
Sold
Edith Granger-Taylor (1887 - 1958)
Self Portrait, 1911
Edith Granger-Taylor (1887 - 1958)
Self-portrait with Pig Tails, c.1920
£12,500
Sold
Arnold Mason (1885 - 1963)
Portrait of Winifred Knights Sleeping, c.1920
Robert Austin (1895 - 1973)
Self Portrait in Roman Hat, circa 1925
£9,500
Phyllis Dodd (1899 - 1995)
Basil Taylor, 1924
£1,800
Reserved
Richard Carline (1896 - 1980)
Study for Annie and Sydney Carline for Gathering on the Terrace at 47 Downshire Hill, Hampstead, 1925
Reserved
Rudolf Sauter (1895 - 1977)
Soldier (believed to be a self-portrait), 1939
Sold
Portrait of Eric Ravilious
Sold
Raymond Sheppard (1913 - 1958)
Self Portrait, 1941
Victor Hume Moody (1896 - 1990)
Self-portrait, 1929
Sold
Bernard Blane Withey (1895 - 1976)
Bernard Blane Witheyself-portrait, 1931
Barnett Freedman (1901 - 1958)
Early study for the Stanhope Street Group, c.1926
£1,850
Phyllis Dodd (1899 - 1995)
‘Buffins’,’Gin’ and ‘Tops’
£1,800
Reserved
Percy Horton (1897 - 1970)
Portrait of an artist (possibly Stanley Badmin), c.1925
Sold
Victor Hume Moody (1896 - 1990)
Self portrait, circa 1930
Portrait of John Hassall, Seated at Table, Painting
£1,950
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Portrait of the artist Margaret Goodwin
£2,950
Phyllis Dodd (1899 - 1995)
Study for Baptising little Pearce 2, circa 1923
£1,875
Reserved
Richard Carline (1896 - 1980)
Study of Richard Hartley for Gathering on the Terrace at 47 Downshire Hill, Hampstead, 1925
Sold
Audrey Weber (1898 - 1981)
The Artist Painting in her Studio (possibly a self-portrait)
Sold
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Self-portrait, c.1927
Sold
James Miller (1893 - 1987)
Self-portrait, c.1940
Sold
Marjorie Mort (1906 - 1988)
Self Portrait, 1940
Sold
Albert de Belleroche (1864 - 1944)
Portrait of Mary Cassatt, 1880s
Sold
Sir Thomas Monnington (1902 - 1976)
Portrait of Winifred Knights, circa 1931
David Tindle (b. 1932)
Self-portrait in a Mirror
£3,800
Sold
Colin Gill (1892 - 1940)
Self Portrait (?) 1913
Reserved
Hilda Carline (1889 - 1950)
Portrait of Gilbert Spencer, circa 1919
Barnett Freedman (1901 - 1958)
The Stanhope Street Group, 1926
Winifred Knights (1899 - 1947)
Portrait of Colin Gill, c.1921
£10,000
Archibald Standish Hartrick (1864 - 1950)
The Creeps, c.1939
£3,450
Edgar Holloway (1914 - 2008)
Self Portrait no. 20 (Meyrick Cat. No. 251)
£390
Edith Granger-Taylor (1887 - 1958)
Self-portrait, c.1920
£5,750
Edward Halliday (1902 - 1984)
An Art Student Sketching
£1,100
Sold
Edith Granger-Taylor (1887 - 1958)
Olive in a Blue Hat
Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)
Portrait of Daphne Charlton, c. 1935
£13,500
Sold
Rosalie Brill (1903 - 1992)
Self Portrait, late 1920’s
Randolph Schwabe (1885 - 1948)
Portrait of Francis Dodd, 1916
£975
Philip Naviasky (1894 - 1936)
Self portrait, c.1920
£4,500
Sold
Gavin Bone (1903 - 1942)
Gavin David Bone, by Himself
John Hassall at Work
£2,700
Sold
Colin Gill (1892 - 1940)
Self-portrait, 1910
Noel Rooke (1881 - 1953)
Portrait of the Artist’s Wife, Celia Fiennes, late 1920s
£6,750
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Adam and Eve (Mahoney and Dunbar) Dancing, c.1934
£1,275
Richard Carline (1896 - 1980)
Portrait of Ivy Turner
£19,750
Francis Spear (1902 - 1979)
Self-portrait in a Large Brimmed Black Hat, c.1930
£950
Evelyn Gibbs (1905 - 1991)
Self Portrait, 1927
£1,200
Sold
Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)
Self-portrait, c.1930
Reserved
Alan Sorrell (1904 - 1974)
Self Portrait, nov 1928
Edward Halliday (1902 - 1984)
Royal College Art Class, c.1925
£900
Reserved
Phyllis Dodd (1899 - 1995)
Self Portrait, 1925
Raymond Ray-Jones (1886 - 1942)
Lamp-light (E.I.P), mid-1920s
£3,200
Henry Arthur Riley (1895 - 1966)
Harold Riley in His Studio, c.1950
£1,600
Phyllis Ginger (1907 - 2005)
Self portrait, c.1937
£1,200
Sold
Augustus John (1878 - 1961)
Self Portrait, 1902-06
Richard Carline (1896 - 1980)
Self-portrait, 1923
Sold
Joseph Simpson (1879 - 1939)
Portrait of Frank Brangwyn at Work
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
The Artist at Her Drawing Board, mid-1920s
£950
Donald Chrisholm Towner (1903 - 1985)
Portrait of Charles Mahoney (1903-1968), 1926
£9,750
Sold
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Self Portrait Drawing [HMO 684]
Sold
Raymond Ray-Jones (1886 - 1942)
Self-portrait Wearing a Hat, c. 1920
Douglas Percy Bliss (1900 - 1984)
Courbet and Baudelaire
£3,950
Eric Ravilious (1903 - 1942)
Tirzah on a cockerel, 1931
£350
Sold
Self Portrait
James Wood (1889 - 1975)
Self-portrait, c.1918
£5,950
Sold
Phyllis Dodd (1899 - 1995)
The Beret (portrait of Pindi)
Reserved
Henry Arthur Riley (1895 - 1966)
Me, 1940-42
Sold
Barnett Freedman (1901 - 1958)
Portrait of Sam Rabin, c. 1925
Reserved
Colin Gill (1892 - 1940)
Portrait of Winifred Knights, 1921
Sold
Edgar Holloway (1914 - 2008)
Self Portrait, (No. 6) 1932