Self-Portraits from 1977 to the Present
Begun in 1977, State of the Art is a continuing series of self-portraits. Oil painting, watercolour and pastel give way to Chinese ink, calligraphy and increasingly abstract artwork. Each portrait records a stage in the work as much as a change in appearance: a face may remain recognisable, become obscured by writing, or give way to a few gestures in an open space.
Some works have been sold or lost; the examples gathered here form a partial record of the continuing series. Differences in surface, colour and the treatment of the face make its development visible without requiring every work to retain a recognisable likeness.
Browse the selection: 2026–2020 · 1990–1977
Self-Portraits in Recent Years
State of the Art 2026
Several paintings represent different aspects of the work in 2026. The example shown here, The Empty Boat, places a pale, fish-like form above blue water and a rocky shore. It stands for an artistic position rather than a physical likeness. Begun in 2023 and completed in 2026, it also records a return to an earlier painting.
State of the Art 2025
For 2025, dispersed red and pale marks interrupt a deep black field. The arrangement no longer offers a face to identify. Instead, differences of spacing and density give the image its rhythm, extending the self-portrait into a record of the artist’s working language.
State of the Art 2023
In the 2023 work, dark rounded forms and pale vertical passages alternate with red, yellow and turquoise. The image retains suggestions of bodily forms while opening into a less stable space. Its contrasting marks make the process of constructing an image part of the subject.
State of the Art 2022
A recognisable face emerges within broad grey-brown gestures, interrupted by red forms near the edges. The contrast between the features and the surrounding marks gives the 2022 work its tension. The accompanying photograph records a separate presentation of a portrait.
State of the Art 2021
The 2021 work places a partly obscured face beside red Chinese lettering. Vertical marks interrupt the features, while the title, This Is Not Myself, questions the identification normally expected from a self-portrait. View artwork on FriedrichZettl.com ↗
State of the Art 2020
The face in the 2020 work remains visible within a dark field, but writing covers its surface. This Homage to Zhang Huan treats the face as both a likeness and a place where signs accumulate, connecting the series with the broader practice of painted calligraphy.
Self-Portraits Before 2020
State of the Art 1990
The monochrome 1990 work concentrates on a bearded face and a light collar against a dark field. The close framing and tonal contrasts keep physical likeness central, offering a different kind of encounter from the dispersed marks of the recent works.
State of the Art 1985
In 1985, dark brush marks describe the eyes, hair and beard while leaving much of the paper exposed. Heavier washes gather at one side of the head. The image joins close attention to features with a visibly economical handling of ink.
State of the Art 1982
The 1982 oil painting holds the head and shoulders within a worked field of green, yellow and reddish colour. The face remains distinct, while surrounding marks pass into the hair and clothing, loosening the boundary between the figure and its setting.
State of the Art 1980
Watercolour gives the 1980 portrait a more open surface. Blue, green and red passages cross the face and hair, with pale paper left visible between them. The eyes and mouth remain clearly placed within this changing field of colour.
State of the Art 1978
In the 1978 pastel, short coloured marks build the face and continue into the surrounding space. The features remain legible while the edges of the head become less fixed. The work already allows observed likeness and a more independent movement of colour to coexist.
State of the Art 1977
The 1977 oil painting begins the selection with a closely observed face, long hair and a hand resting against a mottled painted surface. These details give the early work a particular presence, quite different from the more dispersed forms through which the later series develops.
The Self-Portrait as a Record of Artistic Development
The series makes it possible to follow recurring questions across changing materials: how much of a face must remain, how a surface records an action, and what can stand for a person beyond visible features.
The Portrait Paintings archive places these self-portraits beside other approaches to the human figure. The linked accounts of particular years retain the personal circumstances behind the images.
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State of the Art: A Self-Portrait Series
State of the Art 2023 – A Step Further
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Available Artworks
Original works are available on FriedrichZettl.com and Saatchi Art