Self Portraiture and Self Awareness, 1900–2000: Evidence from Museum Metadata and Visual Analytics

Authors

  • Naizheng Mao The Faculty of Humanities and Arts, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau, China. Author
  • Yun Zhou The Faculty of Humanities and Arts, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau, China. Author

Keywords:

Self-Portrai, Identity, Expressionism, Surrealism, Media Change, Metadata

Abstract

This article traces how twentieth-century self-portraiture reconfigured the representation of selfhood across changing media. We assemble a corpus of 394 self-portrait records (1900-2000) from open museum catalogs (Met Open Access, Tate Collections, MoMA), harmonize medium and keyword fields, and apply Python/MATLAB visual analytics (time series plots, thematic breakdowns, word frequency mapping, and media share trends). This combined approach links collection metadata to close visual reading, providing a reproducible, cross-media view of how artists mobilized painting, photography, installation, and video to construct identity.

Author Biographies

  • Naizheng Mao, The Faculty of Humanities and Arts, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau, China.

    Naizheng Mao,The Faculty of Humanities and Arts, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau, China.

  • Yun Zhou, The Faculty of Humanities and Arts, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau, China.

    Yun Zhou, The Faculty of Humanities and Arts, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau, China.

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Published

2026-04-25

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2026): Volume 2 Issue 2

Section

Articles