What happens when the artist becomes as iconic as the art itself?

Andy Warhol’s Self-Portrait (FS II.16) addresses this question head-on. Created to accompany his exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York (April 2–27, 1966), the work is a defining statement of Warhol’s cultivated persona and his evolving role as both creator and celebrity.

This striking piece, printed in black ink on silver-coated paper, features Warhol in a half-lit, contemplative pose, with his hand resting on his chin. At once stark and stylized, the image blurs the boundary between man and myth. The minimal rendering downplays his human features, yet retains unmistakable recognizability—underscoring how Warhol’s own image had become inseparable from his artistic brand.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Warhol’s self-portraits became increasingly central to his practice. Created through a mix of cameras and print techniques, these works charted his ongoing exploration of identity, fame, and the duplicity of self-representation. Self-Portrait 16 is an early and essential iteration of this theme, encapsulating both his introspective gaze and calculated public mystique.

Warhol’s self-portraiture is unique within art history: few artists have ever so deliberately constructed, manipulated, and repeated their own likeness. By engaging the silkscreen process, Warhol simultaneously flattens and elevates the self, crafting an image that is cool, detached, and endlessly reproducible—yet loaded with cultural and psychological complexity.

As a self-styled icon, Warhol stood shoulder to shoulder with the celebrities he portrayed. Self-Portrait 16 captures the emergence of that persona and offers a rare moment of intimacy within his otherwise polished, performative exterior. His enduring fascination with his own image is further explored in later works such as Self-Portrait (Painting), Self-Portrait 156A, and even the digitally rendered Untitled (Self-Portrait) created on an Amiga computer—each expanding on themes of identity, repetition, and technological mediation.

Ultimately, Self-Portrait (FS II.16) is not just a portrait of Warhol—it is a portrait of the era’s shifting understanding of fame, authenticity, and selfhood. It remains a compelling and essential piece within the broader legacy of both Warhol and contemporary art.