Self-portrait

Executed in oil on a copper support, the painting demonstrates ter Borch's refined handling of paint and texture. Light falls from the left, highlighting the left side of the face while allowing the right side to recede into shadow, creating a strong sense of depth. The brushwork is notably smooth in the rendering of the flesh, contrasting with more visible, textured strokes in the hair and the indistinct background. The palette is dominated by deep browns, blacks, and warm flesh tones. The painted image is enclosed by a thin golden oval border, set within a darker square frame.

The 1675 Self-portrait on copper resides in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin. Another full-length self-portrait by ter Borch, which depicts him as a distinguished gentleman of the regent class in lavish clothing, followed a different provenance path and is currently housed in the Mauritshuis in The Hague. That full-length work was originally paired with a portrait of his wife, Geertruyd Mathijssen, as pendants for the family circle, though her portrait has since been lost. The Mauritshuis version was owned by Herman Aarentz in Amsterdam before 1770, sold to Johan van der Marck in 1770, and passed through the Pieter Fouquet Gallery before being purchased by the Mauritshuis from the P.F. Tiberghien sale in Brussels on May 22, 1827.

Gerard ter Borch was born in Zwolle in December 1617 and trained under his father, Gerard ter Borch the Elder, demonstrating precocious talent as a draftsman by age eight. He studied in Haarlem under Pieter de Molijn in 1634 and traveled extensively across Europe, including time in Münster where he painted the famous group portrait of the ratification of the Treaty of Münster in 1648. He received knighthood from Philip IV of Spain. Settling in Deventer, he became a member of the town council. Known for his refined genre scenes and small-scale, full-length portraits, he established a new framework for subject matter, focusing on the sanctum of the home and the inner lives of his sitters. He influenced contemporaries like Gabriel Metsu, Gerrit Dou, Eglon van der Neer, and Johannes Vermeer, though Vermeer's fame later surpassed his own.

Ter Borch's oeuvre, comprising roughly eighty catalogued works, is distributed across major museums worldwide, including the Hermitage Museum, the Louvre, the Getty Center, and the Wallace Collection. His self-portraits serve as vital records of how he wished to be perceived, both as an artist and as a member of the regent class. His focus on the psychology of his sitters and his ability to hint at their inner lives influenced the direction of Dutch genre painting. In the modern era, his works have been at the center of cultural heritage disputes, such as the restitution claim by the heirs of Max Emden regarding Lady with a Fan, highlighting the ongoing relevance and value of his paintings in contemporary collections.