For nearly 70 years, Jim Dine has been creating works of art in a wide variety of formats. Dine’s drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, poetry, and performance reveal a lifelong meditation on the self. His spare and often poetic compositions of solitary figures or objects speak intimately to viewers. 

The selection of works showcases the avatars for the artist himself, ranging from paintbrushes to house and garden tools to character studies and crows. The extremely personal images—the creations of a self-described expressionist thinker—demonstrate the workings of Dine’s subconscious, constructing what he has called an “autobiography through objects.” He articulated his inclination toward self-portraiture in his poem “My Portrait”:

This is me / Running after my portrait / This is how I remember / This is the memory / This is me / Running after myself.

Dine believes artists are alchemists, in that they magically transform common substances into prized treasures. He joyfully mixes materials and methods in a practice of continual experimentation, play, and discovery. 

Jim Dine: “This Is Me” is on view on the museum’s fourth floor from November 26, 2024 through June 8, 2025. 

Browse works in the installation