With a self-portrait Pistoletto began his exhibition activity, in 1955, at the Circolo degli Artisti in Turin, where his father usually presented his works. Between 1956 and 1958 he painted large self-portraits, between abstract and material, in which the face occupies the entire surface of the canvas. In the 1958 self-portraits the subjects are painted full-length and life-size. The relationship of the subject with the surrounding space leads the artist to confront the creation of the background.