Catherine Yarrow (1904-1990) was an English artist known for printmaking, painting, ceramics and pottery in a surrealist mode. Born in 1904 in Harpenden, near London, Yarrow initially studied drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) before moving to Paris at the age of 20. Here she established close links with the Surrealist group, particularly Leonora Carrington, Max Ernst, and Alberto Giacometti, whom she was romantically involved with. Yarrow studied engraving at Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17 studio in Montparnasse, producing works alongside Picasso, Miró, Masson, and Mary Wykeham, before being apprenticed to the master potter, José Llorens Artigas.

In the mid 1930s Yarrow suffered a nervous breakdown and moved to Zurich for treatment under Carl Jung and his daughter, Gret. She received further psychiatric care from a clinic in Morges, on Lake Geneva, and produced a series of dream-inspired works here featuring menacing, geometric personages. This self-portrait was created during this time, together with watercolours such as Blue House (Morges), now part of the Tate Gallery collection, Long Eared Creature (Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art), and Seated Figure and Star (National Contemporary Art Gallery of Wales).