Portraiture
Portraiture's appeal is immediate and enduring.
Portraits objectify appearance, convey social
standing, communicate aspirations, and perpetuate
celebrity. The best examples bring forth
the nuances of the sitter's personality, and they
demonstrate the artist's skill in capturing
and constructingÑidentity. Portraiture is also
a microcosm of the history of art: in each of its
manifestations through the ages, it operates according
to the temporality of artistic convention.
The artwork in this gallery traces the history of
modern portraiture, from its origins in the work
of the 18th-century masters to its unique place
in the 20th-century avant-garde.
In the 18th century, portrait artists supported
themselves on commissions from nobles seeking
to immortalize their eminence; theirs was
a pictorial mode predicated on status and rank,
and focused more on idealized presence than on
the idiosyncrasies of actuality. Revolution and
political reforms in the late 18th century both
signaled and catalyzed a profound intellectual
shift; with it came the democratization of society,
the empowerment of citizens, and the transformation
of portraiture from the formulaic
depiction of aristocratic types to the celebration
of individual merit, the study of human character,
and, in the 19th century, the sympathetic
portrayal of even the humblest of sitters. By the
20th century, photography had emerged as a
preferred mirror of likeness and cipher of the
sitter's desires, liberating painted and sculpted
portraiture to intersect with modernism as an
index of the artist's choices.
In all of its iterations, however, portraiture
is ultimately the residual trace of a complex
dialogue between the artist and the sitter,
transmitted to the spectator regardless of
era in a timeless evocation of the richness
of human interactions.
Gall 4 chandelier
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (French, 1827–1875)
Portrait of Young Chinese Man, c. 1872
Bronze
Purchase, Academy Volunteers Fund, 1979 (4750.1)
Reuben Nakian (Polish, 1897–1986)
Portrait of Marcel Duchamp, 1943
Bronze
Gift-Purchase, from the Frederick and Marcia
Weisman Foundation, 1972 (4035.1)
Wilhelm Lehmbruck (German, 1881–1919)
Head of a Thinker, 1918
Cast stone (one of three casts)
Purchase, 1973 (4135.1)
With its prominent forehead, deep-set eyes,
resolute expression, and single clenched fist, this portrait bust by the German
Expressionist sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck assumes the brooding pathos of a
person tormented in thought. Its attenuated proportions, violently rent limbs,
and overall sense of profound despair suggest the anxiety and doom of the First
World War and its aftermath, of which Lehmbruck had direct experience as a
nurse in a German military hospital. Whether a harrowing tribute to the
enormous suffering he witnessed there or an autobiographical reference to his
own desolation (he committed suicide a year after this sculpture was completed)
Head of a Thinker is
less a likeness of a specific sitter than a grim reflection of the anguish felt
by many in the wake of the first mechanized war.
Isamu
Noguchi (American, 1904–1988)
Martha Graham, 1929
Bronze
Gift of Anna Rice Cooke, 1933 (3763)
A pivotal figure in the development of modern
sculpture, Isamu Noguchi also specialized in furniture, garden, and stage
design. Beginning in 1935, he worked on twenty-one stage sets for the American
choreographer and dancer Martha Graham. In 1929, he created Graham's portrait,
stunning her with his uncanny evocation of her powerful creative intensity:
"The head he had done of me—I did not like it then (when it was created)
and I do not like it now. It had
shown a side of my face, my left side, which changes only when I work. Isamu
had seen this and caught it. He
had seen too deeply this time, even for me."
Robert Dampier (British, 1800–1874)
Kamehameha III, 1825
Oil on canvas
Gift of Eliza Lefferts Cooke, Charles M. Cooke
III, and Carolene Alexander Cooke Wrenn in memory of Dr. C. Montague Cooke,
Jr., 1951 (1066.1)
Robert Dampier was the official artist on the
voyage HMS Blonde, which sailed to Hawai'i in 1825 with the bodies of king
Kamehameha II and his queen Kamāmalu,
who died in England after contracting measles. In Hawai'i, Dampier painted the
younger brother and sister of Kamehameha II: Kamehameha III and Nāhi'ena'ena. Posed as the monarch he was
destined to become, young Kamehameha stands regally in a verdant setting, the
small settlement of Honolulu Fort just visible beyond the banana trees that
frame him. Holding a spear, he is draped in a traditional feather garment,
which conceals the Western-style clothing that he actually wore and which the
royal family preferred. Kamehameha III reigned from 1825 to 1854, during which
time he oversaw Hawai‘i’s transition from a feudal society to a constitutional
monarchy.
Robert Dampier (British, 1800–1874)
Nāhi'ena'ena (Sister of
Kamehameha III), 1825
Oil on canvas
Gift of Eliza Lefferts Cooke, Charles M. Cooke
III, and Carolene Alexander Cooke Wrenn in memory of Dr. C. Montague Cooke,
Jr., 1951 (1067.1)
Nāhi'ena'ena
holds a kāhili, or feather
standard, emblematic of her rank, and her hair is dressed with a feather lei
worn only by the ali'i or chiefs. Draped over her shoulders is a magnificent
feather cape, which conceals the black silk dress she reportedly wore when she
sat for Dampier. Both her likeness and that of her brother Kamehameha III
include vignettes of their kingdom in the background. The vessel moored in the
distance is a reference to Hawai'i's position as a Pacific port of call for
Western travelers.
Alex Katz (American, born 1927)
Ada with Black Scarf, 1966
Oil on canvas
Purchased with funds derived from the Shidler
Familiy Foundation Fund and the Robert Allerton and Prisanlee Acquisition
Funds, 1986 (5452.1)
Alice Neel (American, 1900–1984)
Marisol, 1981
Oil on canvas
Purchase, gifts of Clare Boothe Luce and Mr. and
Mrs. Howard Wise, by exchange; Prisanlee and Robert Allerton Funds, 1988
(5717.1)
At a time when recognizable subject matter was
condemned by those interested in abstraction, Alice Neel was a determined realist
who devoted herself to portraiture for over half a century. Depicting her
family, friends, and acquaintances, she considered herself a collector of
souls, the chronicler of the "neurotic, the mad, and the miserable"
who make up what she called the human comedy. Not one to flatter or
sentimentalize her subjects, Neel responded intuitively to the sitter and
depicted what she saw and perceived. In psychologically intense images such as
this portrait of the Venezuelan sculptor Marisol, Neel abandoned the traditional
elements of rigorous naturalism, distorting and manipulating the relationship
of form, perspective, line, color, and anatomy to create portraits of
uncompromising directness. Seated
slightly askew with awkwardly crossed legs, her long fingers entangled and her
sweater an agitated pattern of stripes, Marisol exudes tenseness. Her strong
features, averted gaze, and bluntly cut hair all betray the intensity of her
creative personality.
John Singer
Sargent (American, 1856–1925)
Mrs. Thomas Lincoln Manson, Jr., 1891
Oil on canvas
Purchase, 1969 (3584.1)
Seated on a stylish gilt sofa, Mrs. Thomas
Lincoln Manson, Jr., looks out at the viewer with refined assurance. A woman of
considerable wealth and social rank, Mrs. Manson received this portrait as a
gift for hosting John Singer Sargent in her New York City home during the
artist's second visit to the United States. Sargent, who trained in Paris but
settled permanently in England, traveled twice to America to expand his
reputation as the most sought-after society portraitist of his day. His
popularity among the elite derived from his fluid brushwork, exquisite color
harmonies, and remarkable ability both to reveal and to flatter the physical
and psychological character of his sitters. Here, Sargent has lavished
attention on Mrs. Manson's dress and decor, even as he carefully recorded her
distinctive physiognomy.
Gilbert Stuart (American, 1755–1828)
Governor John Brooks, 1820
Oil on wood panel
Gift of Mrs. Edward T. Harrison, in memory of her
husband, Edward T. Harrison, 1965 (3370.1)
The preeminent portraitist in Federal America,
Gilbert Stuart immortalized Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson and George
Washington. This portrait of Massachusetts Governor John Brooks shows the
Revolutionary War hero in military regalia, gazing out at the viewer with
confidence and assurance. Brooks sits with the rigid formality befitting a man
of stature, even as his likeness is animated by Stuart’s exuberant brushwork
and vibrant colors. Indeed, Stuart has skillfully mastered the varying textures
of Brooks’s gold uniform buttons, luxurious white necktie, and ruddy
complexion. His fluid handling of pigments evolved from the European stylistic
conventions that he learned as a student in England, as well from the example
of British portrait painters such as Sir Joshua Reynolds.
John Singleton Copley (American, 1738–1815)
Nathaniel Allen, 1763
Oil on canvas
Purchase, Frank C. Atherton Memorial Fund, 1976
(4376.1)
Boston's leading portrait painter before the
Revolutionary War, John Singleton Copley famously captured the appearance and
character of his subjects with straightforward and impartial realism. Each
element in this portrait of Nathanial Allen, a successful merchant and
respected citizen of Gloucester, Massachusetts, suggests the skill and
confidence of the shrewd and exacting businessman. Allen is robust—an
indication of his standing—and his work ethic is vigorous: on the table before
him are a ledger and various documents, and he holds an open letter as if
caught in the act of reading it. Far from an idealizing his sitter, Copley has
rendered Allen with resolute candor—right down to the two large moles on his
right cheek. In addition to Allen, Copley painted some of the most illustrious
figures in American colonial history, including Paul Revere and Samuel Adams,
both of whom he captured, like Allen, deeply engaged in their chosen vocations.
James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903)
Arrangement in Black No. 5: Lady Meux 1881
Oil on canvas
Purchase, Acquisition Fund, funds from public
solicitation, Memorial Fund, and Robert Allerton Fund, 1967 (3490.1)
James McNeill Whistler was one of the foremost
exponents of the Aesthetic movement in England, where he lived and worked for
most of his life. Throughout his long and varied career, he tirelessly
expressed a single objective: to free art from narrative constraints, literary
references, political propaganda, and illusionism, and to allow it to operate
according to its own unique aesthetic properties
This portrait of Lady Valerie Susie Meux is one
of three that Whistler painted of the British socialite, each an elaboration of
a limited palette of one or two colors. Wearing a magnificent black gown, Lady
Meux poses against an equally dark ground, from which her ermine wrap and
porcelain skin elegantly radiate. Less a study of the particularities of Lady
Meux’s physical appearance than a meditation on the harmonious layering of
white on black, this portrait—and Whistler’s oeuvre more generally—anticipates
the abstraction that began to take shape within the European and American
avant-gardes in the early 20th century.
Unidentified Artist (American, 19th century)
Portrait of A Woman, 19th century
Oil on canvas
Gift of Susan Palmore for the Estate of Betty
Sterling, 2007 (13722.1)
The middle-class citizens of the newly formed
United States of America often engaged itinerant folk artists to capture their
likenesses for posterity. These
patrons could not afford to hire or did not have access to artists like Gilbert
Stuart and John Singleton Copley, whose works are also on view in this
gallery. Unlike Stuart and Copley,
folk artists did not receive academic training and were largely self-taught. The result, as seen in this portrait of
an unidentified woman, is a work of art that may not depict the subject in the
most anatomically correct manner (note the sitter’s small hands and uneven shoulders). Nevertheless, the unknown artist records
with great detail the sitter’s wrinkled face, as well as her need for glasses
and interest in reading.
George Romney (British, 1734–1802)
Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Haythorne, 1791
Oil on canvas
Gift of Reid and Charlotte Yates, 2010 (14260.1)
This work is a routine society portrait that
served to capture the likeness of a young woman in the prime of her youth. Romney, a popular though shy artist,
specialized in these types of portraits and relied upon them for financial
security. In eighteenth-century
London, the price of a portrait was based upon size and the degree of
complicated sartorial or landscape elements in the composition. The patron—in this case, probably Lady
Elizabeth’s husband or father—would determine these elements in consultation
with the artist. Lady Elizabeth
likely sat for Romney several times in his studio, so that he could paint her
face directly from life. Romney
would complete the remainder of the composition—the sunset, the dramatic red
curtain, her white gown—on his own, perhaps using a model or a mannequin. Lady Elizabeth’s dress was probably a
studio prop that she never actually wore, since versions of the gown appear in
many of Romney’s portraits of young women.
Photography
Since its invention in the mid-19th century, photography has evolved into a dominant mode of representation, a viable means of communication, and a vehicle for the global transmission of culture. Portrait photography came into its own during the 20th century, establishing itself on the artistic, commercial, and even political fronts. Technological breakthroughs democratized its practice, transforming it into the dynamic and diverse medium that it is today. With the advent of the snapshot, photography became readily adaptable to personal use; as a result, portraiture became more intimate and less formal.
The selection of 20th-century portrait photographs displayed here and in the two adjacent cases in this gallery focuses on the exchange between subject, artist, and viewer, and serves as a microcosm of today’s media-rich society. While Paul Weiss’s image of a self-aware Andy Warhol and Mary Ellen Mark’s picture of circus elephant Shyama and her trainer echo traditional portraiture conventions in their concentration on the sitter’s face, others, such as André Kertész’s close-up of the hands of pianist Paul Arma and Marvin Israel’s fragmented reference to Elvis Presley’s celebrity persona, signify the sitter’s public identity by isolating key elements of talent and notoriety. Still others, such as William Wegman’s photograph of his dog, Man Ray, veil the identity of the sitter—whether successfully or not—through the artifice of disguise.
André Kertész (Hungarian, 1894–1985)
Paul Arma's Hands and Glasses, Paris
1927
Gelatin silver contact print
Partial gift of Cherye and James F. Pierce,
2010 (31597)
Paul Weiss (American)
Andy Warhol, 1979
Gelatin silver print
Gift of James Paulauskas, 1986 (19635)
William Wegman (American, born 1943)
Ol' Blue Eyes, 1982
Gelatin silver print with ink and acrylic
Volunteer's Choice Purchase, 1987 (19769)
Marvin Israel (American, 1924–1984)
Elvis Presley Performing, 1957
Gelatin silver print
Gift of Lawrence and Sally Israel, 1988 (20406)
Mary Ellen Mark (American, born 1941)
Ram Prakash Singh with His Elephant Shyama,
Great Golden Circus, Ahmedabad, India, from the series Indian Circus, 1990
Platinum print
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Gulab Watumull, 1994 (25429)
Photography
Since its invention in the mid-19th
century, photography has evolved into a dominant mode of representation, a
viable means of communication, and a vehicle for the global transmission of
culture. Portrait photography came into its own during the 20th
century, establishing itself on the artistic, commercial, and even political
fronts. Technological breakthroughs democratized its practice, transforming it
into the dynamic and diverse medium that it is today. With the advent of the
snapshot, photography became readily adaptable to personal use; as a result,
portraiture became more intimate and less formal.
The selection of 20th-century portrait
photographs displayed here and in the two adjacent cases in this gallery
focuses on the exchange between subject, artist, and viewer, and serves as a
microcosm of today’s media-rich society. While Paul Weiss’s image of a
self-aware Andy Warhol and Mary Ellen Mark’s picture of circus elephant Shyama
and her trainer echo traditional portraiture conventions in their concentration
on the sitter’s face, others, such as André Kertész’s close-up of the hands of
pianist Paul Arma and Marvin Israel’s fragmented reference to Elvis Presley’s
celebrity persona, signify the sitter’s public identity by isolating key elements
of talent and notoriety. Still others, such as William Wegman’s photograph of
his dog, Man Ray, veil the identity of the sitter—whether
successfully or not—through the artifice of disguise.