Date: Fri 02-Jul-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: SHIRLE

Quick Words:

portraits-Wadsworth

Full Text:

Here's Looking At You: Will Look At Portraits Form The Wadsworth Collection

HARTFORD, CONN. -- "Here's Looking At You: Portraits From The Collections" at

the Wadsworth Athenaeum, August 20 to December 6, explores portraiture from

the Renaissance to the present day through the broad themes of social

position, personality, glamour, transformation, self-portraiture, and in

memoriam.

"By comparing different periods and a variety of media, we hope to open up the

idea of the portrait, and investigate why this traditional genre has continued

to engage artists in this century more than, say, the still life, landscape,

or the nude," said Nicholas Baume, Emily Hall Tremaine Curator of Contemporary

art.

Baume continues, "Some works in the exhibition beg the very question of what a

portrait is, taking the idea of personal representation in unexpected

directions. For example, Sol LeWitt's "Autobiography" is a self-portrait

comprising photographs of everything in his loft at the time the work was

made."

The diverse selection includes sculptures, paintings, drawings, prints,

decorative arts, books and photographs, as well as loans from the collections

of Janice and Mickey Cartin, Nancy and Robinson Grover and Carol and Sol

LeWitt.

Artists include Ingres, Hals, Zorn, Degas, Gaugin, Courtbet, Van Gogh, Man

Ray, Copley, Chase, Cadmus, Homer, Sargent, Wyeth, Coplans, Clemente, Katz,

Sherman, Mendieta, and LeWitt.

"Here's Looking at You" coincides with the Wadsworth Atheneum's special

exhibition, "About Face: Andy Warhol Portraits" (September 24 to January 30,

2000). The museum is presenting three other exhibitions exploring portraiture

and identity during that time frame -- "Joe Coleman/ MATRIX 139" (August 29 to

November 14), "George Washington: In Profile" (September 2 to November 18),

and "Images of Childhood in Costume & Textiles" (October 3 to February 27,

2000).

The Wadsworth Athenaeum, 600 Main Street, is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11

am to 5 pm. Free highlights tours are offered Wednesday through Friday at

12:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 pm.

For a recorded listing of museum tours and events, call 860/278-2670.