Identity and Intention: Two Centuries of American Portraiture
September 4—December 30, 2001

Identity and Intention presents a selection of portraits from the Addison's permanent collection ranging from the Colonial era to the early 20th century. The paintings, drawings, and photographs in this exhibition indicate a gradual shift of the burden of intention from patron to artist. Details in early portraits, such as pose, gaze, and costume reflected the sitter's wealth, social status, and aspirations. Gradually, portraits became a venue for the artist's personal ruminations about the sitter or the very subject of portraiture.

During Colonial times, portraiture in the United States was indebted to current British and European artistic trends and styles. American artists borrowed these traditions in an effort to create art that would be comparable to the grand manner of the European artistic tradition. Social constructs in America were reflected in the era's portraiture. Portraits also reveal more personal stories about the sitter and, eventually, the artist as well. In the age before photography, the painted portrait was the primary way to permanently document a person's image for posterity, visually narrating births, marriages, and other passages of life. In the early 20th century, portraiture became less about documentation and more about the character and personality of the model or the artist, or both.

Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1928, from the portfolio, Faces of the 20's