The Metropolitan Museum of Art's latest exhibition, 'The Face of Modern Life', is a captivating exploration of the art of the portrait, challenging conventional notions of what constitutes a portrait and offering a fresh perspective on this timeless art form. Curated by Stephanie D'Alessandro, the exhibition takes a broad and expansive view of portraiture, considering its evolution across different periods and the unique perspectives of various artists. The show is a testament to the multifaceted nature of portraiture, where the subject and the artist's interpretation intertwine, creating a dynamic and thought-provoking experience for visitors.
One of the exhibition's standout pieces is Pablo Picasso's iconic portrait of Gertrude Stein. This work is a powerful example of Picasso's innovative approach to portraiture, as he famously struggled to capture Stein's likeness, ultimately creating a masterpiece from memory. The accompanying excerpt from Stein's poem, 'If I Told Him, A Completed Portrait of Picasso', adds a layer of complexity, as she grapples with the very concept of resemblance and the logic of a portrait. This interplay between the artist and the subject is a central theme of the exhibition, inviting visitors to consider the subjective nature of portraiture.
Another highlight is Wifredo Lam's 'Ídolo', a recent acquisition that showcases the artist's unique interpretation of Santería, a Cuban religion. Lam's depiction of the goddess Oyá is a mesmerizing blend of memory, myth, and movement, challenging traditional notions of portraiture. The way Lam painted the work, with a dripping media, creates a sense of emergence and transition, reflecting the subject's state of being. This piece is a testament to the exhibition's focus on the artist's role in shaping the portrait, rather than simply replicating the subject's physical likeness.
The exhibition also features Francis Picabia's 'Elegance', a striking portrait of a woman with a parasol that reflects the artist's dadaist influences. Paired with Wallace Stevens' poem 'Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird', this work invites visitors to contemplate the relationship between image and text, and the ways in which artists can use their medium to explore the human condition. The exhibition's emphasis on the human presence and the drive to connect is a recurring theme, as D'Alessandro notes, 'It's really about human presence, the drive to connect, proxies or allusions to existence'.
'The Face of Modern Life' also showcases works that are not traditional portraits, but rather impressions based on the texture of experience and emotional temperature. Paul Klee's 'May Picture' and Vasily Kandinsky's 'Improvisation 27 (Garden of Love II)' are prime examples of this, offering abstract compositions that evoke a sense of dreaminess and sensory experience. D'Alessandro explains, 'The Klee and the Kandinsky are paintings what we could easily call abstract compositions, not portraits in a traditional way but direct aesthetic experiences'.
The exhibition's broader implications and connections to the past are a key focus for D'Alessandro. She notes that the artistic techniques and philosophical ideas underlying portraiture have evolved with the times, but the fundamental concerns of the form remain timeless. The exhibition invites visitors to reconnect with the past and consider the parallels between contemporary technologies, such as virtual reality and phones, and earlier artistic practices. D'Alessandro suggests, 'The things that we grapple with today – like virtual reality or phones – are technologies that make us see and not see things. These things have parallels with an earlier time. It's a kind of reconnecting with the past and seeing that all is not always new'.
'The Face of Modern Life' is a thought-provoking and engaging exploration of the art of the portrait, offering a fresh perspective on this timeless art form. It invites visitors to consider the subjective nature of portraiture, the role of the artist, and the broader implications of this art form. As D'Alessandro notes, 'There’s something in that human drive that connects us the whole time. There are deeper stories, there are different reasons that things happen. If we take the time to look into a portrait, we can understand something far beyond the subject'. The exhibition is a must-see for art enthusiasts and anyone interested in the multifaceted nature of portraiture and its enduring appeal.
