For just one day, at the Princeton University Art Museum, you can compare 19th century oil portraits of old, white (add two more adjectives, powerful and rich) men with 20th century portraits, photographs.
Shared Vision: The Sondra Gilman and Celso Gonzalez-Falla Collection of Photography has just opened and it highlights the enigmatic child pictured above.
Sunday, June 30, is the last day for Picturing Power: Capitalism, Democracy, and American Portraiture, brought to Princeton by courtesy of the Scheides (Judith and William). Your jaw will drop at the tier upon tier display of portraits of important men. These portrait painters knew their stuff — you can discern the personalities of the Carnegies, the Mellons, the Rockefellers, the Edisons.
The portraits used to hang at the chamber of commerce in New York until the display got so embarrassing (no diversity of sex or race) that the chamber sold it off.
When the portrait is on a wall, you can return the stare.
Princeton Comment 