Portraits from the Permanent Collection
On view through April 10, 2026, Linn Auditorium, 2nd Floor
This intimate exhibition features the art of portraiture from the Zanesville Museum of Art’s permanent collection. This selection includes twenty-two prints from the museum’s large works on paper collection and explores how artists capture not just a sitter’s likeness, but also their very essence.
This remarkable selection of prints, all but one from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, offers a glimpse into the Modern era—a period defined by its incredible stylistic diversity. Some portraits are realistic representations and appear to be a straightforward historical record that faithfully depicts a sitter’s physical features, how they looked, or how they dressed. Other likenesses are abstract interpretations of the subject and attempt to capture their inner essence, or how they feel at a given moment in time.
Once a luxury few could afford, portraiture has been democratized over time. The advent of photography, from portrait studios and affordable cameras to smartphones and selfies, has made capturing one’s image an everyday occurrence. But this hasn’t always been the case. Portrait paintings and prints were created to make a statement. It’s for the viewer to determine what that statement is. By examining a sitter’s pose, their settings, the objects that surround them, their facial expression, clothing, background, and other compositional elements, a viewer can learn more about the subject, the time in which they lived, and perhaps even the reason the artist created the work.
This exhibition challenges the viewer to consider the evolution of portraiture and its enduring power to reflect, and challenges our perceptions of self and others.
Image Above: Jane Reece, Beulah Rowena, Study 1, 1912, Toned Palladium Print. 1964.11185sss
