Masterpieces & Curiosities: The Fictional Portrait

If every picture tells a story then, at a glance, a portrait tells a simple one — the faithful biography of a sitter as conveyed by a named artist. This often misleading assumption lies at the heart of Masterpieces & Curiosities: The Fictional Portrait, which illuminates the complex relationship between portraiture and truth.

Stephen Brown, Associate Curator, examines two paintings in the Museum’s permanent collection: Acquired in 1957, the “Mears” portraits were credited to an 18th-century American artist and thought to represent a prominent Jewish merchant of colonial New York and his wife. After a decade of research, the identities of the artist and sitters have been reconsidered through archival investigation, genealogical studies, and X-ray analysis.

“The idea of portraiture is based on the belief in some direct relation between the image and the sitter,” asserts Brown. “But every image is a representation, and all representation is fiction.”

By separating fact from fiction and unveiling the truth behind these enigmatic portraits, Masterpieces & Curiosities: The Fictional Portrait lays to rest a mystery centuries-old while challenging our notions concerning the genre of portraiture.

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Masterpieces & Curiosities: The Fictional Portrait was organized by Stephen Brown, Associate Curator.
The series, Masterpieces & Curiosities, is organized by Jens Hoffmann, Director of Special Exhibitions and Public Programs, and Daniel S. Palmer, Leon Levy Assistant Curator.

About Masterpieces & Curiosities

Masterpieces & Curiosities is a series of intimate “essay” exhibitions organized around single works from the permanent collection of the Jewish Museum. Each exhibition examines and rethinks the piece on view by surrounding it with other artworks, objects, documents, and source materials. Unlike traditional museum exhibitions, it does not offer a master narrative to reinforce an artistic canon or explain knowledge and experience, but rather explores the stories that inform the individual artwork or cultural object.

Some of the works in focus are masterpieces—recognized artworks of unmatched value, great significance, beauty, and craftsmanship. Others are oddities—unexpected and eccentric creations that merit closer attention. Even the most apparently traditional or peculiar work of art reveals complex histories and rich layers of meaning when it is seen freshly, through a contemporary lens and in the larger context of cultural and social history.

The Jewish Museum’s permanent collection is vast and heterogeneous. Masterpieces & Curiosities aims to invigorate our study and display of these objects in innovative ways, thus celebrating their diversity and discovering some of the collection’s many hidden treasures.

Jens Hoffmann
Deputy Director
Exhibitions and Public Programs