Barnet by Barnet: An Installation of Portraits (original) (raw)

National Academy Museum

and School of Fine Arts

Barnet by Barnet: An Installation of Portraits

through December 28, 1997

An entire room of "Barnets" is the best way to describe the latest offering at the National Academy Museum

Will Barnet (b. 1911)

Portrait of Djordje Milicevic

1967, oil on canvas

courtesy of The Art Students League of New York

Photographer: John D. Schiff

Portraits by the noted artist fill the newly refurbished Walnut Gallery of the National Academy's Beaux-Arts townhouse. The works represent his work in portraiture since the mid-1950s, and include loans from a variety of cultural institutions and private collections. The works compliment the major fall exhibition which was curated by Barnet, The Artist's Eye: Selections by Will Barnet, the fourth in a highly acclaimed series of presentations.

Will Barnet (b. 1911)

Dr. Howard Steel and Wil Porter

1987

courtesy of The Museum of American Art of

The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia

gift of Howard Steel, M.D., and Elizabeth Clark Steel

Barnet by Barnet: An Installation of Portraits features nine paintings of art-world figures, such as former Guggenheim Director Thomas M. Messer, and collector Roy R. Neuberger as well as friends, and colleagues. The presentation includes two self-portraits and one of Barnet's wife. Also on view is an educational video of Will Barnet giving an historical perspective on 19th and 20th-century portraiture through a discussion of a number of works from The Artist's Eye exhibition. The video was produced by the National Academy exclusively to accompany the current exhibitions.

Will Barnet (b. 1911)

Self Portrait

1981, oil on canvas, 30 1/4 x 45 inches

National Academy Museum

About Will Barnet

A nationally celebrated artist with work in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and The Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York, Barnet has been a National Academician since 1982. His work can also be seen in a number of important regional museums, such the Portland Museum of Art and the Farnsworth Museum, both in Maine. The November issue of American Artist Magazine features a long cover story on Will Barnet's observations in taking a walk through The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Text and images courtesy of National Academy Museum.

Search for more articles and essays on American art in Resource Library. See America's Distinguished Artistsfor biographical information on historic artists.

This page was originally published in 2007 in Resource Library Magazine. Please see Resource Library's Overview section for more information.