Pictus Porrectus

Reconsidering the Full Length Portrait

Isaac Bell House, Newport

1 July - 2 October 2022

For centuries, the pictorial genre of the full length, life sized portrait was bound up with its elitist origins. This form of portraiture was originally devised as a means to convey ostentatious display of power and wealth as well as a means to reinforce social aristocratic and ecclesiastical hierarchies. Working as an artist in the court of the Saxon kings, it is conjectured that Lucas Cranach the Elder pioneered this mode of representation in creating a pair of full-length canvases portraying Henry IV of Saxony and Catherine of Mecklenburg in 1514 (now part of the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden).

From the early Renaissance, Kings, nobles, popes, members of the royal court and clergy were the unique subjects of full length portraits. After the American and French Revolutions, secular members of ‘high society’ and elected leaders were also given this treatment reflecting the shifting values of the Enlightenment era—thus somewhat expanding the genre. In the 19th century, as artists’ statuses changed in society, they too began to deploy this format to create memorable self portraits, with the American Charles Willson Peale’s astonishing full length trompe l’oeil depiction of himself (conserved at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and reprised by Sophie Matisse in 2000) being a prime example of the full length self-portrait as artistic calling card.

After more than a century of falling out of fashion, the full length portrait has undergone a radical paradigm shift in recent decades. Contemporary artists have breathed new life into this old fashioned genre by reinvigorating it with new subjects who fall outside of the passé Anglo-European hierarchies. As practiced by a new generation of contemporary artists, full length portraiture has become a powerful vehicle for dismantling the elitism associated with the genre—radically insisting upon a diverse array of subjects coming from a multitude of identities, classes and communities. These artists have revised the trajectory of the full length portrait, reshaping it into a vital and inclusive genre of portraiture.

Art & Newport will stage its revisionist look at this genre, entitled Pictus Porrectus, in the atmospheric rooms of the Isaac Bell House (1881–83), one of the architectural gems of Newport’s storied historic mansions. With the groundbreaking modern design of McKim, Mead & White as a backdrop, the exhibition plays upon the historical tradition of full-length portraiture as practiced during the Gilded Age in Newport by artists such as Giovanni Baldini, Howard Cushing, Eugene Oudinant and John Singer Sargent. But in lieu of exclusively portraying the upper classes and newly minted American industrialists that summered in Newport, a new generation of artists featured in Pictus Porrectus have reinvested in the practice of full length portraiture by depicting a more diverse subjects, distancing themselves from the genre’s classist history and the passé Anglo-European hierarchies it supported.

After more than a century of falling out of fashion, full length portraiture has undergone radical art historical revision while simultaneously becoming a vehicle for empowered representations of subjects hailing from ethnic groups, socio-economic classes and communities that have been traditionally ignored by the establishment. Pictus Porrectus includes works that allude to a number of art historical sub-genres including new riffs on self-portraiture (Sally J. Han, Celia Paul), the nude (Jenna Gribbon, Albert York), child portraiture (Andrew LaMar Hopkins), grisaille painting (John Currin), Orientalism (Piotr Uklanski) and history painting (Umar Rachid) to name a few examples. A number of artists have painted portraits of their peers—such as Henry Taylor’s depiction of Chase Hall and Jenna Gribbon’s The Artist Eroticized (Salman Toor)—further layering the dialogue between works and the artists. The paintings have been installed in the various rooms on two floors of the Isaac Bell House in such a way as to create aesthetic conversations with the unique interiors and their pastiche of various styles as well as playing upon the memory of the usage of particular rooms of the house.

In addition to the twenty-three works displayed at the Isaac Bell House, there will be a specially commissioned portrait of Hope “Happy” Hill van Beuren by Sam McKinniss installed in the Salon at Rosecliff—another magnificent house museum of the Newport Preservation Society. McKinniss’ full length depiction of Happy van Beuren will be shown alongside two other full-length portraits of van Beuren’s father Nathaniel Peter Hill and grandmother Mrs. Crawford P. Hill, painted by Mary Leon Waller in 1905 and Louis Mark in 1910. Over the decades, Happy and her beloved husband “Archie” have championed the well-being of Newport County and its residents, as well as the island’s history, outstanding architecture, stunning gardens and open spaces. Happy’s irrepressible enthusiasm is manifest in ways large and small. A longtime patron of the arts and supporter of the Preservation Society, this contemporary depiction of van Beuren brings to life the artistic revision of the genre as enacted by McKinniss. Far from the grandes dames of the Gilded Age, and decidedly less formal—both in the subject’s attire and pose—the off-the-cuff depiction by McKinniss catches Happy’s authenticity in casual dress and in a relaxed stance, in a style that both captures her warm demeanor and her everywoman status as an active member of the Newport community.

Pictus Porrectus has been organized by Dodie Kazanjian and Alison M. Gingeras in close collaboration with the staff of the Newport Preservation Society.

Exhibited artists
John Currin, Jenna Gribbon, Chase Hall, Sally J. Han, Andrew LaMar Hopkins, Dennis Kardon, Ella Kruglyanskaya, Deana Lawson, Sophie Matisse, Sam McKinniss, Ruby Neri, Aliza Nisenbaum, Nicolas Party, Celia Paul, Elizabeth Peyton, Umar Rachid, Malick Sidibé, Henry Taylor, Salmon Toor, Piotr Uklanski, Aleksandra Waliszewska, Albert York

About Isaac Bell House
In 1881, Isaac Bell Jr. hired McKim, Mead & White to design a summer house on Bellevue Avenue. The commission reflects the highly experimental nature of the firm’s work during the early phase of its prolific history, and resulted in the creation of one of the most influential buildings in American architecture. It remains one of the best surviving examples of shingle-style architecture in the country. At the time of its completion in 1883, the Isaac Bell House was revolutionary for its open plan and fusion of design elements from a variety of historical and exotic sources. The architects used many historic features from colonial America, Britain, Europe, and the Far East, but they were not dependent on historical references. Instead, they were inspired by it and used historic details and building materials in innovative ways. The exterior of the Isaac Bell House is one of McKim, Mead & White’s most sophisticated and unified designs. The facades of the building are composed to create a picturesque effect with towers and gables, drawing upon the popular picturesque tradition, but using the elements in a much more complex way. On the Bellevue Avenue side, the whole facade is organized under two sweeping gables, inspired by colonial American buildings. The curved shape of the two-story porch is inspired by medieval towers, and the single-story piazza wraps around the remainder of the building as the important feature that ties the facades together. The bamboo style posts are inspired by Japanese designs. The Renaissance portrayals of dolphins on the porch brackets is modeled after Italian Renaissance dolphins, and reflects the diverse sources of ornament used by the architects.

About Rosecliff
Commissioned by Nevada silver heiress Theresa Fair Oelrichs in 1899, architect Stanford White modeled Rosecliff after the Grand Trianon, the garden retreat of French kings at Versailles. After the house was completed in 1902, at a reported cost of $2.5 million, Mrs. Oelrichs hosted fabulous entertainments here, including a fairy tale dinner and a party featuring famed magician Harry Houdini. “Tessie”, as she was known to her friends, was born in Virginia City, Nevada. Her father, James Graham Fair, made an enormous fortune from Nevada’s Comstock silver lode, one of the richest silver finds in history. During a summer in Newport, Theresa met Hermann Oelrichs playing tennis at the Newport Casino. They were married in 1890.A year later, the Oelrichs purchased the property known as Rosecliff from the estate of historian and diplomat George Bancroft. An amateur horticulturist, Bancroft grew thousands of roses at Rosecliff and his gardens along the Cliff Walk were famous. The Oelrichs later bought additional property along Bellevue Avenue and commissioned Stanford White to replace the original house with the mansion that became the setting for many of Newport’s most lavish parties. Rosecliff is now preserved through the generosity of its last private owners, Mr. and Mrs. J. Edgar Monroe, of New Orleans. They gave the house, its furnishings, and an endowment to the Preservation Society in 1971.