Face value

"What is a portrait today?" is the defining question of this volume. Essays by such leading scholars and critics as Maurice Berger, Kenneth E. Silver, Max Kozloff, and Michele Wallace propose fascinating answers, framing portraiture through its age-old kinship with status and wealth; its employ in fashion, politics, and advertising; and its current association with issues of identity. The catalogue also explores the seemingly quixotic rebirth of studied portraiture in an age of instant image-making; the philosophical difficulties inherent in capturing individual 'essence'; and why portraits of individuals have such cachet in mass-audience advertising.