Through works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Salvador Dalí, Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol, this exhibition analyses the evolution of portraiture in the 20th century. The exhibition will first be shown at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemmisza and then travels to the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth (Texas), which is the co-organiser. It is the first in-depth study of this traditional genre within European painting, which acquired new importance within international art in the modern era.

wwwmuseithyssen.org

www.kimbellart.org/exhibitions

Collection Artist(s)

Glossary

  • Genre

    In a specialised sense this term refers to the portrayal of everyday life, and refers to painting; more broadly it means the subject types covered by an artist.

    The 17th Century French Academy decreed that there were five main genres an artist should study. These were History, Portrait, Genre, Landscape and Still Life. History was considered the most important as it portrayed Man in his most noblest endeavours and in his relationship with God; Still Life the lowest as it dealt with the moribund and innate.

  • Painting

    Work of art made with paint on a surface. Often the surface, also called a support, is a tightly stretched piece of canvas, paper or a wooden panel. Painting involves a wide range of techniques and materials, along with the artist's intellectual concerns effecting the content of a work.