A portrait reveals more than the likeness of the subject. It is also a product of the artist who made it, the artist's materials and style, and the cultural setting in which it was created. In this permanent collection exhibit we present the work of eight artists’ portraits of fourteen individuals—and one tree.

Artists represented include Arnold Mountfort, Hugo Ballin, Ernest de Saisset, Charles Henry Harmon, Leonardo Barbieri, among others. Each painting communicates about a personality that once existed outside the world of paint and canvas. What we perceive in the portrait image is a description, a subjective presentation about the life of the human original. It is in that distinct presentation that each portrait reveals even more about the personalities behind it.