Medieval to Contemporary Portraiture Now on View in Fourth Rotation of In Dialogue

On view starting October 25, 2022, the J. Paul Getty Museum’s fourth iteration of In Dialogue places modern and contemporary portraits by international photographers in conversation with European paintings and sculpture created before 1900.

Inspired by points of visual symmetry, this rotation features photographs by Ananké Asseff, Rineke Dijkstra, Nan Goldin, Issei Suda, Hiroshi Watanabe, and Carrie Mae Weems displayed alongside works in Getty’s European Paintings, Sculpture and Decorative Arts galleries.

“In Dialogue invites visitors to explore wide-ranging approaches to portraiture and to see both historical and contemporary works anew,” says Antares Wells, curatorial assistant in the Department of Photographs. “By presenting portraits made in diverse contexts together in this way, we hope to spark conversations about the power of the genre to convey both intimate and symbolic interpretations of human subjects.”

Reflecting Getty’s commitment to diversifying its photography collection, In Dialogue places particular emphasis on artists of color, female artists, and international contemporary photographers, and offers an opportunity to encounter recent acquisitions on display for the first time.

One key acquisition featured in this rotation is Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra’s triptych New Mothers (1994), purchased earlier this year with the support of the Museum’s Photographs Council. Dijkstra’s intimate portraits of women who had recently given birth are presented in connection with an early maternal icon, the Master of Saint Cecilia’s Madonna and Child (1290–1295). Together, the works invite viewers to reflect on the ways in which artists have approached motherhood over time, and the vulnerability that sitters can bring to portraits.