Artists by Artists: The Artist as Subject

New York, NY – Forum Gallery will present Artists by Artists, an exhibition of nearly 50 works of art by artists using other artists as their subjects. From the earliest work in the show, a 1905 portrait by John Singer Sargent of Lady Alice Lowther, to Alyssa Monks’ freshly completed painting of Betsy Eby, this exhibition reminds us that portraiture is as compelling and vital a discipline today as it has been throughout history.

Friendship, comradery, fascination and respect are united in many of the works on display as the creators portray the sometimes conflicting emotional and aesthetic connections they feel to the subjects they have chosen. The extraordinary strength of Alex Melamid’s portrait of 50 Cent (2015) is matched by the serenity of Pablo Picasso’s 1942 drawing of his muse, painter and photographer Dora Maar; while the lighthearted satire of Philip Evergood’s 1946 Cup of Tea, a painting of the artist Lily Harmon, contrasts with the elegant reverence of Bo Bartlett’s 2017 painting of Andrew Wyeth. The exhibition includes exceptionally humorous works by David Levine and Jane Lund as well as imaginative and quite serious paintings by Michael Leonard and Raphael Soyer, whose Imaginary Wall in my Studio (1947) depicts five prominent American artists of the period.