Portrait of Jennifer Fabos 

Adrian Gottlieb painted this portrait of Jennifer Fabos in oil, continuing a long tradition of portraiture. It encourages us to consider the place of figurative painting in contemporary art. We see a woman depicted in a style reminiscent of the Old Masters, with its emphasis on light and shadow, and a limited color palette. The dark background and the subject's averted gaze create a sense of introspection. Gottlieb was trained in Florence, and this portrait certainly reflects the values of academic painting, especially in its prioritizing of technical skill. However, Gottlieb is working in a very different institutional context than those historical examples. We might ask whether such traditional approaches to art can still speak to our contemporary social concerns. The answer to this question lies in the study of the changing institutions of art: academies, galleries, and museums. Through archival research and analysis of cultural trends, we can better understand the ongoing dialogue between tradition and innovation.