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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

William Beckman: Five Decades of Self-Portraits

Sept 23 – Nov 6, 2021
475 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022, United States

For the past 50 years, William Beckman has been the subject of his own paintings. Featuring 17 self-portraits done between 1976 and 2021—several from each decade—this exhibition demonstrates the immense range that can be found in a single subject. The earliest self-portrait on view, from 1976, is an intimate 11x9 from the shoulders up, inspired by the German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer. A 2021 portrait, Overcoat with Plowed Field, stretches 100 inches wide and 73 inches tall. Drawing from the American Gothic tradition, it’s one of few portraits on display that has a scenic background instead of a wall of color. The exhibition also features charcoal self-portraits drawn in the 1980s and 90s—Beckman looking stoic in sweaters. —J.D.

William Beckman, “Self-Portrait,” 1976. Image courtesy of Forum Gallery.