Artist: Winold Reiss

Hirschl & Adler Galleries presents a highly anticipated exhibition showcasing the portraits of renowned German American artist Winold Reiss. This exclusive presentation highlights Reiss’s exceptional talent and distinctive vision, offering a rare glimpse into his celebrated portraiture.

Winold Reiss (1886-1953), who scholars increasingly recognize as a pivotal figure in early 20th-century American art, is known for his evocative portraits that capture the spirit and character of his subjects with unparalleled intensity and daring visual approach. The exhibition will cover the full panoply of subjects explored by the artist, including portraits of influential figures from the Harlem Renaissance movement, Mexican revolutionaries, American indigenous cultures, as well as artists, fashion models and other cultural icons in New York in the 1920s and 30s. All will reveal Reiss’s unique combination of innovative artistic design and uncanny psychological depth.

The exhibition’s accompanying catalogue features an insightful essay by acclaimed writer Hilton Als. About Winold Reiss, Als writes “he is interested in the heroism that goes into being, the will to adorn the corporeal self and make a kind of self-presentation for the Other’s eye. We are all Others to people not ourselves, and Reiss’s forceful graphic sense carries with it a psychological acuity about his subjects and their grounded, lyrical being. He’s not drawn to his subjects because they’re Indian, or women, or Black; he’s interested in their astonishing beauty, their will to be present to the experience of being looked at.”

“On the heels of the artist’s memorable inclusion in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s recent blockbuster exhibition, The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism, we are excited to further explore Winold Reiss’s remarkable portraits with the New York art world,” said Tom Parker, Director at Hirschl & Adler Galleries. “His work offers a profound study of identity and character that resonates deeply with contemporary audiences.”

In his foreword Parker writes, “Reiss brought a simplified, spare aesthetic to his subjects, marked by strong outlines, bold color, and a graphic emphasis on patterning. The resulting portraits appear timeless and fresh to today’s audiences. But Reiss’s work, particularly his focus on marginalized populations, contains an ingredient not previously seen in depictions of such groups in the 1920s: a deep and abiding humanism. Amid all the abstract daring of these portraits, the sitters’ faces appear realistic, strikingly delicate, clear, soulful. At a time of division and inequality in America, Reiss broke through the stereotyping of minorities, the poor, the foreign. Instead, he embraced and celebrated their Otherness like none had before him. It is the unmistakable equality and dignity in these images that, when combined with his formal dynamism, makes Reiss’s portrayals a new kind of American portrait, the forerunner to those defining the current moment.”

About Hirschl & Adler Galleries:

Hirschl & Adler Galleries, established in 1952, is a leading institution dedicated to the exhibition and sale of American art, with a focus on American paintings, drawings, and sculpture from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The gallery is committed to presenting exceptional works and fostering a deeper appreciation for the rich heritage of American art.

About Hilton Als:

Hilton Als has been a writer at the New Yorker since 1994, winning the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2017. His first book, The Women, was published in 1996 and his next book, White Girls, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the winner of the Lambda Literary Award in 2014. Als has curated numerous exhibitions for galleries and museums throughout the country on artists and writers like James Baldwin, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Joan Didion, Toni Morrison, Alice Neel, Celia Paul, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.

Winold Reiss: The New American Portrait opens at Hirschl & Adler Galleries on Thursday, January 9th and runs through Friday, February 21st, 2025. Located on the 9th floor of the historically landmarked Fuller Building, at the corner of 57th Street and Madison Avenue, Hirschl & Adler Galleries is open Monday through Friday, from 9:30 am to 5:15 pm.

For additional information or images, contact Thomas B. Parker, Director, at 212-535-8810 (phone) / 212-772-7237 (fax), or by email at TomP@HirschlAndAdler.com. Please visit our website at www.HirschlAndAdler.com for an online preview of the exhibition.