Faces and Figures: Recent Acquisitions
Faces and Figures features a selection of recent gifts and purchases of artwork that demonstrate the Museum’s ongoing commitment to making our collections more inclusive and representative of the communities we serve.
Julie Heffernan (American, b. 1956). Study for Self-Portrait with Mutts, 2021. Oil on canvas. Gift of Jonathan Kalb, 2022 (2022.3).
Art that depicts the human figure has a distinct ability to attract our attention. From infancy, we respond to faces, and for millennia artists have created portraits and scenes of human activity to express identity and shared experience. Faces and Figures features a selection of recent gifts and purchases of artwork that demonstrate the Museum’s ongoing commitment to making our collections more inclusive and representative of the communities we serve.
Choosing an artwork for acquisition involves careful consideration of its quality and its relevance to our mission, including its ability to resonate with our visitors and tell many stories. From the oldest painting in the exhibition, Seymour Joseph Guy’s 1881 portrait of his daughters with a kitten, to the most recent, Larissa De Jesús Negrón’s self-portrait expressing a desire for boundaries, these works remind us of the instant relatability of figural works.
John Sonsini, with two thoughtful portraits of Latino day laborers, and Alison Saar, with a lively print of a dancing couple, explore opposite but interrelated aspects of our lives—finding dignity in our work and joy in our leisure. C. Finley explores the grace of movement, as well as LGBTQ pride, in a depiction of Manelich Minniefee and Filippo Tabbi linked in a pas de deux, a ballet dance traditionally performed by a man and woman. Julie Heffernan, Greg Wyatt, and James Seward each explore different aspect of art’s ability to connect us with cultural roots: Heffernan with her mythologically inspired Study for Self-Portrait with Mutts, Wyatt with portraits of two iconic Hudson River School painters, and Seward, with a classic scene from The Wizard of Oz.
The exhibition celebrates these exciting new additions to our collection as well as the patrons who made them possible. Since 2020, the HRM has acquired more than two hundred artworks and historical objects from more than seventy generous donors, many of which are displayed in our collection galleries.
Exhibitions are made possible by assistance provided by the County of Westchester.
Featured Artists
Derrick Adams* • Emma Amos* • Minna Citron • Larissa De Jesús Negrón • C. Finley • Scherezade García* • Seymour Joseph Guy • Julie Heffernan • Ellen Lanyon • Alison Saar • James Seward • John Sonsini • Andrew Stevovich* • Anna Walinska* • Shuai Yang* • Greg Wyatt
*Artists whose works rotated out of the exhibition in fall 2024.
Selected objects
Emma Amos (American, 1937–2020). Identity, from Femfolio, 2006. Digital print with hand-lithography (AP 4/5). Published by The Brodsky Center at PAFA, Philadelphia. Museum Purchase with funds donated by Betty Krulik, Lidia G. Fouto, and Steven M. Cancro, 2023 (2023.3). © Emma Amos / VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.
Scherezade García (American, b. Dominican Republic, 1966). In Search of Paradise, from the Súper Trópico series, 2014. Silkscreen, acrylic, charcoal, and ink on canvas. Gift of the artist, 2023 (2023.7).
Seymour Joseph Guy (American, b. England, 1824–1910). The New Arrival, 1881. Oil on canvas. Gift of Shelley and Felice Bergman, 2023 (2023.15.4). Photo: Steven Paneccasio.
Julie Heffernan (American, b. 1956). Study for Self-Portrait with Mutts, 2021. Oil on canvas. Gift of Jonathan Kalb, 2022 (2022.3).
Larissa De Jesús Negrón (American, b. Puerto Rico, 1994). ¿No sabes cuando parar o qué? (You don’t know when to stop or what?), 2023. Acrylic and oil on canvas. Gift of the artist, 2024 (2024.2).
Shuai Yang (Chinese, b. 1998). Cosmos, 2022. Gouache, graphite, markers, and screen print on paper. Gift of the artist, 2024 (2024.1).
