{"id":638,"date":"2011-12-20T12:48:37","date_gmt":"2011-12-20T18:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/?p=638"},"modified":"2011-12-20T12:48:37","modified_gmt":"2011-12-20T18:48:37","slug":"hideseek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/hideseek\/","title":{"rendered":"Hide\/Seek"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Katz, David C. Ward, and Jennifer Sichel. Hide\/Seek:<\/em> Difference and Desire in American Portraiture<\/em>. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 2010. Hardcover. 295pp. $45.00. ISBN: 978-1-58834-299-7.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Hide\/Seek<\/em> is the companion volume to an exhibit of the same name<\/a> presented at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution from October 30, 2010 to February 13, 2011. Martin E. Sullivan, director of the National Portrait Gallery, writes in the foreword that this was the \u201cfirst major museum exhibition to chart the influence of gay and lesbian artists on modern American portraiture.\u201d Co-curator Jonathan Katz, in his lengthy and thoughtful introductory essay, places the works within a historical context and describes a more expansive intention. He writes that \u201cHide\/Seek <\/em>features straight artists representing gay figures, gay artists representing gay figures, and even straight artists representing straight figures (when of interest to gay people\/culture).\u201d<\/p>\n

Opening with Thomas Eakins\u2019s 1891 photograph of Walt Whitman, the 98 featured portraits trace the sweep of societal change from a time before same-sex desire had crystallized into a social identity, through gender nonconformity and the \u201cNew Woman\u201d of the 1920s, to recurrent outbreaks of concern over \u201cpublic hygiene,\u201d Joseph McCarthy\u2019s Lavender Scare, post-Stonewall celebration and liberation, the age of AIDS, and beyond.<\/p>\n

A great many of the artists will likely be familiar to readers with an interest in twentieth century art. There is an insouciant male nude by John Singer Sargent; Romaine Brooks\u2019s formidable self- portrait (and one of a dandified Una, Lady Troubridge, complete with monocle and dachshunds); Carl Van Vechten\u2019s charming photograph of Antony Tudor and Hugh Laing, discretely holding hands; Alice Neel\u2019s painting of Frank O\u2019Hara, and Jasper Johns\u2019 diptych inspired by an O\u2019Hara poem; an exuberant (and chaste) self-portrait by Robert Mapplethorpe; Andrew Wyeth\u2019s illustration of his nude and rather godlike neighbor standing in a wheatfield; Keith Haring\u2019s Unfinished Painting,<\/em> created the year before his death; several works by Andy Warhol; and many other solemnities and delights.<\/p>\n

The original exhibit drew controversy<\/a> when David Wojnarowicz\u2019s short video, \u201cA Fire in My Belly,\u201d was removed by the Smithsonian in deference to complaints from the Catholic League<\/a> and Rep. John Boehner<\/a>. No stills from the video appear here, although there are a number of Wojnarowicz\u2019s photographs, including one in which he has nearly vanished into the soil.<\/p>\n

As of this writing, a website<\/a> featuring exhibit highlights is still accessible.<\/p>\n

Includes 98 plates, endnotes, a bibliography, and an index.<\/p>\n

Recommended for libraries with an interest in art or GLBT history.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reviewed by, Joyce Meggett<\/strong> <\/em>
\nDivision Chief for Humanities <\/em>
\nChicago Public Library<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Katz, David C. Ward, and Jennifer Sichel. Hide\/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 2010. Hardcover. 295pp. $45.00. ISBN: 978-1-58834-299-7. Hide\/Seek is the companion volume to an exhibit of the same name presented at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution from October 30, 2010 to February 13, 2011. Martin E. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1167,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1167"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}