Forever Young: Representations of Childhood and Adolescence

This exhibition examines portrayals of childhood and youth from the 18th century to the present. Since the dawn of American portraiture, children have been a popular subject for paintings and photographs. Representing children is not only about capturing a likeness, but also about portraying childhood as symbolic of innocence, transition, growth, awakening, mortality, youth, education, and freedom or abandon. Drawing from the Museum’s permanent collection, this exhibition features works of art by 18th to 20th century American artists, such as George Bellows, Julia Overing Boit, Howard Gardiner Cushing, Charles “Teenie” Harris, Winslow Homer, John LaFarge, Benjamin Curtis Porter, Aaron Siskind, Paul Strand, and Jane Stuart to name a few. It also features works of art in a diverse range of media by contemporary artists from the Museum’s collection and beyond including Julie Blackmon, Jesse Burke, Cynthia Consentino, Jen Corace, Siân Davey, Lucas Foglia, Judy Haberl, Jaclyn Kain, Susan Lapides, Sally Mann, Rania Matar, Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Abelardo Morell, Lindsay Morris, Gina Gwen Palacios, Melissa Ann Pinney, Zoe Perry-Wood, Suzanne Révy, Stephen Sheffield, and Maggie Taylor. Exhibition themes include: family, children at play, emerging identities, childhood constructed, social portraits, children alone, children with animals, and memory/nostalgia. Examining representations of children and adolescents over time, this exhibition celebrates and questions the various ways artists, sitters, and audiences have conceived of youth.

The Newport Art Museum is grateful to Panopticon Imaging for their In-kind support of this exhibit.