11 December 2017 - 25 February 2018
In the age of the selfie we are now consumed with creating and sharing our own image. Social media platforms, with their filters and editing tools, give us a powerful sense of control over how we are seen by others.
Sometimes it can seem hard to know what is real and what is contrived. But this has always been the case. Portraits, paintings and photographs reflect both how an individual wants to be seen as well as the skill and technique of the artist.
This selection of works from the Jewish Museum collection illustrates the multiple and changing ways in which artists have tried to shape and convey a person’s image through portraiture. From anarchists and astronomers to bankers and boxers, it offers a glimpse of the diversity of Jewish lives in Britain in the last 250 years.