According to the National Portrait Gallery's director, Michael E. Sullivan the museum’s “Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Stories" exhibit , which can been seen from October 14, 2011 through January 22, 2012, gives "a fresh look at a familiar name." He says this is in line with the museum's essential mission of providing "visual biography" and a "linkage between research and public awareness."
Sullivan also remarked that people will likely think about the most recent pop culture reference to Stein (Kathy Bate's portrayal of her in Woody Allen's 2011 movie "Midnight in Paris") and wonder why the museum chose not to dwell on her salon years when she entertained figure like Picasso and Matisse.
Lead guest curator Wanda M. Corn shed light on why the exhibit does not emphasize the time period most associate with Stein. She helped the museum developed a visual biography of Stein using five different themes that spanned Stein’s lifetime and beyond. Corn spoke of how Stein was invited to sit for artists more often than any other 20th century writer. Stein was aware of the power of images and wasn't known to refuse requests to sit for artists. They often gave her their portraits of her and she displayed them in her salon, according to where they fell in her favor at the moment.
Stein was more than a den mother and mentor to other artists and the exhibit showcases her work. It includes a sound recording of Stein reading one of her word portraits and video of an opera based on Stein’s work. Stein also had Baltimore roots and there is reference to Melanctha, her novella about a biracial woman in segregated Baltimore.
Story One: Picturing Gertrude looks at pictures of Stein during her younger days, including a family portrait the seemed to illustrate her father's desire to portray his family as accomplished.
Story Two: Domestic Stein focuses on dress and home decor. It also shines a spotlight on Stein’s domestic partner Alice B.Toklas, "demonstrating that there was no Gertrude without Alice and no Alice without Gertrude."
Story Three: Art of Friendship looks at the artists, writers and composers that Stein mentored and championed.
Story Four: Celebrity Stein looks at the sixth-month U.S. tour that cemented the expatriate Stein as a celebrate figure in her homeland.
Story Five: Legacies shows the influence Stein had on artists after her death.
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The National Portrait Gallery, 8th and F Sts. NW Washington DC
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