Plymouth Historical Society to show ‘Portraits of a Revolution’

PLYMOUTH — What did the people who guided and fought the American Revolution actually look like?

The answers are more complicated than one might think. Find out more at the Plymouth Historical Society’s "Portraits of a Revolution" program on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 5:30 p.m. This program explores American portraits painted and sculpted during the years leading up to, and decades after, the Revolution. The ideals, values, and virtues expressly stated in the founding documents are easily identifiable once one know how to “read” them.

Art historian and exhibit curator Inez McDermott will help examine portraits of founding “fathers” and “mothers,” as well as of lesser-known individuals, as documents that can be read like texts. Also discussed is the tradition of portraiture, and the influences of earlier art movements, artists, and artifacts, which inform these American portraits. The audience will be introduced to, and practice, some skills of art analysis and learn how art works can reveal so much about a culture.

McDermott has been teaching art history and curating art and history exhibitions in New Hampshire since 1986. In her classes and research, she explores the way that art can play a role in social engagement, participatory democracy, and activism.

The program will be held at the Plymouth Historical Museum and Memory House in the Old Webster Courthouse on Court Street, tucked behind Town Hall. It is free and open to the public. This presentation is co-sponsored by Pease Public Library and is supported by New Hampshire Humanities.

For more information, visit plymouthnhhistory.org.