Facing the Revolution: Portraits of Women in France and the United States focuses on the transformative period of political revolution that shaped the modern era on both sides of the Atlantic. As the former subjects of monarchical rule became citizens of new republics, artists began to consider how portraiture could better reflect new ways of thinking about individual identity. Facing the Revolution explores the intersection of these political and artistic revolutions by foregrounding portraits of the prominent female personalities who helped shape this historical period (1770–1830).

The exhibition is curated by Galina Olmsted, Assistant Curator of European and American Art.