Kathryn calley galitz biography of mahatma

What do Taylor Swift and Vincent van Gogh have in common? According to art historian Kathryn Calley Galitz’s new book, How to Read Portraits, they are both masters of controlling their image through portraiture.

Her reexamination of a deceptively familiar genre explores what portraits can tell us about the artist, the sitter, and ourselves.

Kathryn calley galitz biography of mahatma

I spoke to Kathy about this publication—the latest title in The Met’s celebrated How to Read series—and how portraiture remains resonant and relevant to this day.

Rachel High: This book is part of a series published regularly by The Met since 2008, but How to Read Portraits is somewhat of a new direction for the How to Read series.

Could you explain how your volume carries on the spirit and mission of the series while also serving as a departure?

Kathryn Calley Galitz:How to Read Portraits is the twelfth book in the How to Read series.

It is true to the series in that it is meant to be accessible to a broad audience as an introduction