The art of portraiture reached a pinnacle of expressive achievement in early twentieth-century Paris. Liberated by the advent of photography, artists were able to re-imagine the nature of human portrayal, producing kinds of portraits--Fauve, Cubist, Dada, Surrealist, and Expressionist--unlike any seen before.

This remarkable book focuses on a rich variety of these portraits, presenting paintings, sculpture, and works on paper by such artists as Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Duchamp, Brancusi, Lipchitz, Gris, Rivera, Modigliani, Dubuffet, Laurencin, and Soutine. A major essay explores the fascinating network of personal and aesthetic relationships that existed at the time, as artists depicted themselves and their friends, collectors, critics, spouses, and romantic partners. There is also a formal and iconographic discussion of each featured work, as well as relevant biographical, cultural, and historical information.