Who Will Paint Your Portrait?
Portraits, Inc., has helped answer this question since its founding in 1942. For 80 years we have served as the premier firm assisting families, corporations, and institutions wishing to honor individual legacies with fine art portraits. Over time we have carefully curated a collection of more than 100 of the foremost portrait artists in the world. We continue to innovate, seeking to both ground this great tradition while propelling it into the future. However, one thing has remained the same. People are at the center of the art we create.
The Beginning
Portraits, Inc., was founded in 1942 by Lois Shaw, a New York art and antiques dealer and socialite. In the early 1940s, Mrs. Shaw partnered with the USO to give weekly studio parties in her Park Avenue gallery that often centered on portraiture. She contacted a number of portrait artists and asked them to contribute their services by doing life drawings of the military men and women in uniform who attended the parties. As she was hosting these events, Mrs. Shaw quickly realized that portrait artists really had no special gallery to exhibit their work. Dedicating a room in her gallery exclusively to fine portraiture, she announced a new service called “The Portrait Painters’ Clearing House.” In 1942, she officially founded Portraits, Inc., and was soon joined by Helen Appleton Read and Andrea Ericson in her enterprise.
An Illustrious Roster of Artists
In the ensuing decades, the list of distinguished artists Portraits, Inc. represented grew to include many “giants” in American portraiture: Andrew Wyeth, Henriette Wyeth, Albert Murray, Robert Brackman, John Koch, Samuel Edmund Oppenheim, Sidney Dickinson, Aaron Shikler, Nelson Shanks, Everett Raymond Kinstler, and Daniel E. Greene.
Today Portraits, Inc. is proud to represent leading artists John Howard Sanden, Michael Shane Neal, Sharon Sprung, Robert A. Anderson, Burton Silverman, and Daniel Gerhartz, among many others.
A Change of Scenery
New York was the longtime home of Portraits, Inc. After several decades on Park Avenue, the business moved to a new location in the heart of Rockefeller Center in 2005, followed by two boutique gallery locations in the Upper East Side.
In 2008, Portraits, Inc., was purchased by Beverly McNeil and Julia Baughman and merged with the nationwide organization, Portrait Brokers of America, and the company’s corporate headquarters re-located to Birmingham, Alabama. In addition to dynamic new ownership, the company’s footprint also expanded significantly through its network of sales associates. Two years later, another agency, The Portrait Source, led by Ruth Reeves joined the Portraits, Inc. name.
To learn more contact us: call 1.800.476.1223 or e-mail us .
Portraits, Inc. was founded in 1942 in New York on Park Avenue. Over its 80-year history, Portraits, Inc. has carefully assembled a select group of the world’s foremost portrait artists offering a range of styles and prices. Recognized as the industry leader, Portraits, Inc. provides expert guidance for discerning clients interested in commissioning fine art portraits.