Mishkin Gallery Presents People in the City: Modern Portraits from the Baruch College Art Collection
Fall 2026 exhibition on display from September 16 – December 11September 10, 2026
Photo taken by Alex Katz, Double Portrait, 1960-1963, Lithograph on paper, 16 ½ x 20 ¾”. Image courtesy of the Baruch College Art Collection and Daniel Jacobson.
The Mishkin Gallery at Baruch College will present its next exhibition, People in the City, which examines portraiture through the lens of eight photographers and artists who helped to critically define the medium, and in turn, the urban individual.
On display from September 16 – December 11, People in the City draws from photographs and prints in the permanent collection of Baruch College to look at how artists in the city have represented lovers, passersby, colleagues, and icons. From the construction of the contemporary celebrity image to the anonymous but instantly recognizable figure of the New Yorker, these works have shaped the genre of modern portraiture and help us understand what it meant to be human in the city between 1929-1986.
Meet the Contributors
Edward Steichen’s celebrated In the Studio portfolio (1929-1932) is a defining work of modernist photography featuring Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, and Rudolph Valentino.
Milt Hinton’s lively studio photographs of Billie Holiday, Count Basie, and other jazz greats document historic sessions and show musicians posing for the pages of Esquire magazine.
Significant works by Gary Winogrand and Jerome Liebling capture mid-century metropolitan denizens on the street, while Andy Warhol’s Polaroids of Dolly Parton and Sylvester Stallone and portraits taken for his Interview magazine are complicated by more intimate images of lovers and friends.
Iconic portraits and self-portraits by Alex Katz, Cindy Sherman, and Robert Longo meditate on the role of representation and figuration in postwar American art.
The Baruch College collection, shaped by major charitable gifts and directed by the Mishkin Gallery, is a notable collection of modern and contemporary art with a focus on photography and works on paper.
This exhibition is organized by Maika Pollack, Mishkin Gallery Director, with support from public and private donors including The Gramercy Park Foundation, the Edith B. Stein Symposium Fund, Friends of the Mishkin Gallery, the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences at Baruch College (CUNY), Alfred Berger, Marge Fisher, Mona and Milton Hinton, Bernard Levine, Aaron Schechter and Elaine Abrams Schechter, the Class of 1992, the MONY Life Insurance Company, and The Andy Warhol Foundation Photographic Legacy Program.
Exhibition Information
The Mishkin Gallery is free and open to the public.
Location: 135 East 22nd Street, New York, NY 10010
Hours: Monday – Friday, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm, and by appointment
Contact: Marisa Malone, mishkingallery@baruch.cuny.edu
About Mishkin Gallery
The Mishkin Gallery makes great art an active part of campus life at Baruch College through exhibitions, inclusive public programs, collection stewardship, and opportunities for experiential learning to expand understanding.
Follow Mishkin Gallery on Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok. Learn more about the Gallery.
Support the Programs
The Mishkin Gallery relies on contributions to support its work.
Whether you make a donation to our annual fund or join our Friends of Mishkin Gallery group, your support is invaluable and helps make possible the diverse arts programming that takes place in our gallery each year.