NEW EXHIBITION: THE PORTRAIT PARADOX : Adrian Jeans

The Portrait Paradox

14 February – 9 May 2026
Williamson Art Gallery and Museum
Slatey Road, Oxton, Birkenhead, CH43 4UE

Free admission
Opening times:
Mon-Thu: 10am-5pm / Fri: 10am-9pm / Sat: 10am-5pm / Sun: closed
Opening night: 6-8pm, 13 February 2026

^{Left image: Neale, Maud Hall, Mary Mercer, Mayoress of Birkenhead, c.1925, oil on canvas. © WAGM
Right image: Jeans, Adrian, An Allegory of Life & Creation, painted plaster, 2017-19.}

Portraiture has a long history and has long been a significant part of art practice and art appreciation. It is also, unsurprisingly, a significant presence in the Williamson Art Gallery’s collections. Unfortunately, it also often lacks interest and is overlooked as being simplistic, gratuitous flattery and creatively insipid. The Portrait Paradox looks at the very real complexities behind the superficial simplicity and highlights some of the elements involved in what is actually a very loaded process.

Jeans says: “For me, portraiture has always been about more than just the human sitter and their character. Obviously the artist and their style of working is also present, but it goes beyond that to include the materials and processes used and how they affect the work; the history and canon of art; and the social context of its making and appreciation, which includes us viewers. These come together in a portrait, which is really a composite of many different portraits, and is a fascinating object in its own right.“

^{Left image: Rathbone, Harold Steward, Portrait of Philip Rathbone and his daughter Elfrida, c.1880s, oil on canvas. ©} ^WAGM
^{Right image: Jeans, Adrian, Listen to the Hand ‘Cause the Face Ain’t Talking, painted plaster, 2018.}

The Portrait Paradox draws out some of the implications this has for portraiture and shows how, at its best, portraiture goes beyond a simple paradigm to explore our wider humanity; how a progressive approach based on a deeper understanding can shine a unique light upon a wide range of historic and contemporary issues, ranging from racial identity and class politics to the sociology of personality and community.

^{Left image: Rathbone, Harold Steward, Portrait of Philip Rathbone and his daughter Elfrida, c.1880s, oil on canvas. ©} ^WAGM
^{Right image: Jeans, Adrian, Listen to the Hand ‘Cause the Face Ain’t Talking, painted plaster, 2018.}

Left image: Neale, Maud Hall, Mary Mercer, Mayoress of Birkenhead, c.1925, oil on canvas. © WAGMRight image: Jeans, Adrian, An Allegory of Life & Creation, painted plaster, 2017-19.

Left image: Rathbone, Harold Steward, Portrait of Philip Rathbone and his daughter Elfrida, c.1880s, oil on canvas. © WAGMRight image: Jeans, Adrian, Listen to the Hand ‘Cause the Face Ain’t Talking, painted plaster, 2018.

Left image: Rathbone, Harold Steward, Portrait of Philip Rathbone and his daughter Elfrida, c.1880s, oil on canvas. © WAGMRight image: Jeans, Adrian, Listen to the Hand ‘Cause the Face Ain’t Talking, painted plaster, 2018.

^{Left image: Neale, Maud Hall, Mary Mercer, Mayoress of Birkenhead, c.1925, oil on canvas. © WAGM
Right image: Jeans, Adrian, An Allegory of Life & Creation, painted plaster, 2017-19.}

^{Left image: Rathbone, Harold Steward, Portrait of Philip Rathbone and his daughter Elfrida, c.1880s, oil on canvas. ©} ^WAGM
^{Right image: Jeans, Adrian, Listen to the Hand ‘Cause the Face Ain’t Talking, painted plaster, 2018.}

^{Left image: Rathbone, Harold Steward, Portrait of Philip Rathbone and his daughter Elfrida, c.1880s, oil on canvas. ©} ^WAGM
^{Right image: Jeans, Adrian, Listen to the Hand ‘Cause the Face Ain’t Talking, painted plaster, 2018.}