WORCESTER  — The Worcester Art Museum is hosting a pandemic-inspired exhibition imported directly from the National Portrait Gallery in London. 

Called “Love Stories,” through portraiture, the exhibit taps into the unexpected separation some experienced from loved ones as a result of the now year and a half long coronavirus pandemic.  Specifically, the exhibit explores the role of love in portraiture and conversely, the role that portraits have in sustaining love through separation and preserving love after death.

“Portraits are a visual record of a relationship, celebrating key moments like engagements and weddings, serving as memorials to the deceased, or expressing adoration or disdain for an absent or scorned lover,” said Matthias Waschek, the Jean and Myles McDonough Director of the Worcester Art Museum, in a release from the museum. “But while much has been written or sung about love, Love Stories is an opportunity to dive into this complex history through the visual arts, drawing on some of the most remarkable portraits that reflect this love back to the viewer, decades or even centuries later. We are excited to be collaborating with the National Portrait Gallery, London, to bring these great works of art, and their stories, to American audiences.”  

The exhibit opened on November 13 and runs until March 13, 2022.  According to a release from the Worcester Art Museum, the exhibit is a collection of about 100 portraits from as far back as the Renaissance of the 16th Century to present day photography. 

All manner of love affairs – no matter how sordid – are depicted in the exhibit. For instance, Frankenstein author Mary Wollstonecraft and her whirlwind, 8-year romance with poet Percy Shelley are represented in “Love Stories” with artist Amelia Curran’s 1819 painting of Shelley and a painting of Wollstonecraft by Richard Rothwell. Other famous love affairs depicted in the exhibit include John Lennon and Yoko Ono and Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas.

The National Portrait Gallery lent its work to the Worcester Art Museum as it undergoes a major redevelopment. Worcester is the first stop for the exhibit, which is part of an international tour. 

“We’re very excited to be sharing some of the Gallery’s most cherished portraits with Worcester Art Museum while the building in London is temporarily closed for our Inspiring People redevelopment,” said Dr. Nicholas Cullinan, the director of National Portrait Gallery in London. “Love Stories comprises some of the best portraits in our Collection dating from the sixteenth century to the present day and explores relatable themes, from romantic love, obsession and infatuation to tragedy and loss…After such an unprecedented period of global change, we hope international audiences can come together in person and engage with this visual exploration of love in all its forms.”