Two Faced: An Exhibition of Artists' Portraits, in Two Parts

Two Faced: An Exhibition of Artists' Portraits, in Two Parts is running at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, and it's one of those shows that stays open long enough to visit more than once. It opened on September 3, 2026, and runs through March 14, 2027, so you've got plenty of time to fit it in.

The exhibition is a deep dive into the McNay's permanent collection, focusing on how artists have depicted themselves and one another since 1799. The title gives it away: it's presented in two parts, and the whole thing centers on the portrait—the way an artist looks at themselves in a mirror or at a peer across a room. When you're dealing with a span that goes back to the turn of the 19th century, you get to see how that gaze has shifted over more than two hundred years, from the formal traditions of the early 1800s to the more experimental ways artists have approached the human face in the modern era.

Because it pulls from the permanent collection, these aren't loans brought in for a few months; they're pieces the museum already owns, brought out of storage and arranged around this one specific theme. The two-part structure lets you see the conversation from a couple of different angles, and since it's a portrait show, the subject is always the same: people who make art, looking at other people who make art. It's a good way to get a sense of how the McNay's collection is built, one face at a time.

If you're in San Antonio, you've got until March 14, 2027, to catch it. The McNay is on the city's west side, and the exhibition is open throughout its regular hours.