PONTIAC, MI.- The Museum of New Art (MONA) will present the exhibition The Face of Art: Portraits by Clara Beckman, on view October 20 through December 6. Clara Beckman, Britain's "lost" photographer, has traveled the globe immortalizing art figures of the early 20th century with her camera. In this exhibition, Beckman's lens is focused exclusively on these early innovators of modern art. MONA's The Face of Art is the most extensive survey of Beckman's portraiture ever mounted. The exhibition showcases 50 of the 20th century's greatest legends in art, a subject fundamental to Beckman's career and liaisons.

Beckman's portraits are known for their dark clarity and simple texture. The artist preferred to photograph her subjects in a banal environment, often against a blank wall, and tried to learn as little as possible about her sitter before the photo-session. "The first time you meet someone face-to-face is what I want my camera to capture," she explained. "That is the truest impression of all."

Beckman's lack of personable knowledge of and insensitivity toward her subjects combined with her self-taught technical skills allow us to intimately view some of the outstanding personalities of our era. The power of Beckman's portraits lies in the fact that they are memories of our existence. They reveal something of the nature of our age.

These timeless photographs include portraits of such artists as Bacon, Mondrian, Schiele, Basquiat, Schwitters, Leger, Munch, Malevich, Rodin, Claudel, Monet, Rivera, Kokoschka, Modigliani, Arp, Kahlo, Klee, and Magritte. And, concurrently, join the important museum survey of Francesca Woodman.

Clara Beckman is the grand-niece of German painter Max Beckman. She was born outside London, and works between Leipzig and London.