Picturing Partners > Introduction
This portion of the exhibit is devoted to works produced by artists who felt their subjects should be celebrated for their purity, patritotism, or other virtues. It is subdivided into two sections, Under Attack and In Celebration, which respectively showcase instances in which the subjects are vulnerable or triumphal. In some cases, the focus is a specific person or group; in others, it is an archetype like an innocent child or a wage worker. But whether portrayed as in danger or in control, these images of the praiseworthy spur the viewer to action, either to defend the righteous against calamitous ruin or to jubilantly propagate the good cause by celebrating its representatives.