Knowing The Unknown Sitter

Nicky Bird.

Knowing the unknown Sitter 2005-2011 was an on-line anthology of texts relating to ten unidentified portraits. Through the discussion of these portraits, unknownsitter.com raised questions about the nature of identity, representation, and the role of the observer in interpreting visual images. The result of an initial collaboration between Bird and art historian Lara Perry. Together bird and Perry explored the problem of the unknown sitter, and the value of their portraits, once the identity has been lost.