Faces tell stories, and this winter the Detroit Institute of Arts will devote an entire exhibition to them. The Power of Portraits opens December 16, 2026, and runs through June 6, 2027, exploring how artists across centuries have captured identity, status and emotion in a single gaze.
Portraiture is one of the DIA’s quiet strengths: its collection ranges from ancient sculpture and European old masters to American icons and contemporary photography. The new exhibition is expected to draw works from across the museum’s departments, pairing famous faces with intimate, lesser-known studies.
The show arrives as part of a busy season at the museum, alongside the reimagined modern and contemporary galleries and the final weeks of Georgia O’Keeffe: Architecture. The DIA is located at 5200 Woodward Avenue in Detroit’s Midtown cultural district, with free general admission for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.
