Modern-Day Masters of Portraiture

Laura Chasman (b. 1946)

An Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition finalist in 2009, Boston-based Laura Chasman welcomes commissions. Her youngest sitter to date was 4 years old. For this artist, children are never depicted as part of a larger family; rather, they are singled out as individuals. The teenage years are a particular fascination of Chasman’s, starting with her own son, Oliver, who has logged 20 years of modeling for annual portraits.

Chronicling subtle changes in her boy’s development from child to young man, Chasman says, “I am drawn to adolescents—their angst, their state of becoming, the way they look. Teenagers are at a stage of transition in their lives—making their own decisions, socializing with their friends. There’s an awkwardness and an expressiveness that I always see.”