Silhouettes Unveiled: Black Out Exhibition Brings Early American Portraits to Light A comprehensive exploration of early American silhouettes at the Mississippi Museum of Art's Black Out exhibit reveals the social meaning, creative brilliance, and historical significance of paper cut portraits, including rare depictions of enslaved individuals, marginalized groups, and an early same‑sex couple, while highlighting the democratic accessibility of the craft. The Mississippi Museum of Art is home to a striking new exhibition that brings the art of silhouettes to a wide public audience. Curated by National Portrait Gallery chief curator Brandon Fortune and presented under the title Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now, the show runs until August 25 and includes works by some of the most influential silhouette artists of the 19th century. Exhibiting pieces that date from the late 1700s through the late 1800s, the program offers visitors an intimate view of the paper cut portraits that cut across class, race, and personality. In addition to the main display, the museum hosts an accompanying exhibition, A Closer Look: Silhouette Artists in Antebellum Mississippi, that highlights early 19th‑century "scissor artists" and their seasonal migrations to cultural hubs such as New Orleans, Natchez and Vicksburg. Silhouettes were the democratized portrait of their era.By slicing a single sheet of paper to capture the exact contour of a person's profile, these hand‑crafted works could be made quickly and for a fraction of the cost of traditional painted portraits. The late 18th and early 19th centuries were a time of great social upheaval, and the affordable nature of silhouettes meant that people from many walks of life-white elites, enslaved people, and even the physically disabled-could have their likenesses recorded for posterity.As Fortune explains, "the shape and the cuts allowed people to read into a portrait a sense of moral character or social standing," a common belief of the time. Among the exhibition's highlights is an early double‑silhouette portrait called Double Silhouette: Sylvia Drake and Charity Bryant.Created around 1805-1815, the paper work shows the two women in close profile, their hair strands braided together to form a heart shape-a subtle, early representation of a same‑sex couple that is likely the earliest known depiction of an American homosexual relationship. The work offers a fascinating glimpse into both technique and social nuance.In addition, the exhibit includes a 1796 file called Flora, a life‑size representation of an enslaved African American woman, presumably drawn from a candle‑light silhouette. The image was discovered in a former slave quarter alongside the woman's bill of sale, amplifying its historical resonance. The exhibition's growth is attributed largely to the artistry of Auguste Edouart, who produced the bulk of the silhouettes displayed.Edouart's pieces-often larger and more detailed than average-include portrayals of royalty and foreign diplomats, as well as portrayals of marginalized groups such as enslaved women and people who suffered from congenital disabilities. One notable silk‑bordered portrait is that of Laura Dewey Bridgman, a woman who suffered severe illness after contract plague at a young age, leaving her blind, deaf, and partially paralyzed.The artist provides for a keenly observed rendering of Bridgman's braids, dress ruffles and a sash that covers her eyes, all within the confines of a black silhouette. The show also features specimens of the work of Henry Sargent and the unusual practice of including highly personal ad verts for runaway slaves that were used as an advertisement that even included a miniature silhouette likeness. The exhibition's creators emphasize that the accessibility of silhouettes remains a central theme.The show illustrates the value of this "beloved" portrait form, which not only cut a cultural mark but also democratized it so that a wide cross‑section of society could see themselves effectively represented on black paper. Such works have led scholars to uncover untold stories of people "blacked out" by history, and today the visitor can witness these stories come to light.The combined program at the Mississippi Museum of Art is an open invitation to understand the social importance of silhouettes within the larger context of American artistic heritage. The exhibition invites the public to appreciate the level‐of‑detail achieved by a small silhouette; there are examples that include fine chalk lines used to depict minute details such as braids, lacy dress ruffles and dress silhouettes of 19th‑century fashion.These intricate details are revealed only through the close‑up examination, giving the viewer a chance to appreciate the intricate and precise nature of the paper cut method. The result is a highly curated and thoughtful program that invites conversation and fine storytelling about the American past through the medium of paper cuts.The Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now has brought renewed public attention to this underappreciated art form, with visitors encouraged to engage with the stories of the people captured in these works. It is a testament to the power of art to preserve and reinterpret history for the present