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Catalog Data

Artist:
Samuel Johnson Woolf, 12 Feb 1880 - 03 Dec 1948  Search this
Sitter:
Pearl S. Buck, 26 Jun 1892 - 6 Mar 1973  Search this
Medium:
Charcoal with chalk on paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 53.3 × 44.6 cm (21 × 17 9/16")
Mat: 71.1 × 55.9 cm (28 × 22")
Type:
Drawing
Date:
1938
Exhibition Label:
Born Hillsboro, West Virginia
Raised in China, where her parents were missionaries, author Pearl S. Buck made it her life’s work to foster understanding between East and West. While teaching English literature at the University of Nanking, she began writing fiction inspired by her observations of Chinese peasant life. Her second novel, The Good Earth, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932; five years later she became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in literature. After returning to the United States in 1934, Buck continued to write affectionately of the Chinese people, but her criticisms of communism cost her the opportunity to revisit the country in the 1970s. While raising a large family of adopted and foster children, Buck established organizations to improve the lives of Asian and mixed-race children. She was a cofounder of Welcome House, the first international, interracial adoption agency.
Nacida en Hillsboro, West Virginia
La escritora Pearl S. Buck creció en China, donde sus padres eran misioneros, y toda su vida trabajó para promover el entendimiento entre Oriente y Occidente. Comenzó a escribir ficción siendo profesora de literatura inglesa en la Universidad de Nanking, inspirada por sus observaciones de la vida rural china. Su segunda novela, La buena tierra, ganó el premio Pulitzer en 1932; cinco años más tarde, Buck sería la primera mujer estadounidense ganadora del Premio Nobel de literatura. Luego de regresar a Estados Unidos en 1934, continuó escribiendo con afecto sobre el pueblo chino, pero sus críticas al comunismo le costaron la oportunidad de visitar el país en los años setenta. Siendo madre de varios hijos adoptados, Buck fundó organizaciones para mejorar las vidas de los niños asiáticos y de raza mixta, entre ellas Welcome House, la primera agencia internacional de adopciones interraciales.
Topic:
Costume\Jewelry  Search this
Interior  Search this
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair  Search this
Costume\Jewelry\Brooch  Search this
Artwork\Sculpture\Statue  Search this
Pearl S. Buck: Female  Search this
Pearl S. Buck: Literature\Writer  Search this
Pearl S. Buck: Literature\Writer\Novelist  Search this
Pearl S. Buck: Nobel Prize  Search this
Pearl S. Buck: Pulitzer Prize  Search this
Portrait  Search this
Credit Line:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the artist's daughters, Muriel Woolf Hobson and Dorothy Woolf Ahern
Object number:
NPG.87.168
Restrictions & Rights:
CC0
See more items in:
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location:
Currently not on view
Data Source:
National Portrait Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm446750c58-6a60-4e65-80ee-78a4842dbcd3
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npg_NPG.87.168