Object Details
- Artist
- Betsy Graves Reyneau, 6 Jun 1888 - 18 Oct 1964
- Copy after
- Robert S. Scurlock, 1916 - 1994 (Photographer)
- Sitter
- Charles Richard Drew, 3 Jun 1904 - 1 Apr 1950
- Exhibition Label
- Born Washington, D.C.
- In 1940, with German bombers dropping their deadly cargoes daily on British cities, England stood in desperate need of blood supplies for its thousands of wounded civilians. To fill this shortage, the British turned to the African American physician Charles Drew, America’s recognized pioneer in the preservation and storage of blood. Drew expeditiously organized the Blood Transfusion Association, and the crisis in war-torn England’s hospitals was met. A year later, Drew became the medical director of the American Red Cross’s blood-donor project, and it was largely because of his expertise that this enterprise saved many American lives during the war. Yet when the Red Cross ordered that all non-Caucasian blood be stored separately, Drew resigned, stating that there were no scientific or medical reasons for classifying blood by race. Today Drew is universally deemed the “Father of the Blood Bank.”
- Nacido en Washington, D.C.
- En 1940, cuando los bombarderos alemanes lanzaban a diario sus mortíferas cargas sobre las ciudades de Inglaterra, el país necesitaba con urgencia suministros de sangre para sus miles de civiles heridos. Para aliviar esta situación, los ingleses recurrieron al médico afroamericano Charles Drew, reconocido pionero de la conservación y el almacenaje de sangre en Estados Unidos. Drew organizó rápidamente una asociación de transfusiones de sangre (Blood Transfusion Association), y logró paliar la crisis en Inglaterra. Un año después se convirtió en director médico del proyecto de donantes de sangre de la Cruz Roja Americana, y fue en gran medida gracias a su pericia que esta iniciativa salvó las vidas de muchos norteamericanos durante la guerra. Sin embargo, cuando la Cruz Roja ordenó que toda la sangre de donantes no caucásicos se almacenara por separado, Drew renunció, afirmando que no existían razones científicas ni médicas para clasificar la sangre por razas. Hoy en día se le considera unánimemente como el “padre del banco de sangre”.
- Provenance
- Harmon Foundation commission; gift 1967 to NPG.
- Collection Description
- The Harmon Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in New York City (active 1922–1967), included this portrait in their exhibition Portraits of Outstanding Americans of Negro Origin, which opened at the Smithsonian in 1944 and documented noteworthy African Americans’ contributions to the country. Modeling their goal of social equality, the Harmon sought portraits from African American artist Laura Wheeler Waring and Euro-American artist Betsy Graves Reyneau. The two painters followed the conventional codes of academic portraiture, seeking to convey their sitters’ extraordinary accomplishments. This painting, along with a variety of educational materials, toured nation-wide for ten years, serving as a visual rebuttal to racism.
- La Harmon Foundation, entidad filantrópica con sede en la ciudad de Nueva York (activa entre 1922 y 1967), incluyó este retrato en Portraits of Outstanding Americans of Negro Origin (Retratos de estadounidenses destacados de origen negro), una exposición inaugurada en la Smithsonian en 1944 que documentó las aportaciones de afroamericanos notables al país. A tono con sus ideales de igualdad social, la fundación encargó retratos a la artista afroamericana Laura Wheeler Waring y a la euroamericana Betsy Graves Reyneau. Ambas adoptaron los códigos convencionales del retrato académico para comunicar en sus obras los logros extraordinarios de sus modelos. Esta pintura, junto con diversos materiales educativos, viajó por la nación durante diez años planteando una impugnación visual del racismo.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Harmon Foundation
- 1953
- Object number
- NPG.67.35
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © Peter Edward Fayard
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Sight: 100.8 x 75.1cm (39 11/16 x 29 9/16")
- Frame: 114.5 x 88.9 x 3.5cm (45 1/16 x 35 x 1 3/8")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- 20th Century Americans: 1930-1960
- On View
- NPG, South Gallery 321
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Home Furnishings\Furniture\Table
- Equipment\Drafting & Writing Implements\Writing implement\Pen
- Interior\Laboratory
- Equipment\Laboratory Equipment\Test tube
- Equipment\Laboratory Equipment\Microscope
- Equipment\Laboratory Equipment\Lab Coat
- Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie\Necktie
- Charles Richard Drew: Male
- Charles Richard Drew: Medicine and Health\Physician\Surgeon
- Charles Richard Drew: Arts and Culture\Education and Scholarship\Educator\Professor\University
- Charles Richard Drew: Medicine and Health\Medical researcher
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.67.35
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm446701110-3e11-46c3-b2e7-6d7102a33133
