Object Details
- Artist
- David Silvette, 28 May 1909 - 29 Oct 1992
- Sitter
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, 24 Sep 1896 - 21 Dec 1940
- Exhibition Label
- Born St. Paul, Minnesota
- It was F. Scott Fitzgerald who named the self-indulgent 1920s the Jazz Age, and his best-selling debut novel, This Side of Paradise (1920), became one of the decade’s literary hallmarks. His most enduring achievement, though, has been The Great Gatsby (1925), which, in meticulously crafted prose, presents a modern morality tale against a backdrop of luxury.
- Fitzgerald and his talented wife, Zelda, experienced some of the glamorous life his fiction evokes—in New York, Paris, and Hollywood. But grappling with financial hardships and alcoholism, Fitzgerald also probed the destructive underside of the era’s bright illusions.
- The author was struggling when he commissioned this portrait in 1935, and he reportedly never paid for (or acquired) the painting even though he considered it to be “swell.” Five years later, Fitzgerald’s life was cut short when he suffered a heart attack at age forty-four.
- Nacido en St. Paul, Minesota
- Fue F. Scott Fitzgerald quien bautizó la hedonista década de 1920 como la “era del jazz”, y su exitosa primera novela, A este lado del paraíso (1920), se convirtió en un hito literario de dicha época. No obstante, su logro más perdurable fue El gran Gatsby (1925), cuya prosa de esmerada construcción presenta un cuento moral moderno con el trasfondo de un mundo de lujo.
- Fitzgerald y su talentosa esposa Zelda vivieron en cierto modo (en Nueva York, París y Hollywood) la vida glamorosa que evocan sus novelas. Pero agobiado por sus dificultades financieras y el alcoholismo, Fitzgerald también vio el reverso destructivo de las ilusiones de la época.
- El escritor pasaba por un mal momento cuando encargó este retrato en 1935, y se dice que nunca lo pagó (ni adquirió), aunque lo consideraba “genial”. Cinco años después, su vida se vio truncada al sufrir un ataque cardiaco a los 44 años.
- Provenance
- The artist; purchased 1951 by Arthur Mizener, Ithaca, N.Y.; purchased 1972 NPG
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- 1935
- Object number
- NPG.72.107
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 61cm x 50.8cm (24" x 20"), Accurate
- Frame: 77.5 x 67.6 x 7cm (30 1/2 x 26 5/8 x 2 3/4")
- Place
- United States\North Carolina
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- 20th Century Americans: 1900-1930 (re-installation 2012)
- On View
- NPG, South Gallery 322
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie\Necktie
- F. Scott Fitzgerald: Male
- F. Scott Fitzgerald: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer\Novelist
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.72.107
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4d4a8535f-a8b2-47ed-a530-072e05e1a7e2
