Object Details
- Artist
- Roman Freulich, 1898 - 1974
- Sitter
- Gloria May Josephine Swanson, 27 Mar 1899 - 4 Apr 1983
- Exhibition Label
- Born Chicago, Illinois
- Whether playing a wealthy sophisticate or a sultry vamp, Gloria Swanson ranked among the top box office draws of the silent film era. Her emergence as a bona fide star began in 1919 in films by Cecil B. DeMille, the director famous for his lavish productions. While DeMille cultivated his leading lady’s glamorous on-screen image, she courted the press and thrived on her celebrity.
- Swanson starred in twenty-six films before founding her own short-lived production company in 1926. Her first talking picture, The Trespasser (1929), was well received. After five subsequent films failed to strike a chord with audiences, she stepped away from the camera in 1934. An attempted comeback in 1941 fell flat, but in 1950 Swanson returned triumphantly to the screen in Sunset Boulevard. She delivered a bravura performance as Norma Desmond, the aging and delusional Hollywood has-been who insists, “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.”
- Nacida en Chicago, Illinois
- En papeles de mujer rica y refinada o de vampiresa sensual, Gloria Swanson fue una de las grandes atracciones de taquilla del cine silente. Su verdadero estrellato comenzó en 1919, con películas de Cecil B. DeMille, director famoso por sus lujosas producciones. Mientras DeMille cultivaba la imagen glamorosa de su diva en la pantalla, ella se ganaba a la prensa y disfrutaba su celebridad.
- Swanson protagonizó 26 filmes antes de fundar en 1926 su propia compañía productora, de corta duración. Su primera película sonora, La intrusa (1929), fue bien recibida, pero las cinco siguientes no calaron hondo en el público, y en 1934 se apartó de las cámaras. En 1941 hizo un fallido intento de regreso, pero en 1950 sí logró volver triunfante con Sunset Boulevard. En este filme interpretó genialmente a Norma Desmond, una vieja estrella de Hollywood que no acepta su decadencia: “Yo soy grande. Son las películas las que se han vuelto pequeñas”.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- 1947
- Object number
- NPG.91.58
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © Estate of Roman Freulich
- object was sold from photographer's personal archive
- Type
- Photograph
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions
- Image/Sheet: 49cm x 38.9cm (19 5/16" x 15 5/16")
- Mount: 50.8cm x 40.6cm (20" x 16")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- 20th Century Americans: 1930-1960
- On View
- NPG, South Gallery 321
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Interior
- Costume\Jewelry\Brooch
- Costume\Dress Accessory\Flower
- Costume\Headgear\Veil
- Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Sofa
- Gloria May Josephine Swanson: Female
- Gloria May Josephine Swanson: Arts and Culture\Performing Arts\Film\Movie actor
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.91.58
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4687fd9db-26c9-45c1-9a38-6b81013c8060
