Object Details
- Artist
- Robert Vickrey, 26 Aug 1926 - 17 Apr 2011
- Sitter
- John Hoyer Updike, 18 Mar 1932 - 27 Jan 2009
- Exhibition Label
- Born Reading, Pennsylvania
- Throughout his prolific writing career, John Updike explored “the three great secret things” in human experience: sex, religion, and art. His award-winning novels and short stories are as remarkable for their stylistic perfection as for the messy human relationships they portray in middle-class suburban communities. His first important novel, Rabbit, Run (1960), details the sexual adventures of aging former athlete Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom. Despite his publisher’s fears of an obscenity prosecution, the novel garnered acclaim, and Updike continued Angstrom’s story in three subsequent novels—two of them Pulitzer Prize winners. Updike created a national sensation in 1968 with his novel Couples, set in “the post-pill paradise” of an Eastern seaboard town, where spouse-swapping and the hedonistic pursuit of sexual liberation create spiritual and psychological turmoil. The book’s notoriety inspired Time magazine to put this portrait of the author on its cover, along with a banner heralding “The Adulterous Society.”
- Nacido en Reading, Pensilvania
- A lo largo de su prolífica carrera como escritor, John Updike exploró “los tres grandes secretos” de la experiencia humana: el sexo, la religión y el arte. Sus galardonadas novelas y cuentos cortos se destacan tanto por su perfección estilística como su representación de las complejas relaciones humanas en las comunidades suburbanas de clase media. Su primera novela importante, Rabbit, Run (1960), detallaba las aventuras sexuales del envejecido exatleta Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom. A pesar de los miedos de su editor porque se lo acusara de obscenidad, la novela recibió elogios y Updike continuó la historia de Angstrom en tres libros posteriores, dos de ellos ganadores del premio Pulitzer. Updike creó una sensación nacional en 1968 con su novela Couple, ambientada en el “paraíso pospíldora” de un pueblo costero del Este, donde el intercambio de esposas y la persecución hedonista de la liberación sexual genera una confusión espiritual y psicológica. La notoriedad del libro inspiró a la revista Time a colocar este retrato del autor en su portada, junto con el título “La sociedad adúltera”.
- Collection Description
- In 1978, Time magazine donated approximately eight hundred works of original cover art to the National Portrait Gallery. The museum is dedicated to telling the stories of individuals who have shaped the United States, and the Time Collection—featuring prominent international figures and events—enriches our understanding of the United States in a global context.
- En 1978, la revista Time donó a la National Portrait Gallery cerca de 800 obras de arte originales creadas para sus portadas. Nuestro museo se dedica a narrar la historia de figuras que han contribuido a forjar el desarrollo de Estados Unidos, y es así que la Colección Time, que incluye retratos de importantes personalidades internacionales, nos ayuda a comprender mejor a nuestra nación en un contexto global.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine
- 1968
- Object number
- NPG.78.TC798
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © Robert Vickrey / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Watercolor, gouache and graphite pencil on paperboard
- Dimensions
- Image: 34.9 × 23.6 cm (13 3/4 × 9 5/16")
- Sheet: 44.8 × 33.6 cm (17 5/8 × 13 1/4")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Exterior
- John Hoyer Updike: Male
- John Hoyer Updike: Arts and Culture\Education and Scholarship\Educator\Professor
- John Hoyer Updike: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer\Poet
- John Hoyer Updike: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer\Novelist
- John Hoyer Updike: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer\Essayist
- John Hoyer Updike: Arts and Culture\Literature\Literary critic
- John Hoyer Updike: Literary awards\Pulitzer Prize
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.78.TC798
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm43fd6905b-1673-4bbf-98f1-0a5fb6aa4f09
