Flannery O'Connor

Object Details

Date
1961
Artist
Joseph Reshower, 6 Jul 1921 - 1 Jan 2006
Sitter
Flannery O'Connor, 25 Mar 1925 - 3 Aug 1964
Exhibition Label
Born Savannah, Georgia
Mary Flannery O’Connor dropped her first name when she published Wise Blood (1952). Shortly thereafter, she earned her master’s degree in creative writing at the University of Iowa. Her first collection of stories was A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955); her second, Everything That Rises Must Converge, was published posthumously in 1965. Most of O’Connor’s novels and short stories focused on spiritual and religious journeys taken by morally compromised individuals placed in unsettling scenarios. “I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace,” she once explained. “Their heads are so hard that almost nothing else will work.”
This portrait of the author by the Atlanta-based photographer Joseph Reshower appeared on the book jacket for O’Connor’s The Complete Stories. Published several years after her death, the anthology received the National Book Award in 1972.
Nacida en Savannah, Georgia
Mary Flannery O’Connor decidió usar solamente sus apellidos desde que publicó Sangre sabia (1952). Poco después completó su maestría en escritura creativa en la Universidad de Iowa. Su primer libro de cuentos fue Un hombre bueno es difícil de encontrar (1955); el segundo, Todo lo que sube converge, se publicó póstumamente en 1965. La mayoría de los cuentos y novelas de O’Connor describen el trayecto espiritual o religioso de personas con conflictos morales en circunstancias difíciles. “He descubierto que, extrañamente, la violencia tiene el don de devolver a mis personajes a la realidad y prepararlos para aceptar su momento de gracia”, explicó. “Son tan obstinados que prácticamente nada más funciona”.
Este retrato tomado por Joseph Reshower, fotógrafo radicado en Atlanta, apareció en la sobrecubierta de los Cuentos completos de O’Connor. Publicada varios años después de su muerte, la antología recibió el Premio Nacional del Libro en 1972.
Topic
Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses
Flannery O'Connor: Female
Flannery O'Connor: Literature\Writer
Flannery O'Connor: National Book Award
Portrait
See more items in
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquired through a partial gift by John Daniel Reaves
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Object number
NPG.2012.41
Type
Photograph
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© Estate of Joseph Reshower De Casseres/PCAphoto.com.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image/Sheet: 17.8 x 18.5 cm (7 x 7 5/16")
Mount: 30.2 x 26.6 cm (11 7/8 x 10 1/2")
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4b778f603-cd70-473d-85b9-aecf4ac593b6
Record ID
npg_NPG.2012.41