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Ann Landers

Ann Landers
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Roger Robles, born 1946
Sitter
Ann Landers, 4 Jul 1918 - 22 Jun 2002
Date
1988
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 116.7 x 86.5cm (45 15/16 x 34 1/16")
Frame: 140.3 x 109.7 x 6.4cm (55 1/4 x 43 3/16 x 2 1/2")
Topic
Interior\Domestic
Nature & Environment\Plant\Flower\Tulip
Ann Landers: Female
Ann Landers: Journalism and Media\Journalist\Columnist
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution: gift of Margo Howard
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
©1988 Roger Robles
Object number
NPG.2009.113
Exhibition Label
Born Sioux City, Iowa
Esther Pauline Friedman became the incredibly popular columnist Ann Landers in 1955, when she won a contest to write the syndicated newspaper feature “Ask Ann Landers.” Throughout her five-decade career she changed the tone of advice columns from treacly to direct and candid. Her sympathetic guidance reached more than 90 million readers through more than 1,200 newspapers. She counseled people on everything from wedding etiquette and the correct height of toilet paper to more serious topics, including cancer and AIDS. Throughout much of her life she was in direct competition with her twin sister, who wrote her own column, “Dear Abby.”
The California artist Roger Robles painted Landers’s portrait twice, in 1977 and 1988. Landers preferred this later portrait since it made her look “less starchy.” She displayed the painting in her apartment until her death.
Nacida en Sioux City, Iowa
Esther Pauline Friedman se convirtió en la famosísima columnista Ann Landers en 1955, cuando ganó un concurso para escribir la columna periodística sindicada “Ask Ann Landers”. A lo largo de cinco décadas, su meloso estilo inicial evolucionó hacia un talante más directo y franco. Sus empáticos consejos llegaban a más de 90 millones de lectores mediante unos 1,200 periódicos. Comentaba sobre todos los temas, desde el protocolo de las bodas y la altura correcta del papel sanitario hasta asuntos más serios como el cáncer y el sida. Casi toda su vida tuvo como competencia directa a su gemela, quien escribía la columna “Dear Abby”.
El artista californiano Roger Robles pintó a Landers en 1977 y luego en 1988. Ella prefería el último retrato porque la hacía lucir “menos estirada”. La pintura estuvo colgada en su apartamento hasta su muerte.
Provenance
The sitter; her daughter Margo Howard, Cambridge, Mass.; gift 2009 NPG
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view