Skip to main content

Helen Keller (with Polly Thompson)

Helen Keller (with Polly Thompson)
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Jo Davidson, 30 Mar 1883 - 2 Jan 1952
Sitter
Helen Adams Keller, 27 Jun 1880 - 1 Jun 1968
Polly Thomson, 1885 - 1960
Date
1948
Type
Drawing
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 27.5 × 20 cm (10 13/16 × 7 7/8")
Mat: 41.9 × 34.3 cm (16 1/2 × 13 1/2")
Topic
Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses
Helen Adams Keller: Female
Helen Adams Keller: Literature\Writer
Helen Adams Keller: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Lecturer
Helen Adams Keller: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Social reformer
Helen Adams Keller: Literature\Writer\Novelist
Helen Adams Keller: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Humanitarian
Helen Adams Keller: Literature\Writer\Essayist
Helen Adams Keller: Society and Social Change\Person with a Disability\Blind
Helen Adams Keller: Society and Social Change\Person with a Disability\Deaf
Helen Adams Keller: Presidential Medal of Freedom
Polly Thomson: Female
Polly Thomson: Performing Arts\Performer\Actor
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© 2017, Estate of Jo Davidson
Object number
NPG.2017.12
Exhibition Label
Born Tuscumbia, Alabama
Helen Keller became blind and deaf when she was nineteen months old, but with the help of her teacher Anne Sullivan, she learned to communicate via tactile sign language. Keller went on to graduate cum laude from Radcliffe College in 1904 and write The Story of My Life (1903), an acclaimed autobiography that has been translated into dozens of languages. She remains an admired symbol of the human spirit’s power to overcome adversity. In 1924, Keller became the official spokesperson for the newly formed American Foundation for the Blind and, thanks to her successful lobbying, gained inclusion of a clause in the Social Security Act of 1935 that made the blind eligible for grant assistance. Sculptor Jo Davidson created bust portraits while closely observing his subjects and their movements. These studies of Keller capture both the artist’s process and the elegance of Keller as she converses with her companion Polly Thompson (1885–1960).
Nacida en Tuscumbia, Alabama
Helen Keller quedó ciega y sorda a los 19 meses de nacida, pero con ayuda de la maestra Anne Sullivan aprendió a comunicarse mediante un lenguaje táctil de señas. En 1903 escribió La historia de mi vida, una celebrada autobiografía que se ha traducido a docenas de idiomas, y en 1904 se graduó cum laude de Radcliffe College. Keller continúa siendo un símbolo admirado del poder del espíritu humano para superar la adversidad. En 1924, Keller se convirtió en portavoz oficial de la recién creada Fundación Americana para Ciegos y gracias a su activismo se logró incluir en la Ley de Seguridad Social de 1935 una cláusula que daba a las personas ciegas el derecho de recibir ayuda económica. Para hacer sus retratos, el escultor Jo Davidson observaba con atención a sus modelos y el modo en que se movían. Estos estudios de Keller revelan dicho método, captando la elegancia de la retratada mientras conversa con su acompañante Polly Thompson (1885–1960).
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view