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Artist
Jacques-Emile Blanche, 1861 - 1942
Sitter
Henry James, 15 Apr 1843 - 28 Feb 1916
Date
1908
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 99.7 x 80.6 x 2.5cm (39 1/4 x 31 3/4 x 1")
Frame: 120.7 x 102.9 x 7.6cm (47 1/2 x 40 1/2 x 3")
Topic
Costume\Jewelry\Chain
Henry James: Male
Henry James: Literature\Writer\Novelist
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; bequest of Mrs. Katharine Dexter McCormick; frame conserved with funds from the Smithsonian Women's Committee
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.68.13
Exhibition Label
Born New York City
Accustomed to international travel since childhood, the novelist Henry James was more comfortable in Europe than in the United States. In his fiction, James frequently explored the conflicts that arose when the “new” society of the United States encountered the “old” world of aristocratic European manners and mores. Works such as Daisy Miller (1879) and The Portrait of a Lady (1881) chronicle the misunderstandings and misadventures experienced by spirited young women traveling abroad.
Although James ultimately claimed British citizenship, he retained his sense of identification with the United States. A close friend of the American novelist Edith Wharton, James was visiting her in Paris when he agreed to sit for this portrait by the French painter Jacques-Émile Blanche. Pleased with the final product, which disguised his girth, James declared, “it has a certain dignity of intention and indication of who and what, poor creature, he is!”
Nacido en la Ciudad de Nueva York
Acostumbrado desde niño a los viajes internacionales, el novelista Henry James se sentía más cómodo en Europa que en Estados Unidos. En sus escritos de ficción solía explorar los conflictos entre la “nueva” sociedad estadounidense y el “viejo” mundo de formas y costumbres aristocráticas europeas. Obras como Daisy Miller (1879) y Retrato de una dama (1881) relatan los malentendidos y percances de jovencitas vivaces en sus viajes al extranjero.
Aunque James terminó por hacerse ciudadano británico, siguió sintiéndose identificado con Estados Unidos. Fue amigo íntimo de la novelista estadounidense Edith Wharton y la visitaba en París cuando accedió a posar para este retrato realizado por el pintor francés Jacques-Émile Blanche. Complacido con el resultado, que disimulaba sus volúmenes, James declaró que “tiene una cierta dignidad de intención, e indicios de quién y qué, pobre criatura, es él”.
Provenance
The artist; purchased 1920 by Katherine Dexter McCormick [Mrs. Stanley McCormick, 1875-1967]; her bequest, 1968
