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Robert Joseph Flaherty

Robert Joseph Flaherty
Usage Conditions Apply
Cast after
Jo Davidson, 30 Mar 1883 - 2 Jan 1952
Foundry
Roman Bronze Works, Inc.
Sitter
Robert Joseph Flaherty, 16 Feb 1884 - 23 Jul 1951
Date
1949 (cast 1973)
Type
Sculpture
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
With Base: 47 x 31.4 x 29.5cm (18 1/2 x 12 3/8 x 11 5/8")
Without Base: 39.7 x 31.4 x 29.5cm (15 5/8 x 12 3/8 x 11 2/8")
Base: 7.6 x 22.8 x 22.8cm (3 x 9 x 9")
Topic
Robert Joseph Flaherty: Male
Robert Joseph Flaherty: Natural Resource Occupations\Explorer
Robert Joseph Flaherty: Performing Arts\Performing arts director\Film director
Robert Joseph Flaherty: Performing Arts\Producer\Film producer
Robert Joseph Flaherty: Performing Arts\Filmmaker\Documentary filmmaker
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Object number
NPG.73.21
Exhibition Label
Born Iron Mountain, Michigan
Often called the father of documentary film, Robert J. Flaherty began filming native life while exploring the Hudson Bay region in the late teens. In 1920 a fur-trading company funded his filmmaking, and the result was Flaherty’s classic documentary, Nanook of the North (1922), which depicted an Eskimo (Nanook) hunting, fishing, and trapping. Flaherty’s subsequent documentaries included Moana (1926), a depiction of Samoan life, and Tabu (1931), which took place in the South Seas and won an Oscar for Best Cinematography. As much a showman as a filmmaker, Flaherty helped popularize the idea of motion pictures as a chronicle of everyday life.
Provenance
(M. Knoedler & Co., Inc.), New York; purchased NPG 1973
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
Bravo!
On View
NPG, South Gallery 310 Mezzanine