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Artist
Sara S. Miller, 1924 - 2016
Sitter
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks, 7 Jun 1917 - 3 Dec 2000
Date
1994
Type
Sculpture
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
With Base: 45.7 x 18.7 x 22.9cm (18 x 7 3/8 x 9")
Without Base: 31.8 x 18.7 x 22.9cm (12 1/2 x 7 3/8 x 9")
Mount: 17.5 x 17.5cm (6 7/8 x 6 7/8")
Topic
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks: Female
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Lecturer
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks: Literature\Writer\Poet
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks: Literature\Writer\Novelist
Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks: Pulitzer Prize
Portrait
Place
United States\Illinois\Cook\Chicago
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
“Blackness is what I know best. I want to talk about it, with definitive illustration,” remarked the poet Gwendolyn Brooks. From her sensitive autobiographical novella Maud Martha (1953) to her popular rhythmic poem “We Real Cool” (1959), she poignantly portrayed Black urban working-class life in Chicago. Her first collection of poems, A Street in Bronzeville (1945), presents complex Black characters who are both limited by their circumstances and are active agents of their own destiny. Brooks became the first African American writer to receive the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1950 and went on to earn election to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1976.
Nacida en Topeka, Kansas
“La condición de ser negra es lo que más conozco. Quiero hablar de ella, con erudición definitiva”, afirmó la poeta Gwendolyn Brooks. Desde su sensible novela corta autobiográfica Maud Martha (1953) hasta su popular poema rítmico “We Real Cool” (1959), Brooks retrató con agudeza conmovedora la vida de la clase trabajadora negra en Chicago. Su primer poemario, Una calle en Bronzeville (1945), presenta personajes complejos, limitados por sus circunstancias y a la vez agentes activos de su propio destino. En 1950 pasó a ser la primera afroamericana que recibió el Premio Pulitzer de poesía, y fue elegida miembro del Instituto Nacional de las Arte y las Letras en 1976.
