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Artist
Arnold Genthe, 8 Jan 1869 - 9 Aug 1942
Sitter
Greta Garbo, 18 Sep 1905 - 15 Apr 1990
Date
1925
Type
Photograph
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 23.8 x 18.4cm (9 3/8 x 7 1/4")
Sheet: 25.2 x 20.2cm (9 15/16 x 7 15/16")
Mat: 55.9 x 40.6cm (22 x 16")
Topic
Interior
Greta Garbo: Female
Greta Garbo: Performing Arts\Performer\Actor\Movie actor
Greta Garbo: Oscar
Portrait
Place
United States\New York\Kings\New York
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.97.223
Exhibition Label
Born Stockholm, Sweden
Greta Garbo was the biggest star at MGM Studios in the late 1920s and 1930s, when the advent of sound in film brought U.S. movie attendance to an all-time high. After early successes in Sweden and Germany, Garbo signed a contract with an MGM talent scout. All but forgotten by the studio after she arrived in New York City, she planned to return to Europe. However, when MGM executives saw this portrait and others, they finally brought her to Hollywood, as the photographer Arnold Genthe later recalled.
Throughout Garbo’s career, directors highlighted her enigmatic countenance by using dramatic close-ups. Usually cast in dramas, such as Anna Karenina (1935) or Camille (1936), her repertoire also encompassed comedies like Ninotchka (1939). Garbo temporarily retired from acting after her twentyeighth film, Two-Faced Woman (1941), and ultimately withdrew from public life.
Nacida en Estocolmo, Suecia
Greta Garbo fue la estrella más grande de los estudios MGM desde fines de los años veinte hasta fines de los treinta del siglo pasado, cuando la llegada del cine sonoro llenó las salas como nunca antes. Tras éxitos tempranos en Suecia y Alemania, Garbo firmó contrato con un cazatalentos de MGM. Olvidada por el estudio después de llegar a Nueva York, planeó regresar a Europa. Pero cuando los ejecutivos vieron este y otros retratos, por fin la llevaron a Hollywood, según recordó luego el fotógrafo Arnold Genthe.
A lo largo de su carrera, los directores destacaron su rostro enigmático con teatrales acercamientos de cámara. Aunque usualmente actuaba en dramas, como Anna Karenina (1935) o Camille (1936), su repertorio incluyó comedias como Ninotchka (1939). Garbo se retiró temporalmente de la actuación después de su 28va película, La mujer de dos caras (1941), y terminó alejada de la luz pública.
