Object Details
- Exhibition Label
- One of the greatest athletes of all time, Michael Jordan embodied cool-in-motion, a singular aesthetic combination of flow, balance, and controlled power. Jordan surfed the air, floating like a hang glider then diving to the hoop like a hawk. He was a one-man athletic spectacle: you watched just to see what he might do next. His slam dunks alone helped make basketball a popular international sport, a showcase for an African American aesthetic mixing relaxation, hustle, and sudden bursts of speed. The highest-scoring player (per game) in NBA history, Jordan was an equally stellar defender. His work ethic was as legendary as his hang time, and he may have been the best clutch performer in sports history. Yet even Jordan was unable to lead a team to a championship as a one-man show until he developed an intellectual friendship with coach Phil Jackson: it led to the Chicago Bulls’ innovative triangle offense and then to six NBA championships.
- Data Source
- National Portrait Gallery
- Artist
- Annie Leibovitz, born 2 Oct 1949
- Sitter
- Michael Jeffrey Jordan, born 17 Feb 1963
- Date
- 1991
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- Medium
- Cibachrome print
- Dimensions
- Image: 36.5 x 27.5 cm (14 3/8 x 10 13/16")
- Sheet: 50.8 x 40 cm (20 x 15 3/4")
- Mat: 71.1 x 55.9 cm (28 x 22")
- Type
- Photograph
