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Woodrow Wilson

Object Details

Exhibition Label
Born Staunton, Virginia
After telling the president, “it takes two to make a bust,” the sculptor Jo Davidson asked Woodrow Wilson to sit on the back of an armchair, close the book he was reading, and chat. One reviewer, who deemed this bust “a perfect likeness,” also commended Davidson for capturing “all the firmness of the face, without any of that sourness by which some artists unconsciously and mistakenly make people think they would not care to know President Wilson personally.”
Nacido en Staunton, Virginia
Después de decirle “se necesitan dos para hacer un busto”, el escultor Jo Davidson le pidió a Woodrow Wilson sentarse en el espaldar de una butaca y que cerrara el libro que estaba leyendo para que charlara con él. Un crítico que describió este busto como “un retrato perfecto” también elogió a Davidson por captar “toda la firmeza del semblante sin nada de esa acritud que le dan algunos artistas quienes inconscientes y erróneamente, dan a pensar a la gente que no sería agradable conocer en persona al presidente Wilson”.
Provenance
Morris P. Leibovitz [1917-1992]; gift to NPG 1977
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Artist
Jo Davidson, 30 Mar 1883 - 2 Jan 1952
Sitter
Woodrow Wilson, 28 Dec 1856 - 3 Feb 1924
Date
1919
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Dr. Maury Leibovitz
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
39.8 x 19.3 x 23.3 cm (15 11/16 x 7 5/8 x 9 3/16" ), without base
Type
Sculpture

Featured In

  • Conociendo a los Presidentes: Woodrow Wilson
  • Knowing the Presidents: Thomas Woodrow Wilson
  • Presidential Portraits
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