Object Details
- Exhibition Label
- When Chaliapin painted this portrait of Betty Hutton for Time’s cover in April 1950, the twenty-nine-year-old actress’s spunk and high energy were well known both in and outside of Hollywood. The artist’s challenge was how to corral all of that "unbridled vitality" onto a magazine cover. "Betty’s all-out assault on an audience," reported Time, "is a trademark that she carries in every appearance, public or private." By movie standards, she was not "remarkably pretty . . . nor a remarkably good singer or dancer," but watching her in action was a little like "waiting for a wildly sputtering fuse to touch off an alarmingly large firecracker." She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role as Annie in the film version of Annie Get Your Gun (1950). Moreover, her performance was compared favorably to that of her sensational predecessor for Annie on Broadway, "brassy Ethel Merman."
- Collection Description
- In 1978, Time magazine donated approximately eight hundred works of original cover art to the National Portrait Gallery. The museum is dedicated to telling the stories of individuals who have shaped the United States, and the Time Collection—featuring prominent international figures and events—enriches our understanding of the United States in a global context.
- En 1978, la revista Time donó a la National Portrait Gallery cerca de 800 obras de arte originales creadas para sus portadas. Nuestro museo se dedica a narrar la historia de figuras que han contribuido a forjar el desarrollo de Estados Unidos, y es así que la Colección Time, que incluye retratos de importantes personalidades internacionales, nos ayuda a comprender mejor a nuestra nación en un contexto global.
- Data Source
- National Portrait Gallery
- Artist
- Boris Chaliapin, 22 Sep 1904 - 18 May 1979
- Sitter
- Betty Hutton, 26 Feb 1921 - 11 Mar 2007
- Date
- 1950
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mrs. Boris Chaliapin
- Medium
- Gouache on board
- Dimensions
- Sight (Verified): 38.1 x 34.3 cm (15 x 13 1/2")
- Mat (Verified): 55.9 x 40.6 cm (22 x 16")
- Type
- Painting
