Object Details
- Artist
- Jennie Summerall, born 1959
- Sitter
- Edward Osborne Wilson, born 10 Jun 1929
- Exhibition Label
- Born Birmingham, Alabama
- Biologist Edward O. Wilson-two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction-has been a leader of the biodiversity movement since the 1980s. Trained as an entomologist specializing in ant biology, Wilson has ranged from New Guinea and Sri Lanka to the Smithsonian Institution for his work. His groundbreaking Sociobiology: The New Synthesis (1975) was a controversial study that examined the biological basis of social behavior in all kinds of organisms, including vertebrates, with links to evolutionary biology. A hallmark of his later work has been an attempt to bridge the gap between science and the culture at large, as in Consilience: The Unity of Life (1998).
- Artist Jennie Summerall posed Wilson in a setting reminiscent of the landscape on Lignum Vitae Key in Florida, which he helped preserve. Based on photographic images, the painting references Wilson's earlier studies on ant populations, while depicting him as he looks today.
- Provenance
- The artist; purchased 2007 NPG
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- 2006
- Object number
- NPG.2007.4
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © 2006 Jennie Summerall
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Stretcher: 147 x 116.8cm (57 7/8 x 46")
- Frame: 152.1 x 121.9 x 4.4cm (59 7/8 x 48 x 1 3/4")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- 20th Century Americans: 2000 to Present
- On View
- NPG, South Gallery 341
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Exterior\Landscape
- Nature & Environment\Animal\Insect\Butterfly
- Nature & Environment\Plant\Tree\Palm
- Nature & Environment\Animal\Snail
- Nature & Environment\Animal\Spider
- Edward Osborne Wilson: Male
- Edward Osborne Wilson: Literature\Writer
- Edward Osborne Wilson: Education\Educator\Professor
- Edward Osborne Wilson: Science and Technology\Scientist\Biologist\Zoologist
- Edward Osborne Wilson: Humanities and Social Sciences\Sociologist
- Edward Osborne Wilson: Science and Technology\Scientist\Biologist
- Edward Osborne Wilson: Science and Technology\Scientist\Biologist\Zoologist\Entomologist
- Edward Osborne Wilson: Pulitzer Prize
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2007.4
- Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)
- Usage conditions apply
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm49569db14-89a7-4eec-9ebe-3206bbf44af9
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
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