Flannery O'Connor

Object Details

Artist

Joseph Reshower, 6 Jul 1921 - 1 Jan 2006

Sitter

Flannery O'Connor, 25 Mar 1925 - 3 Aug 1964

Exhibition Label

Born Savannah, Georgia

Mary Flannery O’Connor dropped her first name when she published Wise Blood (1952). Shortly thereafter, she earned her master’s degree in creative writing at the University of Iowa. Her first collection of stories was A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955); her second, Everything That Rises Must Converge, was published posthumously in 1965. Most of O’Connor’s novels and short stories focused on spiritual and religious journeys taken by morally compromised individuals placed in unsettling scenarios. “I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace,” she once explained. “Their heads are so hard that almost nothing else will work.”

This portrait of the author by the Atlanta-based photographer Joseph Reshower appeared on the book jacket for O’Connor’s The Complete Stories. Published several years after her death, the anthology received the National Book Award in 1972.

Nacida en Savannah, Georgia

Mary Flannery O’Connor decidió usar solamente sus apellidos desde que publicó Sangre sabia (1952). Poco después completó su maestría en escritura creativa en la Universidad de Iowa. Su primer libro de cuentos fue Un hombre bueno es difícil de encontrar (1955); el segundo, Todo lo que sube converge, se publicó póstumamente en 1965. La mayoría de los cuentos y novelas de O’Connor describen el trayecto espiritual o religioso de personas con conflictos morales en circunstancias difíciles. “He descubierto que, extrañamente, la violencia tiene el don de devolver a mis personajes a la realidad y prepararlos para aceptar su momento de gracia”, explicó. “Son tan obstinados que prácticamente nada más funciona”.

Este retrato tomado por Joseph Reshower, fotógrafo radicado en Atlanta, apareció en la sobrecubierta de los Cuentos completos de O’Connor. Publicada varios años después de su muerte, la antología recibió el Premio Nacional del Libro en 1972.

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquired through a partial gift by John Daniel Reaves

1961

Object number

NPG.2012.41

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Copyright

© Estate of Joseph Reshower De Casseres/PCAphoto.com.

Type

Photograph

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image/Sheet: 17.8 x 18.5 cm (7 x 7 5/16")

Mount: 30.2 x 26.6 cm (11 7/8 x 10 1/2")

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses

Flannery O'Connor: Female

Flannery O'Connor: Literature\Writer

Flannery O'Connor: National Book Award

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.2012.41

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4b778f603-cd70-473d-85b9-aecf4ac593b6