Sandra Cisneros

Object Details

Artist

Al Rendon, born 1957

Sitter

Sandra Cisneros, born 20 Dec 1954

Exhibition Label

Born Chicago, Illinois

While writing The House on Mango Street (1984), Sandra Cisneros drew upon her experience as the daughter of a working-class Mexican American family in Chicago. The book earned her the American Book Award and was later translated into more than twenty languages. Cisneros has been named a MacArthur Fellow (1995), and in 2002, the New York Times and other national newspapers selected her novel Caramelo as a notable book of the year. In 2016, she was awarded the National Medal of the Arts by President Barack Obama.

This portrait is by Al Rendon, who is renowned for his photographs of Latinx leaders in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas. He portrays Cisneros with her dog on the porch of her former house, smiling at the viewer and wearing a traditional Mexican folk dress. The author currently lives in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, taking advantage of her dual U.S. and Mexican citizenship.

Nacida en Chicago, Illinois

Para escribir La casa en Mango Street (1984), Sandra Cisneros recurrió a sus experiencias como hija de un matrimonio mexicoamericano de clase trabajadora en Chicago. El libro le ganó el Premio del Libro Americano y se tradujo a más de 20 idiomas. Cisneros recibió la prestigiosa Beca MacArthur (1995) y en 2002 The New York Times y otros periódicos nacionales seleccionaron su novela Caramelo como libro sobresaliente del año. En 2016 recibió la Medalla Nacional de las Artes de manos del presidente Barack Obama.

Este retrato fue tomado por Al Rendon, famoso por sus fotografías de líderes latinos en su ciudad de San Antonio, Texas. Cisneros aparece con su perro en el portal de su antigua casa, sonriendo al espectador, y lleva un vestido mexicano tradicional. Actualmente vive en San Miguel de Allende, México, aprovechando su doble ciudadanía estadounidense y mexicana.

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.

1998 (printed 2014)

Object number

NPG.2015.36

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Copyright

© 2015, Al Rendon

Type

Photograph

Medium

Inkjet print

Dimensions

Image: 50.8 × 35.6 cm (20 × 14")

Sheet: 56.1 × 43.4 cm (22 1/16 × 17 1/16")

Place

United States\Texas\Bexar\San Antonio

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Sandra Cisneros: Female

Sandra Cisneros: Literature\Writer

Sandra Cisneros: Literature\Writer\Poet

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.2015.36

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4f2e21593-f9ea-4ee3-a238-3cd22ccc8b28