Pearl S. Buck

Object Details

Artist

Samuel Johnson Woolf, 12 Feb 1880 - 03 Dec 1948

Sitter

Pearl S. Buck, 26 Jun 1892 - 6 Mar 1973

Exhibition Label

Born Hillsboro, West Virginia

Raised in China, where her parents were missionaries, author Pearl S. Buck made it her life’s work to foster understanding between East and West. While teaching English literature at the University of Nanking, she began writing fiction inspired by her observations of Chinese peasant life. Her second novel, The Good Earth, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932; five years later she became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in literature. After returning to the United States in 1934, Buck continued to write affectionately of the Chinese people, but her criticisms of communism cost her the opportunity to revisit the country in the 1970s. While raising a large family of adopted and foster children, Buck established organizations to improve the lives of Asian and mixed-race children. She was a cofounder of Welcome House, the first international, interracial adoption agency.

Nacida en Hillsboro, West Virginia

La escritora Pearl S. Buck creció en China, donde sus padres eran misioneros, y toda su vida trabajó para promover el entendimiento entre Oriente y Occidente. Comenzó a escribir ficción siendo profesora de literatura inglesa en la Universidad de Nanking, inspirada por sus observaciones de la vida rural china. Su segunda novela, La buena tierra, ganó el premio Pulitzer en 1932; cinco años más tarde, Buck sería la primera mujer estadounidense ganadora del Premio Nobel de literatura. Luego de regresar a Estados Unidos en 1934, continuó escribiendo con afecto sobre el pueblo chino, pero sus críticas al comunismo le costaron la oportunidad de visitar el país en los años setenta. Siendo madre de varios hijos adoptados, Buck fundó organizaciones para mejorar las vidas de los niños asiáticos y de raza mixta, entre ellas Welcome House, la primera agencia internacional de adopciones interraciales.

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the artist's daughters, Muriel Woolf Hobson and Dorothy Woolf Ahern

1938

Object number

NPG.87.168

Restrictions & Rights

CC0

Type

Drawing

Medium

Charcoal with chalk on paper

Dimensions

Sheet: 53.3 × 44.6 cm (21 × 17 9/16")

Mat: 71.1 × 55.9 cm (28 × 22")

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Costume\Jewelry

Interior

Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair

Costume\Jewelry\Brooch

Artwork\Sculpture\Statue

Pearl S. Buck: Female

Pearl S. Buck: Literature\Writer

Pearl S. Buck: Literature\Writer\Novelist

Pearl S. Buck: Nobel Prize

Pearl S. Buck: Pulitzer Prize

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.87.168

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm446750c58-6a60-4e65-80ee-78a4842dbcd3