Will Rogers
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Object Details
- Artist
- Charles Banks Wilson, 1918 - 2013
- Sitter
- Will Rogers, 4 Nov 1879 - 15 Aug 1935
- Exhibition Label
- Born near Oologah, Oklahoma
- Will Rogers was the child of Cherokee parents; his father was prominent in Oklahoma politics. Rogers, however, lived the life of a cowboy before discovering his gifts as a humorist, actor, and commentator on social mores and politics. Rogers’s biographer has noted that of all the myths surrounding the humorist’s phenomenal success, none conflicted with reality more than the myth of his ignorance. Rogers used his wit and intellect to entertain and to cultivate the persona of a naive cowboy who commented on and often “roasted” pretentious, self-styled sophisticates. Rogers was killed in a plane crash on August 15, 1935, at the peak of his fame as a radio and movie star and newspaper columnist.
- Few portraitists captured Rogers from life. One of those was Charles Banks Wilson, who at age fifteen sketched Rogers backstage after a performance in Miami, Oklahoma. He created this painting from those sketches.
- Provenance
- The artist; gift to NPG 2010
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Charles Banks Wilson
- 1933-36
- Object number
- NPG.2010.96
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Stretcher: 61 x 45.7cm (24 x 18")
- Frame: 83.8 x 69.2 x 5.1cm (33 x 27 1/4 x 2")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Will Rogers: Male
- Will Rogers: Performing Arts\Performer\Actor\Stage actor
- Will Rogers: Society and Social Change\Philanthropist
- Will Rogers: Journalism and Media\Journalist\Columnist
- Will Rogers: Performing Arts\Performer\Actor\Movie actor
- Will Rogers: Performing Arts\Performer\Comedian
- Will Rogers: Natural Resource Occupations\Agriculturist\Cowboy
- Will Rogers: Journalism and Media\Journalist\Humorist
- Will Rogers: Performing Arts\Performer\Showman
- Will Rogers: Journalism and Media\Broadcast journalist\Commentator
- Will Rogers: Politics and Government\Public official\Mayor\Beverly Hills, CA
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2010.96
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Usage conditions apply
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm48c25139a-849a-4098-bc79-b47e6fd8a046
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