Anne Tyler
Object Details
- Artist
- David Levine, 20 Dec 1926 - 29 Dec 2009
- Sitter
- Anne Tyler, born 25 Oct 1941
- Exhibition Label
- Born Minneapolis, Minnesota
- A prolific, fastidious observer of the everyday and a conjurer of eccentrics, Anne Tyler has written nearly twenty novels over the span of five decades, her most well-known arguably being The Accidental Tourist (1985). In a 1976 review in The New Yorker, John Updike—an author similarly dedicated to the travails of the everyman—proclaimed her writing “wickedly good.” In this illustration accompanying a review of Tyler’s The Amateur Marriage (2004), David Levine shows the writer in her typical topknot, using a magnifying glass to analyze bride and groom figurines atop a wedding cake. The magnifying glass is an apt metaphor for Tyler’s writing style: rich with minute details that allow us to inhabit the small, ordinary moments of her characters. Also alluding to her penchant for the mild-mannered, Levine shows Tyler smiling at the viewer, despite her quasi-scientific task at hand. The Pulitzer Prize–winning writer recently completed what she says is her final novel, A Spool of Blue Thread (2015).
- Anne Tyler nacida en 1941
- Nacida en Mineápolis, Minnesota
- Prolífica y minuciosa observadora de lo cotidiano, fabuladora de lo excéntrico, Anne Tyler ha escrito una veintena de novelas a lo largo de cinco décadas, siendo quizás la más famosa The Accidental Tourist (1985). En una reseña de 1976 en The New Yorker, John Updike, autor también dedicado a la gesta del hombre común, proclamó que Tyler tenía una prosa “endiabladamente buena”. En esta ilustración que acompañó una reseña de The Amateur Marriage (2004), David Levine nos muestra a la autora con su típico moño, lupa en mano para analizar las figurillas del novio y la novia sobre un pastel de bodas. La lupa es una metáfora muy a tono con el estilo literario de Tyler, repleto de detalles que nos permiten habitar los pequeños instantes del día a día de sus personajes. Levine también alude a su preferencia por los personajes amables y la muestra sonriendo al espectador, a pesar del carácter cuasi científico de la tarea que la ocupa. Tyler, ganadora del premio Pulitzer, ha terminado recientemente la que dice será su última novela, A Spool of Blue Thread (2015).
- David Levine (1926–2009)
- Tinta sobre grafito en papel, 2004
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- 2004
- Object number
- NPG.2012.14
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- ©2004 Matthew and Eve Levine
- Type
- Drawing
- Medium
- Ink over graphite on paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 35.5 × 28 cm (14 × 11")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Caricature
- Food
- Equipment\Optical Devices\Magnifying glass
- Anne Tyler: Female
- Anne Tyler: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer
- Anne Tyler: Arts and Culture\Literature\Literary critic
- Anne Tyler: Literary awards\Pulitzer Prize
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2012.14
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Usage conditions apply
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm436114d47-28fa-4a13-bd81-744fbcff2974
Related Content
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.