Object Details
Artist
John French Sloan, 2 Aug 1871 - 8 Sep 1951
Sitter
Angna Enters, 28 Apr 1907 - 25 Feb 1989
Exhibition Label
Born New York City
The multitalented Angna Enters earned accolades as a painter, sculptor, and writer. She won her greatest acclaim, however, as a dancer and mime. Following her New York stage debut in 1923, she went on to start her own dance company and to perform in more than 150 compositions of her own devising.
Once seen, a critic declared in 1926, Enters was “never to be forgotten.” At the heart of her talent, wrote another observer, lay a power to make “the most trivial and ordinary events and characters significant.”
Artist John Sloan first encountered Enters as a pupil in one of his classes at New York’s Art Students League. In this portrait of her, Enters’s arms evoke her gift for mime. At the same time, the gesture complements the triangular pattern in the background.
Nacida en la Ciudad de Nueva York
Artista de múltiples talentos, Angna Enters fue elogiada como pintora, escultora y escritora. Sin embargo, su mayor éxito lo obtuvo en el baile y la pantomima. Tras debutar en Nueva York en 1923, fundó su propia compañía de danza, con la que interpretó más de 150 coreografías creadas por ella. Quien la veía actuar “nunca podía olvidarla”, afirmó un crítico en 1926. Su talento esencial, escribió otro observador, era su poder de dar “relevancia a los sucesos y personajes más comunes y triviales”.
El artista John Sloan conoció a Enters cuando ésta fue su discípula en uno de los cursos que él impartía en la Liga de Estudiantes de Arte de Nueva York. En este retrato de ella, los brazos evocan el don de la pantomima a la vez que complementan el patrón triangular del espaldar.
Provenance
Helen Farr Sloan, New York; John Sloan Memorial Foundation, New York; gift 1980 NPG
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the John Sloan Memorial Foundation
Date
1925
Object number
NPG.80.132
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© Delaware Art Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 81.9 x 66 x 3.8cm (32 1/4 x 26 x 1 1/2")
Frame: 91.4 × 76.2 × 6.4cm (36 × 30 × 2 1/2")
See more items in
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Exhibition
20th Century Americans: 1900-1930
On View
NPG, South Gallery 322
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Topic
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair
Interior\Domestic
Home Furnishings\Curtain
Angna Enters: Female
Angna Enters: Arts and Culture\Visual Arts\Artist\Sculptor
Angna Enters: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer
Angna Enters: Arts and Culture\Visual Arts\Artist\Painter
Angna Enters: Arts and Culture\Visual Arts\Artist\Cartoonist
Angna Enters: Arts and Culture\Visual Arts\Artist\Illustrator
Angna Enters: Arts and Culture\Performing Arts\Dance\Dancer
Angna Enters: Arts and Culture\Performing Arts\Performer\Mime
Portrait
Link to Original Record
Record ID
npg_NPG.80.132