Object Details
Artist
René Robert Bouché, 20 Sep 1905 - Jul 1963
Sitter
Jean Kerr, 10 Jul 1922 - 5 Jan 2003
Exhibition Label
Born Scranton, Pennsylvania
Upon receiving her master’s degree from Catholic University in 1945, the playwright Jean Kerr moved from Washington, D.C., to New York City. By the 1950s, her humorous takes on American middle-class angst were starting to earn recognition. Her script for King of Hearts (1954), co-written with Eleanor Brooke, received rave reviews, and she had further success with Please Don’t Eat the Daisies (1957).
Mary, Mary (1961), a comedic play about sex, marriage, infidelity, weight loss, and divorce, became one of the longest-running plays on Broadway, and it was subsequently made into a major motion picture. Kerr lived to be eighty and is often remembered for her ability to find “the comic in the commonplace anxieties of suburbia and married life.”
Time magazine featured Kerr on its cover when she was promoting Mary, Mary. This painting, by René Bouché, was based on lengthy portrait sittings in the Kerr household.
Nacida en Scranton, Pensilvania
Luego de obtener su maestría en la Universidad Católica en 1945, la dramaturga Jean Kerr se mudó de Washington D.C. a Nueva York. Para la década de 1950, sus jocosas viñetas de las ansiedades de la clase media estadounidense empezaron a destacarse. Su guion para Rey de corazones (1954), coescrito con Eleanor Brooke, recibió críticas entusiastas y el éxito continuó con Por favor, no te comas las margaritas (1957).
Mary, Mary (1961), comedia sobre el sexo, el matrimonio, la infidelidad, la pérdida de peso y el divorcio, fue una de las obras más taquilleras de Broadway y se convirtió en una famosa película.
Kerr vivió hasta los 80 años y se le recuerda por su talento para encontrar “humor en las ansiedades comunes de la vida suburbana y el matrimonio”. La revista Time presentó a Kerr en su portada cuando la autora promovía Mary, Mary. René Bouché realizó esta pintura luego de largas sesiones en casa de Kerr.
Collection Description
In 1978, Time magazine donated approximately eight hundred works of original cover art to the National Portrait Gallery. The museum is dedicated to telling the stories of individuals who have shaped the United States, and the Time Collection—featuring prominent international figures and events—enriches our understanding of the United States in a global context.
En 1978, la revista Time donó a la National Portrait Gallery cerca de 800 obras de arte originales creadas para sus portadas. Nuestro museo se dedica a narrar la historia de figuras que han contribuido a forjar el desarrollo de Estados Unidos, y es así que la Colección Time, que incluye retratos de importantes personalidades internacionales, nos ayuda a comprender mejor a nuestra nación en un contexto global.
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine
Date
1961
Object number
NPG.78.TC509
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© Denise Bouche Fitch
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
101.6cm x 55.9cm (40" x 22"), Accurate
See more items in
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location
Currently not on view
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Topic
Printed Material\Book
Equipment\Drafting & Writing Implements\Typewriter
Interior\Domestic\Study
Jean Kerr: Female
Jean Kerr: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer\Humorist
Jean Kerr: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer\Playwright
Portrait
Link to Original Record
Record ID
npg_NPG.78.TC509