The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery installed a portrait of the late J.D. Salinger in the first-floor gallery space designated for remembrance of recently deceased individuals. The portrait was created by Robert Vickery and is part of the museum’s collection. Vickery’s portrait first appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1961. The portrait was made available for public view when the museum opened at 11:30 this morning.
J.D. Salinger is the author of The Catcher in the Rye (1951), a classic coming of age story enjoyed by generations of teenagers. He also published Nine Stories (1953), Franny and Zooey (1961), Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963).
Salinger’s last published work was a novella entitled Hapworth 16, 1924 that appeared in The New Yorker on June 19, 1965. Salinger entered into a book deal to publish Hapworth 16, 1924 with Roger Lathbury, an English professor at George Mason University and owner of Orchises Press, a small literary publishing house based in the professor's Alexandria home. The book deal fell through after Lathbury granted an interview about the upcoming publication with a local business journal and the Washington Post picked up the story. Angered at the advanced publicity, Salinger decided against publication and terminated his burgeoning friendship with the professor.
In Vickery’s Time magazine portrait, Salinger is painted against what the National Portrait Gallery termed “a metaphorical amber wave of grain.” He stands in a white striped dress shirt and a black tie. In the background the painter included a small child dressed in a red sweater and blue jeans. The child's arms are outstretched and he stands beside a cliff. The portrait will be on view in the first floor of the National Portrait Gallery to commemorate Salinger’s life for a limited time.
Salinger shied from public life and is considered a rather infamous recluse. There are few photographs of and little news about the much admired author. Salinger died at the age of 91on January 27, 2010.
The National Portrait Gallery is located at Eighth and G streets N.W. at the Metro’s Gallery Place stop. The museum is open daily from 11:30 a.m to 7:00 p.m.
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