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- Artist
- Brian Lanker, 31 Aug 1947 - 13 Mar 2011
- Sitter
- Maya Angelou, 4 Apr 1928 - 28 May 2014
- Date
- 1988
- Type
- Photograph
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions
- Image: 71 × 71.1 cm (27 15/16 × 28")
- Sheet/Mount: 81.8 × 75.2 cm (32 3/16 × 29 5/8")
- Mat: 88 × 87 cm (34 5/8 × 34 1/4")
- Frame: 91.1 × 89.5 × 3.2 cm (35 7/8 × 35 1/4 × 1 1/4")
- Topic
- Costume\Jewelry\Earring
- Interior
- Home Furnishings\Drape
- Costume\Jewelry\Bracelet
- Maya Angelou: Female
- Maya Angelou: Literature\Writer
- Maya Angelou: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Professor
- Maya Angelou: Literature\Writer\Poet
- Maya Angelou: Performing Arts\Performer\Actor\Stage actor
- Maya Angelou: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Singer
- Maya Angelou: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist\Civil rights activist
- Maya Angelou: Performing Arts\Performer\Actor\Television actor
- Maya Angelou: Performing Arts\Performer\Dancer
- Maya Angelou: Presidential Medal of Freedom
- Maya Angelou: Literature\Writer\Autobiographer
- Maya Angelou: Literature\Writer\Memoirist
- Maya Angelou: Grammy
- Portrait
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; partial gift of Lynda Lanker and a museum purchase made possible with generous support from Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker, Agnes Gund, Kate Kelly and George Schweitzer, Lyndon J. Barrois Sr. and Janine Sherman Barrois, and Mark and Cindy Aron
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © Brian Lanker Archive
- Object number
- NPG.2021.81
- Exhibition Label
- Born St. Louis, Missouri
- “Humility says there were people before me who found the path. I’m a road builder. For those who are yet to come, I seem to be finding the path and they will be road builders. That keeps one humble.
- Love keeps one humble.”
- — Maya Angelou
- Maya Angelou created an indelible record of resistance and resilience in her seven-volume series of autobiographical novels, beginning with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). Yet her path to literary success was circuitous. Although classic literature provided a refuge for her during a childhood marked by the sting of racism, economic hardship, and sexual abuse, she pursued other interests before devoting her energies to writing. Committed to the cause of civil rights, she became the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1960, shortly after moving to New York City. Later that decade, the assassinations of Malcolm X (1965) and Martin Luther King Jr. (1968) profoundly affected her.
- Angelou began writing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings with the encouragement of mentor James Baldwin. The runaway success of the book marked the beginning of her celebrated career, which grew to include popular poetry. Angelou was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.
- Nacida en St. Louis, Misuri
- “La humildad dice que antes de mí otros encontraron la senda. Soy una constructora de caminos. Para los que vendrán, me parece que yo voy encontrando la senda y ellos construirán los caminos.
- Eso me da humildad. El amor te da humildad.”
- — Maya Angelou
- Maya Angelou creó una crónica imborrable de resistencia y resiliencia en su serie de siete novelas autobiográficas, iniciada con Yo sé por qué canta el pájaro enjaulado (1969). No obstante, su camino hacia el éxito fue accidentado. Aunque la literatura clásica fue su refugio durante una niñez marcada por la herida del racismo, las dificultades económicas y el abuso sexual, Angelou cultivó otros intereses antes de dedicarse a escribir. Comprometida con la causa de los derechos civiles, fue coordinadora de la Conferencia Sureña de Líderes Cristianos en el norte del país desde 1960, tras mudarse a Nueva York. En esa década, los asesinatos de Malcolm X (1965) y Martin Luther King Jr. (1968) la afectaron profundamente.
- Angelou comenzó a escribir Yo sé por qué canta el pájaro enjaulado animada por su mentor James Baldwin. El éxito rotundo del libro marcó el comienzo de su celebrada carrera, que abarcó también la poesía popular. Fue condecorada con la Medalla Presidencial de la Libertad en 2011.
- Data Source
- National Portrait Gallery
- Location
- Currently not on view
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