The National Portrait Gallery exhibition ONE LIFE—MARIAN ANDERSON “[explores] the life of the famed contralto, her achievements, and how she became a symbol of the civil rights movement.”*

The show is curated by Leslie Ureña.

“Recognized as one of the greatest American singers of the twentieth century, Anderson is best remembered for her legendary performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where she sang in 1939 after segregationist policies barred her from theaters across Washington, D.C. However, this exhibition broadens the focus, delving into underexplored moments of Anderson’s decades-long career as a celebrated singer and diplomat. It also highlights the ways she inspired visual artists, ranging from Harlem Renaissance painter Beauford Delaney to fashion photographer Irving Penn.”*

ONE LIFE—MARIAN ANDERSON*

Through May 17.

National Portrait Gallery

8th and F Streets NW, Washington, D.C.

From top: Robert S. Scurlock, Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial, 1939, gelatin silver print, Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution; Beauford Delaney, Marian Anderson, 1965, oil on canvas, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, J. Hardwood and Louise B. Cochrane Fund for American Art; Allen T. Winigrad, Marian Anderson rehearsing with Aaron Copland, 1976, chromogenic print, cibachrome; William Henry Johnson, Marian Anderson, circa 1945, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, gift of the Harmon Foundation; Irving Penn, Marian Anderson, New York, 1948, gelatin silver print, © Irving Penn Foundation; Ruth Orkin, Marian Anderson and Leonard Bernstein, 1947, gelatin silver print, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Brian Lanker, Marian Anderson, 1989, gelatin silver print. Winigrad, Penn, and Lanker photographs from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Philadelphia. Images courtesy the National Portrait Gallery.