|
Portraits of Famous Americans
|

Ralph Bunche |
In 1957, Robert Roché started a series of paintings of famous Americans from
life.They were painted in what is known as the "alla prima" technique, which
means one direct layer of paint applied with precise, bravura brushwork. This takes
tremendous skill, and control. The greatest exponents of this technique were
Frans Hals, Velàsquez, Manet and the more contemporary, Sargent. and Sorolla.
Each portrait is painted in oil on canvas, size 20 x 16 inches. |
|
The portrait of President Harry S Truman was
painted at the Truman Library, Independence, Missouri. This photograph
of Robert Roché was
taken while he created the portrait of the former president.
|
 |
|
The
portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt was painted at her home, Val-Kill Cottage, Hyde Park, New
York. Before doing each portrait, Roche' explained to the sitter that it would not be a
society, surface-type portrayal, but realistic and down-to-earth. Mrs. Roosevelt's reply
was "Dr. Bunche explained that to me and that is the very reason I am letting you
paint me". While Mrs. Roosevelt was posing, she wrote about the sitting for her
"My Day" syndicated column which appeared in the New York Post,
July 30, 1957.
The quote from this article is,
" If there is one thing I dislike more than any
other, it is sitting for my portrait. But Dr. Ralph Bunche, who had just had this
portrait painted by the same artist, was persuasive enough to get me to sit for Robert
Roché. It took a little over two hours, and I hope it serves the artist's purpose,
for he is making a record of Americans who have served in these intitial years in helping
to build the United Nations. Posterity will think I was a grim old lady, but
it is a good likeness, and I think Roché is a very good painter."
Ralph Bunche was
painted in his office at the United Nations Building, New York City. Dr. Bunche
(1904-1971) was an American statesman, United Nations official and educator at Howard and
Harvard Universities. His work in mediating the Arab-Israeli dispute over Palestine earned
him a Nobel Peace Prize, making him the first black so-honored. He received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963.
|