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Daniel Libeskind

Daniel Libeskind
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Abe Frajndlich, born 1946
Sitter
Daniel Libeskind, born 12 May 1946
Date
1995 (printed 2000)
Type
Photograph
Medium
Chromogenic print
Dimensions
Image: 39 x 48.3 cm (15 3/8 x 19")
Sheet: 40.7 x 50.9 cm (16 x 20 1/16")
Topic
Daniel Libeskind: Male
Daniel Libeskind: Visual Arts\Architect
Portrait
Place
United States\California\Los Angeles
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Paulette and Kurt Olden in memory of Lily E. Kay
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© 2000, Abe Frajndlich
Object number
NPG.2000.85
Exhibition Label
Born Lodz, Poland
The son of Holocaust survivors who immigrated to the United States in 1959, Daniel Libeskind is an architect, theorist, artist, and professor. Although he did not build his first major project until he was fifty-two, he has become internationally celebrated for the highly distinctive, angular style of his major commissions. His designs for the Jewish Museum in Berlin, the Denver Art Museum, and, most notably, One World Trade Center in New York City have transformed skylines and pushed the limits of modern engineering. He and his wife, Nina, founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989.
This 1995 portrait of Libeskind shows him peeking out from an open book. The image, of a ruined library during World War II, seems to anticipate the architect’s subsequent work rebuilding the World Trade Center site. It also hints at the role of architecture as a spatial organizer for humanistic thought and activity.
Nacido en Lodz, Polonia
Hijo de sobrevivientes del holocausto judío que inmigraron a Estados Unidos en 1959, Daniel Libeskind es arquitecto, teórico, artista y profesor. Aunque no construyó su primer proyecto importante hasta la edad de 52 años, ha sido celebrado mundialmente por el inconfundible estilo anguloso de sus edificios principales. Sus diseños para el Museo Judío de Berlín, el Museo de Arte de Denver y, sobre todo, el One World Trade Center de Nueva York han transformado el perfil de las ciudades, ampliando los confines de la ingeniería moderna. En 1989 él y su esposa Nina fundaron el Estudio Daniel Libeskind.
En este retrato de 1995, Libeskind se asoma tras un libro abierto. La imagen del libro, una biblioteca destruida durante la II Guerra Mundial, parece presagiar su trabajo ulterior en la reconstrucción del sitio que ocupaba el World Trade Center. También apunta al papel de la arquitectura como organizadora de espacios para la reflexión y la actividad humanistas.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view