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Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Max Westfield, 1882 - 1971
Sitter
Albert Einstein, 14 Mar 1879 - 18 Apr 1955
Date
1944
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 102.9 x 77.5cm (40 1/2 x 30 1/2")
Frame: 123.2 x 97.8 x 9.5cm (48 1/2 x 38 1/2 x 3 3/4")
Topic
Interior
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair\Armchair
Printed Material\Papers
Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Mustache
Equipment\Drafting & Writing Implements\Writing implement\Pen
Albert Einstein: Male
Albert Einstein: Literature\Writer\Scientific writer
Albert Einstein: Politics and Government\Government official
Albert Einstein: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Professor\University
Albert Einstein: Science and Technology\Scientist\Physicist
Albert Einstein: Science and Technology\Scientist\Scientific Theorist
Albert Einstein: Nobel Prize
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the artist
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© Estate of Max Westfield
Object number
NPG.67.16
Exhibition Label
Born Ulm, Germany
The world-renowned scientist Albert Einstein transformed physics with his groundbreaking theory of relativity. From 1933 until his death, the German-born physicist worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, never returning to his homeland after the Nazis came to power.
Einstein’s pacifist and socialist views made him a target of U.S. government surveillance. Deemed a security risk, he was not invited to participate in the Manhattan Project (1942–45), the top-secret venture that produced the world’s first atomic bomb. His warning to President Roosevelt about Germany’s potential to develop nuclear weaponry, however, had hastened its establishment. After the war, Einstein spoke out against the Red Scare and congressional investigations of alleged Communist sympathizers. In 1953, he advised fellow intellectuals to refuse to participate in the McCarthy hearings, declaring it “shameful for a blameless citizen to submit to such an inquisition” that “violates the spirit of the Constitution.”
Nacido en Ulm, Alemania
El renombrado científico Albert Einstein transformó la física con su revolucionaria teoría de la relatividad. Desde 1933 hasta su muerte, trabajó en el Instituto de Estudios Avanzados de Princeton, Nueva Jersey, y no regresó a su Alemania natal después de que los nazis ascendieron al poder.
Las posturas pacifistas y socialistas de Einstein lo hicieron blanco de la vigilancia del gobierno de EE.UU. Por considerarlo un riesgo para la seguridad, no lo invitaron a participar en el Proyecto Manhattan (1942–45), iniciativa secreta que produjo la primera bomba atómica del mundo. No obstante, el proyecto había sido impulsado por una advertencia de Einstein al presidente Roosevelt sobre la capacidad alemana de desarrollar armas nucleares. Tras la guerra, Einstein combatió el fomento del pánico al comunismo y la investigación de supuestos simpatizantes comunistas por parte del Congreso. En 1953 aconsejó a sus colegas intelectuales que no participaran en las audiencias de McCarthy: “es vergonzoso que un ciudadano inocente sea sometido a esta inquisición” que “infringe el espíritu de la Constitución”.
Provenance
The artist; gift to NPG 1967
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
20th Century Americans: 1930-1960
On View
NPG, South Gallery 321