Object number1987.53.1

Caitlin and Dylan Thomas, Millbrook, New York

Date1952 (February 21)

Artist Rosalie Thorne McKenna (American, 1918-2003)

CultureAmerican

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 9 1/4 x 7 7/16 in. (23.5 x 18.9 cm)
Mount: 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm)
Matted: 22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 cm)

Credit LineGift of the artist

On View

Not on view

Period20th c

Classification(s)

Photograph

SignedOn verso, lower right in pencil: Rollie McKenna

InscribedOn verso, by artist, center in pencil: Caitlin Thomas + Dylan / Millbrook NY 1952 Feb 21; possibly by artist, upper left corner in pencil: RM; upper center in pencil: [??] 26389; center in pencil: DTR-M-55 / Portrait # 55 [latter scratched out]; by unidentified hand, lower right corner in pencil: 87.53.1

MarkingsOn recto, blindstamped lower right corner: ROLLIE McKENNA On verso, stamped top left: COPYRIGHTED PHOTO BY / ROLLIE McKENNA / ONE HANCOX STREET / STONINGTON, CT. 06378 / TEL. (203) 535-0110/2126 / © ROLLIE McKENNA / MUST APPEAR WITH PHOTO; stamped [scratched out] center: PHOTO BY: / ROLLIE MCKENNA / 438 EAST 88 STREET / NEW YORK28, N. Y. / TEL. ENRIGHT 9-3889 / Not To Be Reproduced / Without Permission. / Please Credit With Photo; stamped lower left: © Rollie Mc Kenna; stamped lower center: ASMP MEMBER / AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAGAZINE PHOTOGRAPHERS; stamped lower right: COPYRIGHT

BibliographyVariant: Rollie McKenna, Portrait of Dylan, A Photographer's Memoir (Stemmer House, 1982), 61. ProvenanceGift of the artist

Vassar Exhibitions

Making a Life in Photography: Rollie McKenna (Loeb)

Label TextMcKenna was intimately aware of photography’s power to preserve the legacy of a creative person: Her photographs of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas helped to launch McKenna’s own career as a sought-after portraitist, yet they also ultimately overshadowed McKenna’s own authorship as a photographer. Her pictures of Thomas from 1952 and 1953 were among precious few images of the elusive writer, helping to preserve his legacy and memory despite an untimely death. Several of these pictures have been reproduced countless times in books and periodicals, not always giving credit to McKenna. The photographs she made while visiting Thomas and his family in Wales reveal her interest not in showing Thomas as a genius toiling away in seclusion, but rather as a man whose work as a writer was intertwined with his identity as a father, husband, and friend. McKenna’s friendship with Caitlin Thomas and their children continued after the writer’s death, resulting in a second visit to Wales in 1957.

DescriptionPortrait of a woman seated with a man standing behind her

Terms

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu