| The Generals of the Daughters of the American Revolution | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Richard Avedon |
| Year | 1963 |
| Medium | Gelatin silver print |
| Subject | Daughters of the American Revolution |
| Dimensions | 121 cm× 150 cm(47.5 in× 59 in) |
The Generals of the Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Convention, Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC, October 15, 1963 is a photograph on gelatin silver print by American photographer Richard Avedon. It is on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
On October 15, 1963, Richard Avedon photographed a group of executive officers of the Daughters of the American Revolution during their convention at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. [1] [2] His picture shows the women preparing to sit for an official portrait. The art curator and writer Hilton Als described the portrayal of the women as "self-important" with "a smug self-regard", while pointing out that the one of most prominent focal points in the photograph is the "wide backside" of a woman who stands facing her colleagues with her back turned to the viewer. [3] The work was printed on gelatin silver. [4]
The portrait is a part of the Smithsonian Institution's collection on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. [5] It was given as a gift to the museum by Michael Abrams and Sandra Stewart. [6]
In 1964, the portrait was included in Nothing Personal, a collection of Avendon's photographs published with an essay by James Baldwin. [7] It was reissued in 2017 with a second volume of photographs, including an outtake from his photoshoot with the Daughters of the American Revolution that showed the women smiling. [7]
A print of the photograph hangs at the Black Forest Inn in Minneapolis. [8] On November 11, 1986, an unemployed security guard and Vietnam War veteran named Ellis Nelson walked into the inn and shot the picture with a revolver that he had stashed in his coat pocket. [9] [10] Two figures in the photograph were pierced by bullets. [10] After shooting the photograph, Nelson surrendered to police and was arrested. [9] He was reported to have said, "That photo always bugged the hell out of me" when questioned about his motive. [9] [10] Erich Christ, the owner of the Black Forest Inn, decided not to repair the work, claiming that it had become a popular tourist attraction. [9] Visitors to the inn reportedly stick their fingers into the bullet holes and take pictures. [9]
In 2012, the American indie pop band The Mynabirds released their second album Generals , inspired by Avedon's portrait. [11] The album cover, shot by DP Muller, was also inspired by the photograph. [11] The band's singer-songwriter, Laura Burhenn, said that Avedon's original photograph was a representation of "the spirit of righteous battle transformed over the centuries into a mirror of the lineage-based aristocracy the founding American patriots were escaping." [12]