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Title
Carmen
Artist
Berkshire Poster Company, c. 1914 - 1930s
Sitter
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, 16 Apr 1889 - 25 Dec 1977
Date
c. 1916
Type
Print
Medium
Color lithographic poster
Dimensions
Image: 197.2 x 99.3cm (77 5/8 x 39 1/8")
Sheet: 203 × 105cm (79 15/16 × 41 5/16")
Mount: 208 × 110cm (81 7/8 × 43 5/16")
Topic
Equipment\Walking stick\Cane
Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Mustache
Costume\Dress Accessory\Suspenders
Costume\Headgear\Hat\Derby
Poster
Poster\Movie
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin: Male
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin: Performing Arts\Performing arts director\Film director
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin: Performing Arts\Performer\Actor\Movie actor
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin: Performing Arts\Performer\Comedian
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin: Performing Arts\Performer\Vaudeville performer
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin: Literature\Writer\Screenwriter
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin: Oscar
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.84.114
Exhibition Label
Charlie Chaplin’s early years with his vaudeville-actress mother introduced him to the stage and the outlet that performance could provide. When moviemaker Mack Sennett saw Chaplin on the New York stage in 1912, he knew that he had spotted an unusual talent. Within two years—playing a mustachioed, duck-footed tramp in one two-reel comedy after another—Chaplin was well on his way to becoming one of the greatest film stars of all time. By the 1920s, having formed United Artists with his friends Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith, Chaplin was directing and writing his own films. Among his most noted accomplishments were his satiric commentary on the machine age, Modern Times (1936), and his acerbic portrayal of Adolph Hitler in The Great Dictator (1940). In this poster, we see the inimitable tragicomic actor with his iconic cane, bowler hat, and mustache.
La niñez de Charlie Chaplin transcurrió junto a madre, una actriz de vodevil. Fue así que Chaplin conoció los escenarios y el escape emocional que podía brindarle la actuación. Cuando el cineasta Mack Sennett lo vio actuar en New York en 1912, supo que había descubierto un talento único. En un plazo de dos años —interpretando a un vagabundo bigotudo con andar de pato en una comedia tras otra— Chaplin iba en camino a convertirse en una de las más grandes estrellas del cine de todos los tiempos. Hacia la década de 1920, habiendo fundado United Artists con sus amigos Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks y D.W. Griffith, Chaplin ya escribía y dirigía sus propias películas. Entre sus obras más logradas están Tiempos modernos (1936), una sátira de la era de las máquinas, y su incisiva representación de Adolph Hitler en El gran dictador (1940). En este cartel vemos al inimitable actor tragicómico con su emblemático bastón, bombín y bigote.
