Rarely Photographed Author’s Picture Donated To Library

The C.H. Booth Library received the donation this past week of a photograph of Marilynne Robinson, winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel, Gilead, from George Duncan, a New York City photographer and the son of Newtown resident Maureen Duncan.

Mr Duncan received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts, does freelance work for the New York Times Magazine and New York magazine, and has had one of his images acquisitioned for the permanent collection in the North Carolina Museum of Art.

Ms Robinson consented to have Mr Duncan photograph her in October of 2004 to accompany a New York Times Magazine article that fall, although she had not ever allowed herself to be photographed professionally before this sitting.

Mr Duncan likens the photograph of Ms Robinson to Joan of Arc, noting how the author appears to be listening raptly to her muse. “Prior to this photo,” he said, “she felt every picture of herself was a caricature. I took a Polaroid and showed it to her, and she was very happy with how I captured her.”

The photograph is a hand printed C print, numbered, titled, dated, and signed by the artist. It is mounted on an archival one-quarter sintra white paper and laminated for protection. The image will be hung in the Special Collections room of the C.H. Booth Library on the third floor.

Mr Duncan, a direct descendant on his mother’s side of William and Mary Beardsley, among the first Newtown settlers, is a resident of New York City but frequently spends time in Newtown.

Impressed by the local library’s facilities during his visits, Mr Duncan decided to donate the photograph “because [Ms Robinson] is a magnificent author and because the library has been a great resource for me. It is so wonderful. It is where people value literature and in a town where my ancestors settled.”