 Toured 1994 through 1996.Born in New Orleans in 1901,
Louis Armstrong was one of jazz's premier performers. His success with the trumpet onstage
translated into his becoming a figure of national importance as an actor, spokesperson,
comedian, and writer. His likeness graced the cover of the time's most important magazines
and he was a major player in all other forms of media through his fifty-year career.
Indeed, when he died in 1971, more than 25,000 people mourned "Satchmo" as he
lay in state at a New York armory.
The Smithsonian exhibition toured from 1994 to 1996 and melded the arts of painting,
collage, drawing, and photography with the art of jazz to illuminate Armstrong's life and
his countless contributions. It included works by such prominent artists as Norman
Rockwell, Leroy Neiman, Stuart Davis, Archibald Motley Jr., and Elizabeth Catlett,
designer of the life-size Armstrong statue that stands in the New Orleans park that bears
his name. Photography in the exhibition came from Gordon Parks Jr., Weegee (Arthur
Fellig), and Annie Leibovitz, among others. Among African American artists featured were
Romare Beardon and Jacob Lawrence. Even art by Armstrong himself was included. The works,
in addition to offering a fabulous profile of Armstrong, provided insight into African
American culture over several decades and its impact on 20th-century American life. |
