Charles Mingus
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Object Details
- Artist
- Antonio Rudolfo Frasconi, 28 Apr 1919 - 8 Jan 2013
- Copy after
- Unidentified Artist
- Sitter
- Charles Mingus, 22 Apr 1922 - 5 Jan 1979
- Exhibition Label
- Born Nogales, Arizona
- Jazz musician, composer, and bandleader Charles Mingus grew up in Los Angeles. A virtuoso on the bass, he elevated it from a strictly rhythmic instrument to a melodic, solo presence. At age twenty he toured with Louis Armstrong, and in 1951 he moved to New York City, playing with Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, and Duke Ellington. The next year he cofounded the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop, where his compositional skills flourished with sketches and chords he gave musicians to explore, letting the main melody emerge from their improvisation. From the mid-1950s on he recorded many outstanding albums, his favorite being Tijuana Moods (1962). His life was cut short by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease).
- In 1953 Time magazine named Uruguayan-born Antonio Frasconi “the foremost U.S. woodcut artist.” His command of the medium is visible here in the alternation of flat and voluminous shapes, from the bass to Mingus’s face and hair.
- Nacido en Nogales, Arizona
- El músico, compositor y director de jazz Charles Mingus creció en Los Angeles. Intérprete consumado del contrabajo, liberó al instrumento de su papel estrictamente rítmico para darle presencia melódica como solista. A la edad de veinte años ya estaba de gira con Louis Armstrong y en 1951 se estableció en New York, donde tuvo ocasión de tocar junto a Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach y Duke Ellington. Al año siguiente cofundó el Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop y sus habilidades compositivas se hicieron evidentes en los sketches y acordes que hacía explorar a los músicos, dejando que la melodía principal surgiera de la improvisación misma. Desde mediados de los años cincuenta grabó muchos discos de un nivel extraordinario, siendo su favorito Tijuana Moods (1962). Su vida fue truncada por la esclerosis lateral amiotrófica (enfermedad Lou Gehrig).
- En 1953 la revista Time reconoció al uruguayo Antonio Frasconi como “el principal artista del grabado en madera en Estados Unidos”. Su dominio de la técnica se hace patente aquí en la alternancia de formas planas y volúmenes, desde el contrabajo hasta el rostro y el pelo de Mingus.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- 1973
- Object number
- NPG.82.119
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © Antonio Frasconi / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Type
- Medium
- Woodcut on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 64.4 x 85.1cm (25 3/8 x 33 1/2")
- Sheet: 64.5 x 99.7cm (25 3/8 x 39 1/4")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Charles Mingus: Male
- Charles Mingus: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Composer
- Charles Mingus: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Jazz musician
- Charles Mingus: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Bandmaster
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.82.119
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Usage conditions apply
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4935cee18-4039-468e-8949-2e1e7f0ce1c7
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