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Billie Holiday

National Portrait Gallery

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Object Details

Artist
Bob Willoughby, 30 Jun 1927 - 18 Dec 2009
Sitter
Billie Holiday, 7 Apr 1915 - 17 Jul 1959
Exhibition Label
Duke Ellington called Billie Holiday "the essence of cool," a reference to her equipoise in performance. The most influential jazz vocalist of all time, Holiday had a controlled emotional power that transformed even trite ballads into romantic short stories. Born Eleonora Harris and partially raised in a New York City brothel, she crafted a cool vocal style by tempering Bessie Smith’s shouting power with Louis Armstrong’s rhythmic nuance, then honed her craft on the road with the Count Basie Orchestra. Lester Young named her "Lady Day," and in their chamber jazz classics, such as "All of Me," voice and saxophone curl around each other into smoky swirls of late-night yearning. Late in life Holiday, a drug addict and survivor of abusive relationships, sang in a cracked, broken voice that remained true to the jazz practice of self-expression.
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Bob Willoughby
1951 (printed Dec 16, 1991)
Object number
NPG.97.96
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© Bob Willoughby
Type
Photograph
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 25.2 x 35.3 cm. (19 15/16 x 13 15/16")
Sheet: 40.2 x 30.2 cm. (11 7/8 x 15 13/16")
Mat: 55.9 x 71.1cm (22 x 28")
Place
United States\California\Los Angeles\Los Angeles
See more items in
National Portrait Gallery Collection
National Portrait Gallery
Topic
Costume\Jewelry\Necklace
Costume\Jewelry\Earring
Interior
Billie Holiday: Female
Billie Holiday: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Singer\Jazz
Portrait
Record ID
npg_NPG.97.96
Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)
Usage conditions apply
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4826a0032-129d-4dc4-840b-f2a60c492460

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