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Hommage à Bessie Smith

National Museum of African Art

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Object Details

Iba N'Diaye, 1928-2008, Senegal
Label Text
Hommage à Bessie Smith is part of an important series of paintings that Senegalese artist Iba N'Diaye devoted to the great performers of jazz and gospel music. With their warm colors, expressive brushstrokes and schematic figuration, N'Diaye's works capture the charged atmosphere of the jazz clubs of Harlem and Montmartre and highlight the potency of shared artistic expressions throughout the Black Atlantic world from the early to mid-20th century.
Description
Painting with three jazz players outlined in the foreground: on the left, a trumpet player, at center, a figure singing into a microphone, and to the right, another trumpet player. The trumpet players wear black and white suits and the vocalist at center wears red. The trumpets are light orange. The background is predominantly gray and blue. Above the vocalist at center are two figures, one in profile, the other in three-quarter face outlined in black and orange. In the background at upper right is a classically posed figure: a face in light yellow, outlined in orange, gazes at the musicians below. At far right is a condensed abstraction of an orchestra and trumpet bell.
Provenance
Mme. Abdou Diouf, Paris, -- to 2002
Exhibition History
African Mosaic: Selections from the Permanent Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2013–August 12, 2019 (reinstalled April 8, 2016–August 2, 2019)
Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue - From the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, November 7, 2014-January 24, 2016
African Mosaic: Selections from the Permanent Collection, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2013-ongoing (deinstalled October 15, 2014)
African Mosaic: Celebrating a Decade of Collecting, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 19, 2010-November 19, 2013
Insights, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., February 27 to November 28, 2004
Recent Acquisitions and Promised Gifts, National Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., October 18, 2002-January 5, 2003
Published References
Kreamer, Christine Mullen and Adrienne L. Childs (eds). 2014. Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue from the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 240-241, pl. 135.
Content Statement
As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
Image Requests
High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
Credit Line
Gift of Mme. Diouf and museum purchase
1987
Object number
2002-13-1
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© 1987 Iba N'Diaye
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
H x W x D: 132.2 × 197.2 × 4 cm (52 1/16 × 77 5/8 × 1 9/16 in.)
Geography
Senegal
See more items in
National Museum of African Art Collection
National Museum of African Art
Topic
musical instrument
male
Record ID
nmafa_2002-13-1
Metadata Usage (text)
Usage conditions apply
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7519f4862-bd58-4858-973c-27727994b7dc

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IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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