Object Details
- depicted
- Ellington, Duke
- Ellington, Gaye
- Description (Brief)
- Acrylic on canvas painting of Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington, done by his granddaughter, Gaye Ellington in 1985. Ms. Ellington painted this posthumous portrait in order to create a memorial that preserved her sense of the creative and loving legacy her grandfather had left her.
- In a past interview, Gaye Ellington explained the reasons that led her to create this portrait, even though portraiture is not her usual subject matter: “Ever since my grandfather had died, a lot of people had done art work representing him. They were what other people saw in my grandfather. When I looked at them, they weren’t what I thought about him, and it disturbed me. … A lot of the photographs of him where very serious. I’m not saying he was always happy. But he would turn around in a minute and smile.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- 1985
- ID Number
- 1989.0369.444
- accession number
- 1989.0369
- catalog number
- 1989.0369.444
- Object Name
- painting
- Physical Description
- canvas (overall material)
- wood (overall material)
- paint (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 41 in x 40 in x 5 in; 104.14 cm x 101.6 cm x 12.7 cm
- See more items in
- Cultural and Community Life: Musical Instruments
- Music & Musical Instruments
- Popular Entertainment
- Art
- Highlights from the Culture and the Arts Collection
- National Museum of American History
- subject
- Jazz
- African American
- Record ID
- nmah_1201271
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746aa-6fe8-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
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