Object Details
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- depicted
- Ellington, Duke
- maker
- Ellington, Gaye
- date made
- 1985
- 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
- Object Name
- painting
