Billie Holiday

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

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