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Benny Goodman

Usage Conditions Apply

Artist: René Robert Bouché, 20 Sep 1905 - Jul 1963
Sitter: Benny Goodman, 30 May 1909 - 13 Jun 1986

Date: 1960

Type: Painting

Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Stretcher: 101.6 x 81.9 x 3.8cm (40 x 32 1/4 x 1 1/2"); Frame: 112.1 x 91.8 x 7.6cm (44 1/8 x 36 1/8 x 3")

Topic: Costume\Jewelry\Ring; Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses; Home Furnishings\Lighting Devices\Lamp; Music\Sheet music; Music\Musical instrument\Clarinet; Benny Goodman: Male; Benny Goodman: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Composer; Benny Goodman: Performing Arts\Performer\Actor\Theater; Benny Goodman: Performing Arts\Performer\Actor\Movie; Benny Goodman: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Jazz musician; Benny Goodman: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Clarinetist; Benny Goodman: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Bandmaster; Benny Goodman: Grammy; Portrait

Credit Line: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the daughters of Benny Goodman - Benjie Goodman Lasseau and Rachel Goodman Edelson

Restrictions & Rights: Usage conditions apply

Object number: NPG.89.1

Exhibition Label: Born Chicago, Illinois; Dubbed “the King of Swing” after a riotously successful concert at Hollywood’s Palomar Ballroom in 1935, Benny Goodman took swing music into the cultural stratosphere with his band’s distinctive, pulsating sound. In 1938 he brought jazz to Carnegie Hall in a legendary concert that showcased virtuoso performances of “Sing, Sing, Sing,” “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” and “Don’t Be That Way.” Goodman was also in the forefront of desegregating jazz, bringing such musicians as vibraphonist Lionel Hampton and pianist Teddy Wilson into his orchestra at a time when mainstream jazz was defined by black and white barriers. In the 1950s and 1960s, he toured extensively, bringing the swing era sound to new generations. He received a Kennedy Center Honors award in 1982.
Provenance: The sitter; his estate; donated by his daughters Benjie Goodman Lasseau and Rachel Goodman Edelson 1989 to NPG

Data Source: National Portrait Gallery

Exhibition: Bravo!
On View: NPG, South Gallery 310 Mezzanine