Beau-Ty: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A brightly colored acrylic painting of drummer Philly Joe Jones. Jones is depicted sitting on stage, behind a drum set, smoking a cigarette. He wears a dark purple vest over a yellow sweater and white collared shirt. He sits behind a white bass drum, in front of which is a grey snare drum. To his proper left, a pink drum sits on the floor and to his proper right are two cymbals and a set of high hat symbols. On the floor next to the cymbal stands is another, smaller drum. On the white drumhead, painted in black, is “PHILLY JOE / JONES / MO’ JOE.” The drum sits next to a grey speaker stacked on top of a black speaker. The stage floor is red, the background is bright green, pink, and red, and a blue and white striped curtain runs along the top edge of the painting. The verso of the painting is blank.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2022
• Created by: Marcus Brutus, American, born 1991
• Subject of: Philly Joe Jones, American, 1923 - 1985
• Type: acrylic paintings
• Medium: Acrylic on canvas
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 59 3/4 × 60 1/4 × 1 5/16 in. (151.8 × 153 × 3.3 cm)
• Place made: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Musicians
• Object number: 2023.38.3
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Marcus Brutus Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.