Bust of Dizzy Gillespie: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This bust of American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and singer John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (1917–1993) was made by Ed Dwight in Denver, Colorado in 1990. Made of cast bronze, the sculpture depicts Gillespie’s head, neck and hands, playing a trumpet, on a base made of dark stone.

Ed Dwight began his career as a graduate engineer, was a former United States Air Force test pilot who became the first African American to be trained as an astronaut in 1962. Following a career in real estate, computer systems engineering, and consulting, Dwight pursued art and received a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Denver in 1977. Dwight’s works include fine art sculpture, large-scale memorials and public art projects.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1990
• depicted (sitter): Gillespie, Dizzy
• maker: Dwight, Ed
• Object Name: sculpture
• Physical Description: bronze (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 27 3/4 in x 14 in x 31 in; 70.485 cm x 35.56 cm x 78.74 cm
• place made: United States: Colorado, Denver
• ID Number: 1993.0582.01
• accession number: 1993.0582
• catalog number: 1993.0582.01
• Credit Line: Gift of Calvin B. and Marilyn B. Gross
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.