Lot 166
Count Basie - Original Pastel Painting by Nicholas Volpe. Original 10½ x 9 in. portrait of jazz great William "Count" Basie, signed "Volpe" at lower right, with handwritten copyright date, "1981." Basie (1904-1984) is painted wearing his trademark yachting cap. Considered one of the most importantjazz bandleaders of his time, Basie won ten Grammys, including a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award (2002). In 1985, President Reagan.posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Basie.
Matted and framed to an overall size of 18¼ x 16¼ in. This portrait was painted for The Brown Derby, the "Restaurant of the Stars," and hung on the wall of the Brown Derby. Attached to the back is a Certificate of Provenance from Jocelyn MacKay, who was the Brown Derby's architect for 29 years.
Artist Nicolas Volpe (1911-1992) was born in Connecticut. He studied art in New York, and taught there and in Florida. but was soon lured to Hollywood to design movie sets and costumes. It was soon obvious that Volpe excelled at painting and he obtained an ongoing commission from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for portraits of each year's Oscar winners. After a cover he designed for Frank Sinatra's album "Only the Lonely" won a Golden Grammy Award, Volpe was commissioned by the famous Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant to paint some 200 portraits of the nation's top recording artists for the Derby's Hall of Fame Record Room, such as Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, and Johnny Cash.
Estimated Value $3,000 - 5,000.
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