Billie Holiday, (sculpture).

Billie Holiday, (sculpture).

Reid, James Earl, 1942-2021, sculptor.

New Arts Foundry, founder.

Billie Holiday, (sculpture).

1983. Copyrighted 1983. Dedicated April 1985.

Digital Reference:

Figure: bronze with patina; Base: concrete.

Figure: approx. 8 ft. 6 in. x 3 ft. 6 in. x 33 in.; Base: approx. 32 x 66 x 66 in.

(On rear of sculpture's bronze base:) NEW ARTS FOUNDRY REID SC (copyright symbol)/1983 (On plaque on front of base:) BILLIE HOLIDAY/1915-1959/DEDICATED BY/MAYOR WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER/AND/THE CITIZENS OF BALTIMORE/APRIL 1985 signed Founder's mark appears.

A portrait of Billie Holiday, dressed in a strapless evening gown and wearing a gardenia in her braided hair pulled back in a bun. She stands singing, with mouth open and hands outstretched in front of her. The figure is placed atop an inscribed, stepped base.

Portrait female -- Holiday, Billie -- Full length

Ethnic -- African American

Performing Arts -- Music -- Voice

Performing Arts -- Music -- Jazz

Performing Arts -- Music -- Blues

Object -- Flower -- Gardenia

Outdoor Sculpture -- Maryland -- Baltimore

Administered by City of Baltimore, Recreation and Parks, 2600 Madison Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21217

Located Billie Holiday Plaza, Corner of 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue & Lafayette Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21217

Billie Holiday, 1915-1959, was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She was considered the supreme jazz singer of her day and made recordings with Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, and Count Basie. The sculpture was commissioned by the City of Baltimore's Department of Community Housing for its new pocket park near the site of earlier jazz clubs. The project was fraught with problems from beginning to end. The original base was to contain images from one of Holiday's early songs "The Hanging Tree," and to feature the image of a black man hanging from a tree. That image was thought to be unacceptable, but the artist would not agree to change his original idea. The clay model for the sculpture was taken from the artist through legal recourse, cast without the artist's involvement and installed on a base not designed by the artist. For related information see: Henry & Caroline Naylor's "Public Monuments & Sculpture of Baltimore: An Introduction to the Collection," 1987.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Maryland, Baltimore survey, 1993.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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