TONY BENNETT DIDN'T LEAVE HIS ART IN SAN FRANCISCO September
1, 2004
WHEN TONY Bennett isn't busy singing about San Francisco, he's off in a museum somewhere with his sketchbook. As a young man, Bennett was torn between pursuing art or music. We know which choice he made: He's won a dozen Grammys and sold more than 50 million records in a half-century-long career. Music came first, but he never gave up art. At 2 p.m. today , the public can watch the native New Yorker unveil a painting he recently donated to The Mariners' Museum in Newport News. For the price of a museum ticket, locals can hear Bennett explain why he wanted to make a watercolor of the 1862 battle between the ironclads, the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia, which took place in Hampton Roads and forever changed naval warfare. The presentation is expected to take about 15 minutes. It'll be brief because Bennett, who recently turned 78 , needs to save his voice. At 7:30 p.m. , he is scheduled to perform just down the road in a sold-out concert at Christopher Newport University. Harold Holzer , a historian adviser for the USS Monitor Center at The Mariners' Museum, suggested Bennett make the painting. "He was immediately receptive," said Holzer, who is vice president for communications and marketing at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and a friend of Bennett's. The $30 million center, opening in 2007 , will house artifacts recently retrieved from the wreck of the Monitor, the Union ironclad that sank in late 1862 off the coast of Hatteras, N.C. Bennett could not be reached for comment. Holzer saw the painting last week in Bennett's midtown Manhattan business office, just before it was shipped to Newport News. Holzer wouldn't describe the watercolor image, or even the frame, saying he wanted it "to be a real unveiling." "I'm sure that people who visit The Mariners' are going to find his interpretation evocative and moving. ? He is an emotional person, both as a performer and as an artist with a brush." Holzer befriended Bennett about six years ago, when the artist stopped by the Met. "He's a big museum afficionado," Holzer said. Bennett learned that Holzer has written many books on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War and gave him a watercolor portrait of Lincoln. Now Bennett's painting hangs in Holzer's Met office and will appear on the cover of his forthcoming book, "Lincoln on Democracy," which he co-edited with former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo. Holzer compared Bennett's style to the French impressionists. Like those late 19th century painters, Bennett enjoys painting outdoors and capturing the play of light on water and land. He also paints floral still lifes. "He's got a beautiful touch, and he's a wonderful draftsman," Holzer said. "He paints every day, without fail. He's just come back from a painting trip in Europe." His apartment looks onto Central Park , Holzer said, adding that the view from his windows often inspires him to paint. According to Bennett's art Web site (www.tonybennettart.com) - where examples of his work can be seen - he studied art at what was formerly known as New York's High School of Industrial Arts and throughout his life has found teachers and mentors. He paints under his birth name, Anthony Benedetto. In 1996, a book on his art, "What My Heart Has Seen," was published by Rizzoli, a distinguished publisher of arts books. In 1999 , Benedetto Arts LLC was set up to represent and oversee all aspects of his art. The Kentucky Derby and the United Nations are among his patrons. In 1994, the Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio organized a retrospective of Bennett's art. His latest exhibition ended Tuesday at the P&C Art Gallery in Washington, D.C. Art & Antiques magazine reported in 2001 that his watercolors sell for $10,000 to $35,000 and his oils for up to $80,000. Bennett told the magazine he owed much of his success to a high school friend who became a famous portrait painter, Everett Raymond Kinstler. "The whole secret of painting is light," Bennett said. "It has nothing to do with the subject." He takes his sketchbook with him everywhere, even into the Met, Holzer said. If he's inspired, he may begin to draw. He doesn't appear bothered by the occasional fan who approaches him, Holzer said. He reacts "with wonderful humility and gratitude. He's very modest about it all." The unveiling was timed to coincide with Bennett's performance at the grand opening of CNU's new Ferguson Center for the Arts. The $125 tickets for his show - in a 463-seat music and theater hall - sold out 18 minutes after they went on sale in early August, CNU officials said at a press conference last week. Bennett got his stage name in 1949 from comedian Bob Hope, who hired him to open for him in New York. The next year, Bennett signed a contract with Columbia Records. He recorded his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," in 1962, which brought him his first Grammy and led to a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall. He was, and is, a singer of the best popular and jazz tunes of the 20th century in the manner of Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan. In the rock era of the 1970s and early 1980s, his career waned. Bennett's son brought him a new generation of fans by wrangling appearances on MTV and "The Simpsons." He also showed up on "MTV Unplugged," a 1994 special with guests Elvis Costello and k.d. lang that resulted in a Grammy-winning album. "The music changed," Holzer said, "but he never changed. Eventually, people came back to quality. "And he never compromised. You cannot find an example of Tony Bennett singing a tawdry song. No disco Tony Bennetts or hip-hop Tony Bennetts. "Tony Bennett stayed true to himself." Copyright (c) 2004 The Virginian-Pilot |
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