Miles Davis
1983
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
dye imbibition print
Dimensions
image: 28 × 27.4 cm (11 × 10 13/16 in.) sheet: 41.3 × 34.93 cm (16 1/4 × 13 3/4 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Susan and Peter MacGill
Accession Number
2013.158.2.1
Art Historical Context
Lee Friedlander's *Miles Davis* (1983) captures the legendary jazz trumpeter in a striking portrait, showcasing the photographer's mastery of intimate, character-revealing imagery. Friedlander, a figure in American street and documentary photography since the 1960s, often portrayed fellow artists and musicians with a direct yet nuanced gaze. Here, he immortalizes Davis—whose innovative styles shaped cool jazz, modal jazz, and fusion—during the musician's vibrant comeback phase in the 1980s, following a self-imposed hiatus. Printed as a dye imbibition (or dye transfer) print, this medium exemp...
About the Artist
Lee Friedlander
Lee Friedlander, born on July 14, 1934, in Aberdeen, Washington, to a Finnish-descended mother, Kaari Nurmi, and German-Jewish émigré father, Fritz Friedlander, discovered photography at age 14 amid a fascination with the medium's equipment. Tragedy marked his childhood when his mother died of cancer at age seven, yet he pursued his passion, earning pocket money with a camera before studying under...