Object Details
- Artist
- Jesse Frohman, born 1958
- Sitter
- Kurt Cobain, 20 Feb 1967 - 5 Apr 1994
- Exhibition Label
- Led by Kurt Cobain’s wailing voice and his explosive guitar chords, Nirvana was one of the most influential bands of the early 1990s. Its 1991 album, Nevermind, sold more than six million copies during the band’s short life. Yet Cobain, like Bob Dylan, was a reluctant rock star. Ambivalent about the band’s success, he was extremely uncomfortable with attention from fans and the media. Born in Aberdeen, Washington, and a product of the Pacific Northwest punk scene, he wore thrift-store plaid shirts and torn jeans to distance himself from the packaged stadium rockers of the previous decade. Louder, faster, and often darker, Seattle grunge, as exemplified by Nirvana, also proved widely popular. Three years after Nevermind’s release, at the age of twenty-seven, Cobain died by suicide.
- Liderada por la voz quejumbrosa de Kurt Cobain y los explosivos acordes de su guitarra, Nirvana fue una de las bandas más influyentes de principios de la década de 1990. Su disco Nevermind vendió más de seis millones de copias durante la breve vida del grupo. Sin embargo, Cobain, como Bob Dylan, era una estrella renuente. Su ambivalencia ante el éxito lo hacía sentir incómodo con la atención de los fanáticos y los medios. Nacido en Aberdeen, Washington, y producto de la escena punk de la costa noroeste, usaba camisas a cuadros de segunda mano y jeans rotos para distanciarse de los rockeros anteriores y sus conciertos en estadios atestados. Aun así, el estilo más ruidoso, rápido y oscuro de Nirvana, llamado "grunge de Seattle", tuvo gran popularidad. Tres años después de Nevermind, a los 27 años de edad, Cobain se suicidó.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Jesse Frohman
- 1993 (printed 2018)
- Object number
- NPG.2019.111
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © Jesse Frohman
- Type
- Photograph
- Medium
- Inkjet print
- Dimensions
- Image: 101.8 × 81.2 cm (40 1/16 × 31 15/16")
- Sheet/Mount: 106.7 × 86.3 cm (42 × 34")
- Frame: 110.7 × 90.3 × 3.8 cm (43 9/16 × 35 9/16 × 1 1/2")
- Place
- United States\New York\Kings\New York
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Interior
- Costume\Headgear\Hat
- Home Furnishings\Drinking vessel\Glass
- Equipment\Smoking Implements\Cigarette
- Container\Bottle
- Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses\Sunglasses
- Costume\Dress Accessory\Belt
- Kurt Cobain: Male
- Kurt Cobain: Arts and Culture\Performing Arts\Music\Musician
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2019.111
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4e0cfdfdc-08cf-4c87-8512-b5b9db87b593
