Tony Bennett Donates Painting to Portrait Gallery

Singer Tony Bennett is donating a watercolor painting he made of Duke Ellington to the National Portrait Gallery.

The Smithsonian Institution announced Wednesday that it will acquire the painting, which depicts Ellington with a bouquet of pink roses in the background. The jazz musician made a habit of sending his friend, Bennett, a dozen pink roses when Ellington composed a new song.

Bennett has been a lifelong painter on top of winning 15 Grammy Awards. This is the third painting he has donated to the Smithsonian, following a painting of Central Park and a portrait of Ella Fitzgerald.

The painting of Ellington will be presented to the museum in April to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the Washington, D.C., native's birth.

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