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Kurt Cobain; Standing with Evian Bottle

Kurt Cobain; Standing with Evian Bottle
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Jesse Frohman, born 1958
Sitter
Kurt Cobain, 20 Feb 1967 - 5 Apr 1994
Date
1993 (printed 2018)
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")
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: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician
Portrait
Place
United States\New York\Kings\New York
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Jesse Frohman
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Copyright
© Jesse Frohman
Object number
NPG.2019.111
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.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view