ON THE 75th ANNIVERSARY OF ELVIS PRESLEY'S BIRTH, THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION IS SHOWCASING THE KING OF ROCK 'N' ROLL'S UBIQUITOUS IMAGE THROUGH EXHIBITS OPENING 8.JANUARY IN WASHINGTON AND LOS ANGELES. 'ONE LIFE: ECHOES OF ELVIS' WILL BE ON VIEW AT THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY IN WASHINGTON THROUGH AUGUST. THE ONE-ROOM EXHIBIT IS DEVOTED TO THE EVOLUTION AND INFLUENCE OF PRESLEY'S IMAGE AFTER HIS DEATH. THE EXHIBIT FEATURES PORTRAITS, IMAGES FROM GRACELAND, ELVIS MERCHANDISE AND A REMINDER THAT ELVIS' MANAGER PUT HIS FACE ON JUST ABOUT ANYTHING THAT COULD BE MARKETED. THE COMMERCIAL IMAGES INCLUDE AN ELVIS-IMPRINTED LUNCH BOX, NUTCRACKER, ACTION FIGURE AND SNOW GLOBE. ORIGINAL ARTWORK FROM THE 1992 ELVIS STAMP DESIGN COMPETITION IS ON VIEW, ALONG WITH THE 1993 STAMP WITH PRESLEY'S LIKENESS THAT BECAME THE MOST POPULAR US POSTAL STAMP OF ALL TIME, WITH A PRINTING OF OVER 500 MILLION. A GOLD BUST OF ELVIS AS JULIUS CAESAR BY SCULPTOR ROBERT ARNESON ANCHORS ANOTHER WALL. A MUSEUM DOCENT RECENTLY DISCOVERED A SURPRISE IN THE SCULPTURE THAT HAD BEEN IN STORAGE AT THE SMITHSONIAN'S HIRSHHORN MUSEUM; A SMALL HEART WAS CARVED IN THE BACK. PRESLEY SAT FOR ONLY ONE PORTRAIT PAINTER. A PAINTING BY RALPH WOLFE COWAN, USUALLY ON DISPLAY IN THE GALLERY'S ENTERTAINMENT SECTION, IS THE EXHIBIT'S CENTRAL IMAGE. IT WAS COMPLETED FROM SKETCHES COWAN MADE IN 1969 WHILE CREATING ANOTHER PORTRAIT THAT HANGS IN GRACELAND. IN LOS ANGELES, THE GRAMMY MUSEUM IS OPENING THE SMITHSONIAN'S TRAVELING EXHIBIT, 'ELVIS AT 21: PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALFRED WERTHEIMER'. THE PHOTOJOURNALIST WAS HIRED TO SHOOT PROMOTIONAL IMAGES OF THE RECORDING ARTIST JUST BEFORE ELVIS MADE IT BIG. THE SHOW FEATURES 56 OF WERTHEIMER'S IMAGES FROM 1956 WILL TOUR THE COUNTRY THROUGH 2013 WITH STOPS THIS YEAR IN BOCA RATON, FLA., AND WINCHESTER, VA. IT WILL BE OPEN IN WASHINGTON ON 30.OCTOBER.2010.
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