Bennett's Birthday Bouquet for Duke Ellington

"Duke Ellington" by Tony Bennett. Watercolor and graphite on paper, c. 1993. (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Gift of Tony Bennett)

Singer Tony Bennett -- who moonlights as a painter -- celebrated the 110th birthday of close friend Duke Ellington today by donating a watercolor of the Washington-born composer to the National Portrait Gallery, reports our colleague Jackie Trescott.

There's a sentimental reason why Bennett put a dozen roses in the background of the 1993 work instead of, say, a grand piano: "Every time he wrote a song he thought I would like to record he sent a dozen pink roses," explained Bennett.