Portrait of Billy Joel Unveiled at Steinway Hall

(Courtesy BBC) Dec, 13, 2011

US singer-songwriter Billy Joel has become the only non-classical performer to be honoured with a portrait by Paul Wyse at the prestigious Steinway Hall in New York. Joel is only one of two living artists to be featured in the Hall's portrait collection and will hang next to famed Russian pianist Vladimir Horowitz, one of the singer's idols. "I don't know how crazy he'd be about having me that close to him," he said.

Paul Wyse's notable clients include not only Billy Joel, but Blue Rodeo Star Jim Cuddy, and Pianist, conductor and Kennedy Center Award Winner Leon Fleisher. Two portraits of Fleisher by Wyse  recently became part of the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.