id: 148373
accession number: 1975.85
share license status: Copyrighted
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1975.85
updated: 2023-03-24 11:13:14.095000
Women's Club, 1927. James Van Der Zee (American, 1886–1983). Gelatin silver print; image: 19.1 x 24.1 cm (7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.); matted: 35.6 x 45.7 cm (14 x 18 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the Links, Cleveland Chapter 1975.85 © Donna Mussenden VanDerZee
title: Women's Club
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1927
creation date earliest: 1927
creation date latest: 1927
current location:
creditline: Gift of the Links, Cleveland Chapter
copyright: © Donna Mussenden VanDerZee
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culture: America, 20th century
technique: gelatin silver print
department: Photography
collection: PH - American 1900-1950
type: Photograph
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* James Van Der Zee (American, 1886–1983) - artist
James VanDerZee American, 1886-1983
Famous for his images of Harlem and its inhabitants, James VanDerZee was born in Lenox, Massachusetts. During his youth, he took portraits of family members and friends, and after various jobs in Lenox and New York City began work in 1911 as a photographic assistant in the portrait studio run by Charles Gertz in Hahne's department store in Newark, New Jersey. From 1912-15 VanDerZee operated a portrait studio in the Toussaint Conservatory of Art and Music, established by his sister Jennie.
Two years later VanDerZee opened a studio in Harlem and began making his memorable portraits. During the period of his greatest success, from the years of the Harlem Renaissance (1919-29) until World War II, he photographed the area's large African-American middle class, producing formal portraits of individuals, families, church and school groups, athletic organizations, women's clubs, fraternal organizations, weddings, funerals, and street scenes. He also photographed Harlem's celebrated artists, writers, singers, religious leaders, and politicians.
In 1924 VanDerZee became official photographer for Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association, documenting their conventions, rallies, and parades. He retired in the 1960s, but resumed photography for a brief period before his death. M.M.
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measurements: Image: 19.1 x 24.1 cm (7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.); Matted: 35.6 x 45.7 cm (14 x 18 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
inscription: Written in negative: VANDERZEE [signed] / NYC [underlined] / 1927; written in pencil on verso: "1927 James Vanderzee"; "Women's Club"
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art
opening date: 1996-11-24T05:00:00
Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 24, 1996-February 2, 1997).
title: A New York Minute: Street Photography, 1920-1950
opening date: 2021-07-11T04:00:00
A New York Minute: Street Photography, 1920-1950. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 11-November 7, 2021).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* CMA, November 20,1996 - February 2, 1997: "Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art."
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PROVENANCE
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
Harlem’s preeminent portrait photographer James Van Der Zee portrayed people as they wish to be remembered. Mrs. Edith Milburn, possibly the sitter second from the left, commissioned this formal group portrait, set in an elegant home on West 138th Street in Harlem.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996.
page number: Reproduced: P. 367
url:
Adamson, Glenn. "Capture the Flag." The Magazine Antiques 186, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 2019): 22-23.
page number: Reproduced: p. 23
url:
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IMAGES