id: 161307 accession number: 1999.79 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1999.79 updated: 2023-03-15 15:46:38.261000 Portrait of a Woman with Flowers, 1931. James Van Der Zee (American, 1886–1983). Gelatin silver print; image: 11.7 x 9.2 cm (4 5/8 x 3 5/8 in.); paper: 12.4 x 10.4 cm (4 7/8 x 4 1/8 in.); matted: 35.6 x 30.5 cm (14 x 12 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Jane B. Tripp Charitable Lead Annuity Trust 1999.79 title: Portrait of a Woman with Flowers title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1931 creation date earliest: 1931 creation date latest: 1931 current location: creditline: The Jane B. Tripp Charitable Lead Annuity Trust copyright: --- culture: America, 20th century technique: gelatin silver print department: Photography collection: PH - American 1900-1950 type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- 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. --- measurements: Image: 11.7 x 9.2 cm (4 5/8 x 3 5/8 in.); Paper: 12.4 x 10.4 cm (4 7/8 x 4 1/8 in.); Matted: 35.6 x 30.5 cm (14 x 12 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: written in negative: "NYC/ VANDERZEE [signed]/ 1931" translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: For more than 50 years, James VanDerZee produced images that embody the spirit of Harlem. From the 1920s to the 1940s, he was the neighborhood's most popular and prolific photographer, his camera capturing everyone from ordinary citizens to celebrities. In the studio VanDerZee photographed glamorously dressed young people and dignified men and women. On location, he chronicled picnics, parades, families, church congregations, and the dead in their coffins. These four prints, from a collection of 33 recently acquired by the museum, show VanDerZee's skill at posing and lighting his subjects. His artistic sensibilities are reflected in elaborate backdrops and the use of accessories that reinforced his sitters' associations with culture and wealth. The artist worked with a variety of techniques, including multiple negatives and hand coloring, to make artful photographs that set him apart from his more traditional, less aesthetically inclined competitors. Just as he often signed his name and date directly onto the negative, he would also selectively draw on it-to smooth a complexion and touch up imperfections, or to add extra jewelry or smoke drifting from a cigarette-whatever was necessary to emphasize the grace and dignity of his client, regardless of race, age, or social status. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES