id: 291896 accession number: 2016.270 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2016.270 updated: 2024-03-26 02:01:52.712000 Harlem, New York, c. 1960. Louis H. Draper (American, 1935–2002). Vintage gelatin silver print; image: 25 x 16.8 cm (9 13/16 x 6 5/8 in.); paper: 35.3 x 27.9 cm (13 7/8 x 11 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Whitehill Art Purchase Endowment Fund 2016.270 title: Harlem, New York title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1960 creation date earliest: 1955 creation date latest: 1965 current location: creditline: Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Whitehill Art Purchase Endowment Fund copyright: --- culture: America technique: vintage gelatin silver print department: Photography collection: PH - American 1951-Present type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Louis H. Draper (American, 1935–2002) - artist American photographer, 1935-2002
Raised in segregated Richmond, Virginia, Louis Draper (1935–2002) moved to New York City to study photography in 1957. He supported himself through commercial photography, film production, and teaching so he could produce his personal work. Shooting mostly in Harlem and around New York, Draper created reflective and penetrating portraits, compelling street photography, and, later in life, abstractions. Although Draper rarely commented on individual photographs, he wrote and spoke about the impact he felt he could make through photography. The profession caused him to “realize that what I felt had worth; that I could make strong statements about the world in visual terms and that often these images did in fact move people emotionally. I had power . . . [that] was given to me for the purpose of sharing.” Seeking an ongoing forum for dialogue with other photographers, in 1963 Draper co-founded Kamoinge, an important collective of African American photographers that continues to this day in Harlem. Among the group’s concerns was to try to define a black aesthetic in photography. Draper proposed in 1972 that it would require “an investigation into the nature of what it means to be black, and a translation of that into optical terms.” --- measurements: Image: 25 x 16.8 cm (9 13/16 x 6 5/8 in.); Paper: 35.3 x 27.9 cm (13 7/8 x 11 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Written in pencil on verso: “9-1/2 x 12-1/2-Inner/11 x 14-Outer/300.00 Written in pencil on verso: “31/41” Written in pencil on verso: “LD021/53/DR0121.1” Written in ink on verso: “21” translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Black in America: Louis Draper and Leonard Freed opening date: 2017-02-26T05:00:00 Black in America: Louis Draper and Leonard Freed. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 26-July 30, 2017). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Louis Draper (the artist) date: footnotes: citations: estate of Louis Draper date: footnotes: citations: Steven Kasher Gallery, New York, NY date: footnotes: citations: the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: December 5, 2016 footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES