id: 303719 accession number: 2017.106 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2017.106 updated: 2024-03-26 02:01:56.433000 Congressional Gathering, 1959. Louis H. Draper (American, 1935–2002). Gelatin silver print; image: 31.1 x 20.7 cm (12 1/4 x 8 1/8 in.); paper: 35.4 x 27.6 cm (13 15/16 x 10 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Alma Kroeger Fund 2017.106 © Louis H. Draper title: Congressional Gathering title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1959 creation date earliest: 1959 creation date latest: 1959 current location: creditline: Alma Kroeger Fund copyright: © Louis H. Draper --- culture: America technique: 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: 31.1 x 20.7 cm (12 1/4 x 8 1/8 in.); Paper: 35.4 x 27.6 cm (13 15/16 x 10 7/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Stamped in black ink on verso: “WARNING: FROM THE ESTATE OF/LOUIS DRAPER/EXECUTOR/NELL DRAPER WINSTON/© COPYRIGHT 2002/107 LIBERTY AVENUE/RICHMOND, VA 23223” translation: remark: inscription: Written in pencil on verso: “LD124” translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Recent Acquisitions opening date: 2018-03-17T04:00:00 Recent Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 17-June 7, 2018). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'The Cleveland Museum of Art (03/17/2018-06/06/2018): "Recent Acquisitions 2014-2017"', 'opening_date': '2018-03-17T00:00:00'} --- 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: September 11, 2017 footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES