RARE 1934 VINTAGE CARL VAN VECHTEN PORTRAIT OF BRICKTOP, AFRICAN AMERICAN STAR

Description: Rare and vintage 1934 gelatin silver double weight portrait photograph of BRICKTOP, famous African American jazz age singer and jazz club owner taken by equally famous photographer Carl Van Vechten. This is a museum quality double weight exhibtion print by Van Vechten, taken and printed in 1934 at the time of the subject's sitting. Indeed, this exact image is in the permanent collection of MOMA, New York. Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith (1894 – 1984) better known as Bricktop, was an American dancer, jazz singer, vaudevillian, and self-described saloon-keeper who owned the famous nightclub “Chez Bricktop” in Paris from 1924 to 1961. She is considered one of the most legendary and enduring cultural figures of 20th Century American history. Known for her signature cigars, the “doyenne of cafe society” drew many celebrated figures to her club including Cole Porter, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald mentions her club in his 1931 short story “Babylon Revisited.” Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) was a writer and an artistic photographer and a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and made portraits of many notable people. His photography is in the collection of museums such as the Getty, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, MOMA, as well as other museums nationally and internationally. On the backside of this photograph, in the photographers own hand in black ink is written "Bricktop: Paris, July 22, 1934." Also seen is the photographer's stamp "Photograph by Carl Van Vechten, 146 Central Park West."

Price: 1495 USD

Location: Santa Monica, California

End Time: 2024-12-03T20:35:21.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD