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James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

Past Exhibition

November 28, 2021 – May 30, 2022
West Building, Ground Floor, Gallery 22

Photographer James Van Der Zee created an extraordinary chronicle of life in Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s and beyond. Residents of this majority Black neighborhood in New York City turned to Van Der Zee and his camera to mark special occasions. His carefully composed, cosmopolitan photographs conveyed the personalities, aspirations, and spirit of his sitters. Some 40 works from the National Gallery’s collection feature Van Der Zee’s studio portraits, along with his photographs of Harlem nightclubs and storefronts as well as religious, social, political, and athletic community groups. Together they provide a glimpse into Harlem’s rich social life as it became an influential center of American culture during the Harlem Renaissance.

Story

James Van Der Zee’s Retouched Portraits

To present sitters in the best possible light and perfect his portrait photographs, Van Der Zee even drew jewelry onto his negatives.

Podcast

Bonus Episode: Celeste Headlee and James Van Der Zee’s “Couple, Harlem”

In this photograph, journalist and musician Celeste Headlee hears Lenox Avenue, a suite her grandfather William Grant Still named after Harlem’s main street. This 1932 portrait captures the pride of Black Americans achieving success during the Harlem Renaissance despite systemic injustice. 

Selected Works

James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Portrait of Sisters, 1926, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Robert B. Menschel Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee
An elegantly dressed Black man and woman stand facing and looking at us, slightly smiling, in a room in this vertical photograph. The image is monochromatic like a black and white photograph but is printed in warm tones of golden and dark browns. To our left, the man has short-cropped hair and is cleanshaven. He has dark eyes, a rounded nose, and his lips are closed in a slight smile. He wears a three-piece tuxedo and holds a bowler hat and cane in his right hand, on our left. He pulls his suit jacket back to hook his other thumb in his vest pocket. He wears rings on each of his pinky fingers and a chain crosses his vest, tucked into the same pocket as his thumb. The woman stands with her left hand, on our right, on her hip and her other hand resting on the man’s shoulder. She has a delicate nose, dark eyes, and her closed lips turn up slightly at the corners. She has a cheek-length bob haircut and wears dangling earrings and a necklace with a pendant. Her ankle-length, sleeveless dress is beaded with geometric and scrolling patterns. Some of the beads and the ring she wears on the third finger of the hand on her hip catch and reflect the light. An upholstered chair sits to our left and a wood side table with an urn filled with flowers and a telephone stands to our right. The telephone has a conical earpiece hanging from a stand with a flaring mouthpiece. The backdrop behind the people has a painted or wallpapered section to our left and an arch leading to a curtained window to our right. Parts of the photograph are noticeably out of focus, particularly in the background and the flowers. The artist signed the work with white letters against the dark shadows under the seat of the chair, near the lower left corner: “VAN DER ZEE NYC 1924.”
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Portrait of a Couple, 1924, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Robert B. Menschel Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, A Casual Affair, 1932, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Ellen and Richard Sandor © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Club Lido, 1930s, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Ellen and Richard Sandor © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Alpha Phi Alpha Basketball Team, 1926, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (The Evans-Tibbs Collection, Gift of Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Jr.) © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Group Portrait, Church of God, Harlem, 1933, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Portrait of a Young Woman, 1930, gelatin silver print with applied color, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Daisye, 1931, gelatin silver print with applied color, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Avalon Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Marcus Garvey (right) with George O. Marke (left) and Prince Kojo Tovalou-Houénou, 1924, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Avalon Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Harlem Store Front, 1934, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Avalon Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Soldier, 1944, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Avalon Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Uniform Rank of the Black Knights of Pythias, 1926, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Avalon Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Portrait of a Woman, 1914, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Avalon Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, “Beautiful Bride,” c. 1930, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, The Van Der Zee Men, Lenox, Massachusetts, 1908, printed 1974, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Dancer, Harlem, 1925, printed 1974, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee
James Van Der Zee’s Photographs: A Portrait of Harlem

James Van Der Zee, Couple, Harlem, 1932, printed 1974, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee

Organization
Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington

The exhibition is curated by Diane Waggoner, curator of 19th-century photographs.

Passes
Admission is always free and passes are not required

Banner detail: James Van Der Zee, Portrait of a Couple, 1924, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Robert B. Menschel Fund © 1969 Van Der Zee