Graham Seated, Night

Artist Roy DeCarava (American, 1919 - 2009)

Date1952; printed 1981

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 13 1/16 × 10 1/16 inches (33.18 × 25.56 cm)
Sheet: 13 7/8 × 10 7/8 inches (35.24 × 27.62 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.2628

SignedOn sheet verso, bottom, in black pen: "printed 1981 by ROY DE CARAVA", "1952 DeCARAVA"

InscribedOn sheet verso, bottom, in black pen: "Graham seated, night"

MarkingsOn sheet verso, bottom, in black pen: "211 #42"; On sheet verso, bottom, in pencil: "141-6-88", "© #133", "P5.141.006.88"

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionDark image of a man seated backwards in a chair on the sidewalk with his arms loosely crossed. Neon lights in shop windows glow from across the street. The man wears a hat and an unbuttoned collared shirt.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Through the Lens: Visions of African American Experience, 1950-1970. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, November 18, 2015 – April 3, 2016, no cat.

Gallery Label

“My pictures are immediate and yet at the same time, they’re forever,” Roy DeCarava said. “They present a moment so profoundly a moment that it becomes an eternity.” DeCarava reveled in darkness, lovingly exploring its qualities, and photographing Black subjects with grace, beauty, and dignity. He often used low, ambient light, as with Graham Seated, Night, and embraced the rich velvety beauty of dark tones.

DeCarava had an enormous influence on generations of Black photographers, including those he knew through membership in the Kamoinge Workshop, a Black photographic collective founded in 1963.

Provenance

Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York, NY;
Purchased from Edwynn Houk Gallery by Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 1988;
Given by Hallmark Cards, Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2005.

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